Spread this sparkly Reindeer Food with Christmas sprinkles on your lawn so that it’s the first house Santa and Rudolph spot! It’s a quick and easy kid friendly craft project with cute antlers, googly eyes, and red pom pom noses. With a free reindeer food printable included!
Reindeer food is a favorite Christmas tradition that’s a quick, easy and fun activity! My three kids each look forward to it every Christmas Eve and I love how simple it is to make. Even if you’re not the craftiest person, have no fear. If you can add ingredients to a bowl and stir, you can make reindeer food!
If you’re feeling crafty, you can dress it up with pipe cleaner antlers, googly eyes, and a red nose! Oh, and of course the cute little printable that ties it all together.
It’s also a great idea for a Christmas party favor and guests can decorate their own. Just prep a large bowl of reindeer food and set up a decorating station. Everyone can take it home to sprinkle on their lawn!
What Is Reindeer Food?
A classic Christmas tradition, Reindeer food is an easy craft that’s made for Christmas Eve. Children are told through the reindeer food poem to sprinkle it on their lawn to help guide Santa and the reindeer to their home.
The ingredients are a combination of cereal, oats, chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc. Some reindeer food recipes call for glitter and jingle bells for extra sparkle.
Reindeer Food Poem
Sprinkle on the lawn Christmas Eve night. The moon will make it sparkle bright. As Santa's reindeer fly and roam, this will guide them to your home.
What You’ll Need
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
For the Reindeer Food
- Oats: They must be old-fashioned oats. Quick oats will sink into the grass and disappear.
- Sprinkles: Any sprinkles will do, but festive sparkly or colored sprinkles add a fun touch.
- Glitter: If your children are still young, use edible glitter in case they want to try a bite!
- Cellophane Bags: Use square treat bags or cone-shaped treat bags.
To Decorate As Reindeer
- Pipe Cleaners: Brown pipe cleaners are best to make them look like reindeer antlers.
- Googly Eyes: I prefer large googly eyes (these have self adhesive so no glue is needed).
- Pom Poms: I used sparkly red pom poms to make the perfect Rudolph nose, however brown or black also work.
- Hot Glue: You can use regular school glue or super glue if you have time let it dry.
Want to save this recipe?
Email this recipe to yourself for easy access later!
Tips For Making Reindeer Food
Visit the printable recipe card below for full directions.
Prepare! Gather your ingredients and set them out in an assembly station before beginning this easy reindeer food recipe.
Leave some room. Leave about 2 inches empty at the top of the bag. That way, you can close it!
Attach The Printable. There are a few ways you can attach the reindeer printable tag. You can use a stapler or add a hole with a hole punch and then guide the pipe cleaner through the hole.
Fun Variations To Try
- Jingle Bells: Add small jingle bells to the filling for a festive jingle. Avoid them if you’ve got pets who could eat them.
- Use Paint: Grab a paintbrush and acrylic paint to add smiles, hair, necklaces, etc on the reindeer. Let the paint set fully before filling the bags of reindeer food.
- Make Elves: Glue small Santa or elf hats to the pipe cleaners to swap the reindeers for Santa’s little helpers.
- Re-purpose Old Socks: Fill your old Christmas socks with reindeer food. The packets won’t be see-through but you can still decorate them as usual. Toss them out once you’re done or save them for next year.
- Push Pops: Fill the push pops with reindeer food according to package instructions and decorate as desired. Then the kids can explode them into the yard!
Reindeer Food Recipe
Ingredients
For the Reindeer Food:
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- ¼ cup festive sprinkles
- ¼ cup glitter
- 4 plastic cone bags, or square plastic treat bags
- reindeer food printable
To decorate like Rudolph:
- 4 brown pipe cleaners
- 8 googly eyes
- 4 red sparkly pom poms
- hot glue, regular school glue, or super glue
Want to save this recipe?
Email this recipe to yourself for easy access later!
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix together oats, sprinkles, and glitter.
- Scoop the mixture into plastic bags, leaving a 2″ edge so that you can close the bags.
- Twist the pipe cleaners along the top of the filled bags to seal them shut.
- Attach the googly eyes and pom pom nose to each bag. Add the printable reindeer food printable and set them aside until Christmas Eve!
⭐️ Tried this recipe? Leave a comment and rating! It only takes a minute and helps support our family-run blog. ❤️
Notes
Video
Kid Friendly Christmas Recipes You’ll Love
- Grinch Fudge – It’s green, sweet, and so much fun!
- Gingerbread Man Cookies – Perfect for decorating.
- Christmas Puppy Chow – Good luck just having one handful!
- Christmas Whoopie Pies – Made with boxed cake mix.
- Peanut Butter Blossoms – A must-make classic Christmas cookie.
- Grinch Pancakes – The perfect easy Christmas breakfast.
Post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
While this idea seems cute, the inclusion of glitter (including edible glitter) is very bad for wildlife! If birds and mammals ingest the glitter it can cause long-term damage to their digestive systems. Please leave out the glitter folks. Maybe some could be glued onto the lid instead?
What a cute Christmas tradition! I’ve never heard of this before, and love it! FUN!
This is such a cute idea for Christmas! I have a feeling that my youngest would love making this. 🙂
These are so incredibly cute!! I can’t wait to make them for my kids!
This is such a great cute treat for the kiddos!
I use to do this with my kids when they were little. They loved it. Such a cute presentation you got going on!
These are so cute! My boys are gonna love helping me make these!
So cute and I absolutely love your video!!
What a cute idea and fun tradition to pass on to your girls!
These are so cute! I’ll have to pass this on to our nieces and nephews!