I love having fun traditions to do with my kids during the holidays. When they were younger, we would make Magical Reindeer food to put out on Christmas Eve. This is a fun activity you can do with children, with the goal of attracting Santa’s reindeer, as they won’t miss the Magical Reindeer Food when sprinkled outside your home!
When my kids first made this at preschool, it contained plastic-based glitter, but we changed our recipe to be more eco-friendly. Glitter is a microplastic and not biodegradable, so it is not good for the environment or animals.
Here’s how to make your own eco-friendly magical reindeer food!
(This post contains affiliate links)
Ingredients:
Look for a variety of safe, edible items, such as:
Oats
Birdseed
Nuts or dried fruit (pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries)
Any other biodegradable ingredients that are safe for wildlifeĀ
Use an eco-friendly container
To go completely eco-friendly, ditch the plastic bags and go with an eco-friendly container.Ā You can use a small glass jar, reusable plastic container, or small paper bag.
Directions
Mix the ingredients and place in an eco-friendly bag or jar. You can also decorate a container as part of the project. I often see Magical Reindeer Food in plastic bags, and this is a great opportunity to go with something other than a single-use plastic.
You can choose ingredients that are red and green if you are looking to add an extra festive touch (such as pepitas and dried cranberries).
Sprinkle the mix outside on Christmas Eve!
So fun! If I still had tiny kids, I would so make this. I love that it’s ecofriendly as well.
I love this! Sounds like so much fun especially for the kiddos. I’ll have to remember this for when my nieces visit.
Yes! I always forget to make this! Thank you for this years reminder!
My son loves making his reindeer food. I’ll have to make him a batch so that he can take it with him to his dads house. I get him after Christmas this year. Sharing is very difficult.
Sounds like a fun sprinkle mix to make for the critters outside, bet it would be nice to watch them too!
So much fun for little kids to do on Christmas Eve. I love that this is eco-friendly as well.
This would be an amazing tradition for the kids to grow up with.
I didn’t know about magical reindeer food until my youngest of 4. It would have been fun to do with all of the kids. Now I do it with my grandchildren. š
Healthy, fun, safe and earth friendly. What more could moms ask for? Thanks for sharing!
Oh yes! I remember those days when making reindeer food! These are wise suggestions!
Thank you. My kids loved to do this, as well but I actually lived where there were actual deer so I was always trying to make sure that it was okay for the real animals but it also important to care about what is left behind. Besides, this sounds pretty yummy for me.
This is cool and fo much fun my kids would love this for sure!
This looks like fun; it is so cool to make it with my kids. Thanks for sharing this with us.
What a fun activity for kids. Kids get very excited about Christmas.
Such a fun activity to do! My son would love this. We’ll have to try this out this year!
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
What a great idea! I will have to remember this for my grandkids one day!
Oh, that sounds like such a fun idea. We get a lot of deer in our backyard in the winter time but this might just bring more!
Gotta feed the reindeer! They have a big job to do. š
What a clever idea! We put out cookie for Santa – but I never thought of the reindeers who work so hard. This will be fun to make with the kids on Christmas eve.
This is such a fun idea! My daughter also made some reindeer food with glitter this year, so I’ve been looking for something to replace that with because I didn’t want to sprinkle it in my yard.
That is such a cute idea! I love that the native wildlife can safely have this and the kids can have some Christmas magic.
To replace the glitter part of it you could also use a shaped hole puncher on an assortment of different colored leaves to make a colorful eco-friendly confetti! Also love the other ideas here as well.
This is so much fun. Iām definitely gonna do this with my kids this year.
This is such a lovely idea. I’m so glad you adjusted it to make an eco-friendly version instead.
Good idea to stop using plastic bags. We would love to practice avoiding using it. Its something we are trying to do to go eco-friendly.
Ooohhhh…this is interesting! I didn’t know reindeer like nuts, to start with! Thanks for sharing about these foods.
I have never fed a reindeer before. I have always thought they ate cookies just like Santa in the stories our parents tell us. I feel now feel my whole has been a lie. hahaha.
Such a great idea! We always make reindeer food for Christmas eve!
There are so many Christmas traditions that we have no idea! Kudos to your plastic friendly approach. If you practice this with kids they would learn it early!
Aww I love this! Such a cute idea and a way for the kids and family to get into the festive spirit. The fact that it’s eco friendly too is fabulous x