Reindeer food, without the glitter
Oats, and something that catches the light. That is the whole recipe. The one change worth making to the version going around is leaving the glitter out, and there are better things to use instead.
The recipe
One bowl, two minutes, and nothing you need to buy specially.
- A large handful of porridge oats — the base, and the only essential
- A spoonful of birdseed, which is what actually gets eaten
- A pinch of edible glitter, coloured sugar sprinkles or dried edible petals for the sparkle
- Mix, and let the child do the mixing badly
Why not craft glitter
Ordinary craft glitter is plastic. Scattered on a lawn it does not break down, and it can be eaten by birds, hedgehogs and grazing animals that cannot tell it from food. A number of councils, schools and wildlife charities have asked people to stop putting it in reindeer food for exactly that reason.
The sparkle is the part children care about, so it is worth keeping — just from something that can be eaten. Edible glitter and coloured sugar both do the job and cost about the same.
Where to sprinkle it
On the lawn, the path or the doorstep, in a rough line rather than a neat pile — reindeer are supposed to have found it, not been served it.
Sprinkle it after dark if you can. The whole point of the ritual is the last thing done outside before bed, and doing it in daylight loses most of what makes it feel like Christmas Eve.
What it is really for
Nothing about this is about the reindeer. It is a job a child can do on the evening when they are least able to sit still, and it is one of the few Christmas traditions that gets them outside in the dark for two minutes.
By morning the birds will have taken most of it, which is its own small piece of evidence that something came.
Questions
What is reindeer food made of?
Porridge oats and birdseed, with a pinch of edible glitter or coloured sugar for sparkle. The oats and birdseed are the parts that actually get eaten.
Is glitter safe in reindeer food?
Ordinary craft glitter is plastic, does not break down on a lawn, and can be eaten by birds and other animals. Use edible glitter, coloured sugar or dried edible petals instead — it looks the same to a child.
When should you put reindeer food out?
After dark on Christmas Eve, sprinkled in a rough line on the lawn or path rather than a neat pile. Doing it in the dark is most of the point.
While you are here
- Leaving proof that Santa was here
How to leave convincing evidence that Santa visited, from boot prints to the half-eaten carrot, and the one rule that keeps it believable.
- The note Santa leaves on Christmas Eve
What to write in a note from Santa left on Christmas Eve, where to leave it, and why the short ones work better than the long ones.
- What to write in a letter to Santa
What a child should actually put in a letter to Santa, how to help without writing it for them, and what to do with it once it is finished.
Santa knows more than you think.
Tell Santa the small things nobody else knows, and he will tell them back.