Preparing for the Reindeer

Tori, Brianna and a friend

Recently I asked Tori and Brianna, my 7-year-old twin granddaughters, if they thought Santa would be coming to their home this Christmas.

They ecstatically told me that he most certainly definitely probably most likely surely would be coming, because this year they had been extremely very usually mostly really especially good.

And, in fact, this year the issue of how Santa would gain entry has been resolved, now that the family has moved into a new home having a fireplace.  Their previous home did not, and there was always some seasonal debate as to whether Santa would have the right key to be able to get in and work his magic without a fireplace.

I chose not to discuss the issue of the current malfunction of their gas fireplace.  No sense in giving those girlies any additional stresses.  The pressures of just behaving during this season are pressures enough.

Anyway,  I came up with an idea to help those girls make sure that Santa and his reindeer will definitely show up on December 25th - reindeer food.  I'm sure they'll want to spread this reindeer food in their yard on Christmas eve so that the reindeer will fly right down onto their property.  Santa can use all the navigational help he can get, don't you think?

To make this you'll need simple ingredients - oats and some kind of sprinkles.  I had cupcake sprinkles in tiny candy cane shapes and brown, both attractive to reindeer I'm sure.

There are no measurements.  Just toss some of each into a bowl.

Mix it up with your fingers (the reindeer won't mind), until it looks reindeer delicious.

Now you'll need a method of labeling and transporting this feed, especially if the feeding is to be done in a yard other than your own.

If you do an internet search of "reindeer food" you will find a bazillion places where you'll see the poem I am using on the labels.  So, I'm not sure where to give credit for it.  Maybe it has been around as long as "Kum Ba Yah" has been, and I've just now found it. 

I printed several labels, then attached them to some Christmas scrapbook paper with double sided tape.  Punch a hole to tie the label onto your sack.

For the feed sacks, I found some small bags in my pile of Christmas wrappings that will work fine.  I believe they are from the Martha Stewart craft line, and come in packages of six.

Feed sacks and labeling supplies

Scoop the reindeer feed into the sacks, tie on a label, and you are all set.  The finished bags:

This would be a fun, easy, and cheap project to do with any small child who is excited about Santa and his reindeer coming on Christmas eve.  Perhaps Dad could even do this with the young ones, while Mom is otherwise occupied with shopping, wrapping, or baking.  

Remember, cookies for Santa and feed for the reindeer.  Everyone's happy.

Watch tomorrow's blog post for the aftermath - "Reindeer Poop."