Reindeer Trail Mix…and an Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

Looking for a goofy treat to share with your students this holiday season? How about Reindeer Trail Mix! Now, I started making this stuff years ago when I taught 1st grade and it was a hit. When I moved to the upper grades, I needed a festive snack for our holiday party but wasn’t quite sure if my 5th and 6th graders would go along with the cheesiness of making “Reindeer Food.” I decided to give it a try and…it turned out great! The more I cheesed it up, the better. Here’s the secret recipe:

INGREDIENTS

“Reindeer Chow”–Coco Puff cereal
“Snowballs”–Small marshmallows
“Twigs”–Pretzel sticks
“Berries”–M & M candies
“Magic Flying Powder–Colored sugar, like you would sprinkle on cookies
A Ziplock baggie for each student

SETTING UP

I usually lay all of the ingredients out in bowls and post the recipe on an anchor chart. The kids are pretty good about inferring what each ingredient in the recipe represents (twigs = pretzel sticks). Students then go down the line to make their own trail mix, but…With the colored sugar, AKA “Magic Flying Powder,” I tape a fictional label over the manufacturer’s label. That’s where it gets really cheesy! It reads something like this–

“Magic Flying Powder: Super concentrated flying powder for reindeer use only. Use caution when feeding, making sure not to over sprinkle. Using more than 2 shakes may cause such consequences as flight to the moon.”

The kiddos know it is just their teacher being goofy, but they love to break the rules and over sprinkle, then joke about how they used so much that they will probably end up on Jupiter. It’s fun for all! HINT: Buy an extra bottle of the “Magic Flying Powder” and keep it hidden. Almost every year there are a few students who go way overboard and I run out, which makes those last kiddos to make the trail mix sad. If that happens, you can pull out your extra bottle and brighten their day!

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING???

How would an Amazon gift card help? A teacher blogger friend of mine is hosting a giveaway for a $65 Amazon gift card. Entering is easy. Click the picture below and head on over to NC Teacher Chick’s blog where a Rafflecopter is waiting for your entry. The giveaway runs Tuesday December 16 through Sunday December 20, 2014. Good luck!

Click the image to visit NC Teacher Chick’s blog and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway. The giveaway runs Tuesday December 16 through Saturday December 20, 2014. Good luck!