NCGW Things to do
Rudolph’s Energy Ball-balls
Create a reindeer feeder out of wild bird seed
Here’s what you’ll need!
Shopping list for your local garden centre:
- Wild bird seed (to help them fly)
- Dried mealworms (a favourite treat)
- Suet (vegetarian/vegan options available)
- Dried berries (to make their noses shine bright)
- Peanuts (to give them energy)
- String
Instructions:
- Find somewhere to hang your reindeer food from. For example, a tree, or a windowsill…
- In a bowl, mix the bird seed, mealworms and peanuts together.
- Put 1 cup of suet and 2 cups of the seed into a bowl and mix.
- Put the mixture into a saucepan and heat until the suet has melted (medium heat), stirring the mixture continuously.
- Leave to cool for a couple of minutes.
- Cut each bit of string to 30cm long and tie one end into a tight knot 3 times.
- Take a handful of the mixture from the bowl, place the knotted end of the string into the middle of the mixture, and create a ball around the string using your hands.
- Stick the dried berries around the ball-balls to attract the reindeers, and when eaten, it will make their noses shine even brighter!
- Place the ball-balls in the fridge and leave to cool overnight.
- Once the mixture has cooled/set, hang the ball-balls up for the reindeers to eat, and it’s great for the birds too.
