Elf on the Shelf 24 ideas!

Quite a few years ago now we decided to welcome a Snowman called Wilbur to get up to mischief in our home throughout December.  When we relocated back home form Germany to the UK, Wilbur retired and we had a new mischief maker called Pickles the elf.   He has a full Christmas name but I struggle to remember it now!

Fast forward a few years and we have more than one elf come and visit each December. Mainly due to a missing pickles which led to a hasty purchase of Peppermint and we were then destined to be over run when the baby elf of the family joined us (for Florence our youngest) called Sugarplum Mary.  We occasionally have a larger gangly Welsh elf Gwinifer (to keep our teenager from not being left out) then other toys also come to life on certain eventful nights, such as our 3 German gnomes who watch over them quite fiercely!  So you catch my drift we’re bonkers for elf antics in this house and certainly like to make December tricky for ourselves, with late night alarm reminders to think up some capers for them all!

We are big kids at heart and apart from the odd night of moaning, we do enjoy the magic and the fun that the Elf or Elves can bring.  Plus it’s just adorable watching our littles kneeling down by the elf door whispering to the North Pole whilst slightly hesitant that a miniature person may pop out and take them by surprise!  So this year we’re determined to be more organised, keep it simple and not costly and without too many props or extras. We thought it only fair to show some solidarity to all you hard working elf on the shelfers and round up some hopefully handy elf ideas from Pinterest to give you 24 days of elf inspiration, along with a helpful elf kit list to be organised. I have also added in a few days of ideas to swap in case you can’t do one of the 24 prompts already shared.    Our elves will disappear to help at the North Pole on Christmas Eve, especially as it’s a Birthday day in our house, so 24 is all I will be doing.  I have added in my Elf on the Shelf Pinterest board to show and share where my inspiration has come from and a helpful elf kit list at the end of the post to have handy for the 24 days of elf madness.  I will try my best to document what goes on in our house over on my instagram stories.

Lastly we don’t have the official elf on the shelf as we preferred a different style of elf so you’re able to join in with these prompts with any kind of elf or winter teddy.  We do try and stick to the rule that once they have discovered the elf/elves each morning they then have to put them back on a shelf so their magic doesn’t get rubbed off too much.  This ensures that they don’t go missing and we’re not hunting for them around the house come night time.  It also keeps the magic of them alive a little bit more.

1. North Pole Breakfast – Kick the elf season off with an easy one-off breakfast. Whether you pop your elf in the cereal box or deliver a treat breakfast such as Christmas tree/giant crumpets the choice is yours.  We have revised our breakfast these days to be slightly less disposable.  We no longer have festive disposable tableware.  We now use reusable festive plates that we have had for many years and just lay out a fun breakfast.  The elves will arrive with either a note or a Lightbox/peg board message.
2. The toys in the house are rattled by the elf arrival. We will set up a cage/bin where the elf is trapped by animals – we will use Schleich animals but any stuffed animals etc will do.
3. Fruit Bowl Googley eyes – Simply place sticky eyes or sticky google eyes on your fruit and place your elf in the fruit bowl.  A simpler version is to draw faces with a Sharpie.
4. Sledging down the stairs with candy cane sledges.
5. Snowman door – Cut out some coloured card/paper and make a Snowman door.
6. Elf egg breakfast – Haribo Fried eggs in a frying pan.
7. Give to others – Leave a letter by your elf door or letterbox asking your child/children to think of an act to give to others to do that day – Food bank, donate pocket money to charity or gift a present to the homeless etc.
8. Igloo – Milk bottle.
9. Elf Car Wash- Sponge and toy cars.
10. Toilet roll – poo rhymes.
11. Gone to the North Pole to report back to Santa – Lego message.
12. Remind the children of the real Christmas story and a reminder to DO SOMETHING KIND to others.  Maybe leave out a copy of the Christmas Nativity with the elf or place the elf around a manger.  Simply place another note based around the real reason we celebrate Christmas and then donate unwanted toys to charity or a Children’s hospital or gift to an elderly person.  Any act of kindness will be perfect!
13. Eggs in the fridge.
14. Hide n Seek candy cane hunt or elf scavenger hunt.
15. Shark in the sink.
16. Message about being good (hopefully) and leave out some hot chocolate treats. Maybe a new mug and hot chocolate with marshmallows and squirty cream
17. Moustaches appear everywhere!  Draw moustaches on pictures with a wipeable marker and if you’re brave on sleeping faces with face paint!
18. Toilet bowl fishing.
19. Stilt race with wrapping paper rolls.
20. Movie night – School’s out! Either a new movie and/or treats such as popcorn to celebrate the start of the holidays.
21. Food tin can tower with elf sneaking treats from the kitchen counter or cupboards!
22. Pin the nose on the reindeer.
23. Photocopy elves, and put them up around the house.
24. Farewell to Elves – however you like to do this in your home.  We prefer to buy a trinket from the poundshop and leave it as a memento of the elves stay.  We have gifted small snowlglobes, miniature ornaments or personalised elf tree decorations.  This is done with a farewell note from the elves as they leave to get the North Pole ready for a busy night ahead!

Extra ideas to swap a day – Sleeping in a tissue box, Gathering around a tea light with some teddies reading a Christmas story, sack race with paper bags, Snow ball fight with mini marshmallows and flour or icing sugar.

Elf kit list

Treat Breakfast items

Googly or sticky eyes

Sponge and toy cars

Sharpie or marker

Black or  brown Wipeable Marker or Face Paint

Coloured paper

Haribo eggs

Igloo – empty Milk carton and mini snowballs or cotton wool

Mini candy canes for a hunt and sledges

Nativity Christmas Storybook or Nativity scene

Rubber duck/fish and a fishing rod

Wrapping paper rolls

New Christmas Movie or Movie treats

Red Sticky dots or plain ones coloured in

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