For years I’ve watched friends and family members plan their annual Elf on the Shelf Celebrations. It’s 24 days of fun and mayhem for the entire family. Some of my friends go all out on planning their Elf on the Shelf daily surprises. I’ve seen everything from elaborate, festive elf breakfasts to elves who zip line across the living room to elves who spill a 5 pound bag of flour on the floor and make elf prints in it. I wanted to do a lower key version of Elf on the Shelf. I decided to incorporate some of our Christmas traditions with the Elf on The Shelf, along with easy, fun ideas that won’t be too messy or time consuming. Here are 24 easy Elf on the Shelf Ideas that won’t take over five minutes a day to prepare.
25 Easy Elf on the Shelf Ideas:
1. Arrive with an Advent Calendar. One of my kids’ favorite traditions has been moving the marker on the Advent Calendar. In celebration of baby Jenna (nicknamed “Critter”), here’s a cute Fox Advent Calendar. (Critter has her own Critter!)
2. Mini Christmas Tree decoration, part 1. The kids love to have their own mini tree in their rooms. I decided to do this in parts. On day two, our Elf, Wynter, delivered a mini tree.
3. Mini Christmas Tree decoration, part 2. Deliver the lights for the mini tree.
4. Mini Christmas Tree decoration, part 3: Deliver the ornaments for the mini tree.
5. New Christmas Tree Ornament. One of our family traditions is each child gets a new ornament each year. This year our Elf got stuck in the tree while trying to deliver the ornament.
6. Have the Elf pack a lunch for school. Include the silliest items you can find, like a can of hot sauce.
7. Make this cute recipe for Elf Milk . Store it in a brand new cup.
8. Christmas Stories- The Elf brings a favorite Christmas story to read.
9. Elf Bath- Surprise the kids by letting your Elf greet them in a marshmallow bath.
10. Family Movie Night. The Elf arrives with a favorite Christmas movie for the family to watch together.
11. Hide and Seek. The Elf hides (ours hid on the ceiling fan) and leaves a note with a clue on how to find him.
12. Elf Candy Attack. Find the Elf surrounded by pieces of candy from an open bag.
13. Elf Pajamas. If you have a family tradition of getting new pajamas for Christmas, have the Elf deliver the pajamas.
14. Elf Cocoa. The Elf leaves cocoa, marshmallows and peppermint candy canes to make a treat.
15. Make Cookies. The bring brings a package of cookie dough and sprinkles.
16. Decorate with Bows. Purchase pre-made bows and have the Elf “decorate” the fridge.
17. Count down. Have the Elf leave a note on the fridge with magnetic letters, Only (however many) more days. This will also work with blocks.
18. Watching TV. The Elf greets the kids in the morning sitting on the couch, surrounded by the remote and snacks.
19. Hiding in the Fridge. Wrapped in a kitchen towel, trying to stay warm.
20. Elf Swinging. Our Elf, Wynter, tried to swing from the chandelier.
21. Elf Kisses. The Elf delivers a small bag of candy kisses and a note on how much fun she is having at your house this December.
22. Rudolph Noses. Leave a picture of family members out and draw a nose on each one with red lipstick.
23. Make Reindeer Food. The Elf brings the two magic ingredients for reindeer food-oatmeal and colored sugar, plus a plastic bag to store the ingredients when they’re mixed. Allow your child to mix the ingredients.
24. Stocking Delivery- The Elf Brings a Christmas Stocking to leave out for Santa to fill tonight!
Bonus Idea! If you ever forget to plan an Elf idea, wrap a small bandage around the Elf’s foot and tape into place. Tell the kids your Elf accidentally hurt her ankle and needs a day of rest before returning with more fun.
Free Elf Paper Printable:
Your Elf can leave a note each day on our festive “Elf Paper.” Just right click to download a copy.
*I found several of my props, including the Fox Advent Calendar, mini Christmas tree, decorations, ornament ,cup and candy at our local At Home store Christmas Collection. If you haven’t been to At Home stores, you haven’t seen their massive selection of Christmas goodies to help make your Christmas decorating and Elf on the Shelf ideas easier and more affordable.
What are your favorite Christmas Traditions?
I love how easy these are! I was just telling my friend that I don’t know how anyone has the time for all those elaborate scenes.
I have a question. I have been doing this with my adult son for the last two years. I take pictures of Elf doing something. I also leave it sometimes where it is at when take pictures. Other times I don’t leave it. My son didn’t know what one was and asked a friend and she said kids at supposed to find Elf, and my son stuck up for himself and said this is how my mom does it and I like it. So my question is are kids supposed to find elf, and wouldn’t that be little kids that don’t have cell phones yet? Any tips. Not that I am going to change what I do, I just want to know if I am wrong. My friend sends it to her adult son too because he is not home.
I think any way you want to do the elf that works for your family is great. If your son enjoys the way you do it, which it sounds like he does, I’d keep doing it the way you are now. I know some parents who let the child find the elf and some who don’t.
When the ex and I were together, we did Elf for years and years. Kiddo is pretty much over the elf now.
Great ideas!!! I am always looks for places to hide our three little elves!
My kids never experienced the “Elf” but I know my husband would have loved doing it everyday.
We did start the advent calendar on time. I still have to dig out the elf. I have never been so late before but we moved and he is buried.
Elf on a shelf is so much fun. I love to see these
What great ideas for Elf on the Shelf. Using the bandage is an ingenious idea.
Oh such a lovely elf i guess my kids would like this one. I swear such a good ideas! Thanks for sharing.
This article is good fun.
There are some clever and funny ideas here!
These are some really great ideas! I am always running out of clever ideas! Thanks for these!
I like the Elf hiding Idea. That way if I forget to do it then I can quickly run and stuff him somewhere! lol! He’s hiding kids -you have to find him!
We haven’t started the whole Elf on the Shelf thing as my son is only 2. However, these are great ideas and I’ll share them with my sister! 🙂
These are great ideas! Love that elf on the chandelier, brilliant!
We love our elf! We are a simple family too, I love these ideas! Thanks for sharing!
What a cute collection of Elf ideas. Haha, we have yet to gain a little elf in our home.
Easy is the name of the game for us when it comes to the elf. We used to get all fancy, but man, that gets rough doing something fabulous each night. These are great ideas to help keep it simple, yet fun!
This is a fun collection of Elf ideas. I’m going to share it with my friend with little kids.
I will have to share this with my friend. She was just saying she was trying to think of some Elf on the Shelf ideas.
I am going to start Elf on the Shelf next year now that the kids are getting a little older. I think it will be fun to try different ideas.
My kids love our Elf on the Shelf. Thanks for the great ideas. I will have to try a few of these this week.
I am always looking for new Elf on the Shelf ideas. We have been doing it for years and It can be hard to think of new ideas.
I love all of these ideas. I don’t do elf on the shelf, but I still love seeing everyone’s ideas. I think I may try this next year though.
Oh now these are super clever. I love the idea of using the elf to surprise the kids with gifts or treats.
These are some fun ideas. It’s such a great way to imagine with kids.
Haha, such fantastic and creative Elf on the Shelf ideas you have here. I should try a few for my nieces!
We have had our Elf on the Shelf for a few years now and the kids still find him fun. These ideas are great, since it can become difficult to change things up.
These are way too much fun! It is hard to say who has more fun with it – the kids or the parents haha.
These are some awesome ideas. About 2 weeks into December I ran out of ideas last year but I think I’m all planned out for this year.
Awesome ideas. I feel like sometimes I’m running out of ideas for our elf, especially when I find myself running late, before the kids wake up. Favorite is the elf milk recipe. Plan on doing that one soon.
THANK YOU!!! Our elf has been moving around but not creating too much chaos. I’ve already run out of ideas before the first week.
I had considered an Elf on the Shelf Christmas ornament, but it just kinda passed right over my head. I am glad someone had the sense to actually do it. 🙂
Boy did I need this. We’ve been doing Elf on the Shelf for years, and I’ve started to run out of ideas!
These are great! The Elf is not my thing, but I appreciate the creativity!