Over 100 Elf on the Shelf Ideas
If you do Elf on the Shelf in your house then you know its a love-hate relationship. I love getting creative and seeing Aurora light up as she sees the trouble our Elf Mistletoe has gotten into. Then every once in a while its 10:30 pm, I’ve just laid in bed and while I’m trying to fall asleep one word pops into my head, “elf”. My eyes shoot open and I hurriedly run downstairs to come up with some last minute idea to throw together. This will be our sixth year doing Elf on the Shelf, and here are TONS of ideas that we have done!
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Welcome Back Breakfast
Here is the first day idea that we repeat every year. Mistletoe and Blitzen (our reindeer friend) bring a big breakfast which usually contains snacks and donuts and Christmas themed treats. One thing they always bring on this day is our advent calendars. We do it a little different since we start on December 1st instead of the day after Thanksgiving. I can handle 24 days worth not more y’all.
Ornament Painting for Grandparents
Here is another idea that we repeat every year. Mistletoe brings some type of ornament for Aurora to paint (3 of them) to gift to each of her grandparents.
Gingerbread House
Another repeat, we always have Mistletoe bring a Gingerbread House (or two) to decorate. I dress her up in her cooking outfit and grab this mini house from the Dollar Tree to show that she decorated one too. They literally have this mini house every year. This is usually the idea we do on December 2nd every year so the Gingerbread house can sit on the kitchen counter for the majority of the month.
Elf on the Shelf doesn’t have to be complicated, you can do really simple things with toys and objects in your child’s room. Mistletoe has moved around or spelled out bathtub foam letters a few years now.
Keeping on with using objects around the house, if you have a pet you can include them! Mistletoe left a messy trail of Muffin’s dog toys out one day.
Here’s a classic, the stilts wrapping paper. Easy and fast.
Use multiple rooms in your house! It makes it more fun for the kids to have to search harder to try and find your elf. If you have a paper shredder, we had Mistletoe make a mess of it in our office. Make a mess of the paper clips, sticky notes, or pens in the office.
Set your elf in the Christmas tree, or next to it. Super simple!
Mistletoe put up some Mistletoe….then I tried to give Aurora a hundred kisses.
Use your kids toys! Any toys they have can make some great set ups. Aurora loves her American girl dolls and they are the perfect elf on the shelf size. Here are some ideas for using your kids toys!
Cornhole anyone? I feel like the holiday seasons always bring “mini” items. Anytime I’m out shopping and see something mini I’ll grab it to add to our Elf on the Shelf box. We have a large plastic tub full of stuff at this point. Six years worth of goodies….
Stick-on mustache pack from the Dollar Tree. So easy! Put them on the toys and write a little note.
Have your elf try to sell your kids toys! Put some yard sale stickers on them with a sign.
You elf can bring little gifts! It doesn’t have to be anything expensive. A lot of these I got cheap from the Dollar Tree or Walmart. A little notebook, a bath bomb, a hot cocoa set.
Have your elf bring some type of experience! One year Mistletoe gave Aurora tickets to see the Nutcracker ballet. She has also brought tickets for Breakfast with Santa. Movie tickets are a good idea or tickets to a local museum, etc.It can just be somewhere you were already planning to go but have the elf bring it instead!
Hands on activities. Have your elf bring something for the kids to do in the house. Coloring books, I spy books, a book to read, a painting activity. One of my favorites that we do every year is have Mistletoe hide twelve candy canes around the house for Aurora to find.
Use food in your fridge and pantry. This easy and quick idea, just grab something and set it out so it looks like the elf got into it! If something is close to be empty, finish it and make it look like the elf did it.
This one is a classic! Have your elf draw faces on fruit in the fridge.
Another easy idea, your elf got into the whip cream.
So this one requires a little planning and execution. Have your elf make some food. Mini sized pancakes, cookies, sandwiches. Anything mini sized for your kids to eat.
Mistletoe brought us ingredients to make chocolate covered strawberries!
Mini Props
Hobby Lobby always seems to have a good selection of mini stuff. Think ornaments, doll toys, Barbie sized items.
Here is another “repeat” idea that we do every year. We have Mistletoe bring items for us to put together “Blessing Bags” that we keep in our car. Blessing bags are an alternative to giving homeless people money. We get gallon sized Ziploc bags and fill them with water bottles, granola bars, wipes, hand sanitizer, dental floss, toothbrushes, etc.
Another classic idea, have your elf toilet paper the Christmas tree.
You most likely wont have this around you house, but I had a cute box from a gift and an Eiffel tower off our wall that I put together for a Paris themed day.
We had Mistletoe unwrap one of Aurora’s gifts. We don’t have Santa bring all of her gifts, she has gifts from grandparents that usually sit under the tree after we get them in the mail.
Do you hang garland in your house? Have your elf “zipling” on it with a candy cane!
Shutterfly did one of those specials for one free Christmas card sample. I googled a photo for elf on the shelf and had this one sent to us.
Have your elf bring some “science experiments” or “magic experiments”. One is the good ole plant some glitter in sugar that grows candy canes. This one takes two nights worth since you add the candy canes sticking up the next day! The skittles experiment is a newer idea, just set them on a plate and add hot water to let the kids see the colors run!
Get ideas from movies. We are Disney freaks and really love the movies. I wont lie, some of these were insane and took a lot to do. The year Wreck It Ralph came out we set up and entire sugar rush race track. I bought at least $15 worth of candy and sugar and it was such a mess to clean up. But you cant deny how great it was! Finding Dory was much easier, just setting Mistletoe inside the coffee carafe instead of Dory with Hank. Aurora had the Barbie Moana boat and doll so we used those one year with palm trees. These are toys and stuffed animals we already had at the house.
We love Harry Potter too, and I made our elf a little cape our of black felt and hot glue. Yes, I own a Harry Potter wand too so we wrote a little note about Hogwarts and had Mistletoe flying on a broom (with fishing line).
Have your elf get sick. I bet you’ve got tissues, cough drops, or medicine in the house somewhere already so use it! We’ve done this one a few times over the years!
I also dragged out our sick elf for a second day and made her go to Doc McStuffin’s clinic since Aurora had a Doc McStuffins Barbie.
Inspiration from Music. Years ago the song “What does the fox say” was a huge hit and Aurora loved the music video. So we did that one day!
This took quite a bit of planning. Two of my neighbors also did Elf on the shelf with their kiddos so Mistletoe had them over for a pool party one day. They left a note for their kids to find and they each brought their kids over to see the setup that day. Obviously it would be a big hassle unless you live really close to someone, but its fun to have multiple elves throw some kind of party and collaborate with friends. The floats are just floating inflatable cup holders from Amazon. You can see the pack I bought here.
Another repeat idea that we do every year is have Mistletoe bring the ingredients for cookies to make on Christmas Eve! Even if its premade cookie dough to throw in the oven, set it out before the kids get up to have the elf bring it. One year, we had her bring a “Christmas Eve” box with slippers, popcorn, and a movie to watch as a Christmas Eve activity. Also, don’t forget the reindeer, Mistletoe brought reindeer mix to put out too.
One year I totally spaced that Mistletoe is suppose to leave on Christmas Eve, so on Christmas Day she brought Baby Jesus a gift.
If you don’t yet have an Elf and want to start the tradition, you can find them on Amazon above!
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To add an “Elf Pet” to your family, grab one above!
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I hope you enjoy these ideas and it helps you plan out your Elf on the Shelf! I have another post for Elf on the Shelf ideas:
Military Themed Elf on the Shelf Ideas
Finding the fun everywhere life takes us!
Love, Olivia Michelle
