Nov 30, 202011 min read

25 Easy Elf on the Shelf Ideas

He's Back! Give these 25 Easy Elf on the Shelf Ideas a try this December!

*This post may contain Amazon affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link! All opinions, thoughts, and suggestions are my own!*

Elf on the Shelf is a newer family tradition that started back in 2005. It wasn't till recent years that his mischievous elf took the social media world by storm. Thousands of images get posted every Christmas season. It can get a little overwhelming when some of these Elf on the Shelf ideas are over the top. Then as a parent, you start comparing every life choice you ever made. At first, I was not a fan of this mischievous elf and just didn't understand "the big deal". In 2016, that all changed when my daughter begged me to ask Santa to send her a Elf.

It's become a family tradition we love and I can't imagine Christmas without him. I love that the Elf reminds our kids to be on their best behavior EVER! We tend to enforce that. If they were naughty that day; our Elf will go on strike. He will not play games, bring gifts, or surprises. He brings naughty lists warnings and he ain't shy about handing them out. Collect too many and you could risk coal in your stocking. Really? No... I'm not that mean haha. We don't give our children coal but the rest is true. The Elf on the Shelf will usually make his grand entrance sometime between the day after Thanksgiving and the 1st of December.

In most recent years, our Elf makes his appearance closer to December first. Why? I grew up with the Christmas tradition of setting up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. It was my favorite and I loved it so very much! I loved it so much that I tried to make it a thing in our house. Unfortunately, I'm married to the Grinch. The Grinch would prefer we put up the Christmas tree on December 23rd and that it came down the day after Christmas. Even though my husband can be "grinchy" during the holidays, it doesn't stop him from jumping in on the Elf shenanigans with me. Lets be real, the Elf isn't creative every night. A lot of the times, I am mentally fried from the holidays and just can't think. Thank God for my husband who will be clever on the nights I can't. Who gets the most joy out of this tradition? The adults or the kids?

WHERE CAN I BUY A ELF?

You can grab yourself a mischievous little Elf from AMAZON! Amazon is an awesome place to get all the things you need speedy quick. We have a Amazon Prime membership and it's worth of every penny. Just saying. Head over to Amazon to grab your Elf! You can get a boy or girl/light skin or dark skin! The Elf on the Shelf comes with your new little Elf, a keepsake storybook, and adoption certificate on the last page. The keepsake storybook explains the holiday tradition and all the rules too ;)

YOU BOUGHT AN ELF... NOW WHAT?

A box with a smile just arrived to your door. Now what? It's time to give that Elf a name! Naming your Elf can be a family decision, parents prename it, or you let your kids decide with no filter. My daughter already came up with the names for her elves before they even arrived. My son is still young and doesn't really care. He's here for the giggles and gifts. I know some families have a tradition of allowing their children to rename their Elf every year. Pretending that Santa sends a new Scout Elf to their home every Christmas season. We like to pretend that our Scout Elf was assigned to us as their Elf for years to come. This may change as they get older, but we aren't there yet.

Our Elf's name is Chip. Chip Mc Jingle-Jangle to be exact. I was not a fan of his first name, but that last name gets me haha. Chips' name has grown on me & it's easy for the kids to remember and pronounce. This year my daughter really wants a girl Elf to join us and has pre-named her. We've only had the one elf for four years. How am I going to juggle two elves? Stage two elves? Be clever enough for two elves? I don't know how I'm going to handle two elves. I caved and bought a girl Elf this year. How could I not?! My daughter picked the sweetest name for her. Our girl Elf will be arriving this year and her name is Gingersnap. Ginger for short. Gingersnap/Gingerbread cookies are my moms favorite to bake at Christmas.

If you and your children need some help picking a Elf name you can follow this link: https://theinspirationboard.com/elf-on-the-shelf-names/

You can also find great Elf names on Pinterest as well!

THE ELF IS BACK!

Ready for your Elf to make his/her grand entrance?! I think the first day of the Elf on the Shelf may be my favorite! I like making his first day this big to do thing, because it's a BIG DEAL to my kids. They get so excited for his return! I like to include a letter or a piece of mail that has been delivered by Santa himself. The letter usually mentions the main rule of Elf on the Shelf again, DO NOT TOUCH THE ELF! It is extremely important to not touch the Elf. Why? He will loose his special Christmas magic and won't be able to return to Santa that night. He will have to spend the whole day in the refrigerator to regain his health. At least that is the rules we play by. Do you do this in your home? Do you have a no touch policy? haha.

Day 1:

Last year, Chip surprised the kids with a letter from Santa and he brought them cookies baked by Mrs. Claus herself! It looks like Chip might of stole a bite. Mmmm, naughty little Elf. Those cookies are for the children!

Buy a box of Pillsbury Christmas sugar cookies and bake them up the night before. You can grab a box of these Christmas print sugar cookies at your local grocery stores!

Day 2:

Chip snuck into the car last night and has a little note. Looks like he wants us to drive to Ihop for Elf Pancakes and then to the movie theater to see Frozen 2.

Sometimes restaurants partner with Elf on the Shelf and last year Ihop offered Elf Pancakes. My kids couldn't wait to try them. They were even more excited for the Frozen 2 movie! We love taking our kids to the movie theater! Something we miss doing a lot in 2020.

Day 3:

My husband and I thought we were pretty clever with this. We used one of our indoor security cameras to prop the Elf on. "Santa is watching you" - Chip <3

HA! My kids thought Santa was actually watching them through the camera. We may of played into this and it kept them on their toes. Parent win.

Day 4:

By day four, our kids and their sibling arguing was getting out of hand. It had just been a long day.

Chip agreed! He sent them a naughty list warning. Stop whining and stop fighting. He had a enough of it too. For a Elf who isn't allowed to talk or walk away while the kids are up, he put up with a lot that day.

Like I said before, Chip is not shy at handing out the naughty list warnings. He even threatened to tell Santa about their naughty behavior. Our kids were quick to change their ways that day.

Day 5:

It's Woody, Buzz, and Jesse! The whole gangs here and they don't seem to like the new toy.

I bet Jesse used those cowgirl roping skills, Buzz probably hid in the Christmas tree with the jar, and Woody conducting it all as he chased Chip. Could you imagine the chaos they had that night?!

My kids are huge fans of Toy Story and they busted a gut when they discovered Chip had been trapped. I do believe the Toy Story gang apologized to Chip.

You can grab yourself a Woody doll, Buzz Lightyear, and Jesse over at Amazon:

Day 6:

A super easy idea for the Elf is books!!!! A new storybook to read is always fun and encourages reading! Big or small, my kids love when Chip brings a new book for them.

Last year, Dollar General had these itty bitty classic Christmas story books available in their stores. They are so tiny and the perfect size for a Elf to carry back all the way from the North Pole.

They had several classic story tales to choose from and we grabbed them all up! I also love the idea of 25 days of Christmas stories. A tradition I wish I could remember to start, even if we only did it for one year.

Day 7:

Look at that! You made it through the first week of Elf on the Shelf! This idea came to us - literally. Target mailed out their Christmas Catalog and I instantly knew what to do!

Chip circled all his favorite toys! The kids woke up and chuckled. Then they spent a good majority of their day looking through the catalog and circling the toys they wanted!

I remember doing that as a kid too. Circling all the cool new toys we wanted Santa to bring us.

Day 8:

Chip came swinging in after a long trip back from the North Pole. Sometimes we need a break too and not all of our ideas are like WOW.

We saw this idea on Pinterest and attempted multiple ways of making a swing. It didn't work. We tried different ways of him hanging on the swing. It didn't work. We gave up. We settled for a string under this armpits and called it a night.

We'll try better next time. Sometimes our Elf on the Shelf ideas are an epic fail. #pinterestfail

Day 9:

On this day, Chip left a note on the fridge. He had some fun plans for us again! This time he wanted us to go take pictures with Santa at the mall. He asked that we tell him hello!

After pictures, we did some Christmas gift shopping. We started allowing our children to buy gifts for each other and gifts for their parents. We gave each child $15 to spend on their sibling, $15 for their Dad, and $15 for Mom. They had a blast shopping!

We ended the night with tickets to our local Nutcracker Ballet at the Arts Theater! The Nutcracker Ballet is probably my daughters favorite thing we do with her. We don't go every year, but we've taken her twice in recent years. The show was so good last year! They got new outfits and added some more scenes. Does your family go to a Christmas Ballet or special show?

Day 10:

This just might be my new favorite Christmas tradition and we didn't even know how much of a hit it would be!

Chip hid 12 candy canes throughout the house. After the kids found them all, they could put them on the Christmas tree and have one to eat.

Aaron and I had a blast hiding these candy canes in some of the sneakiest spots. It was like a cross between Easter and Christmas- I loved every second of it. The kids were SUPER excited for this too. They love Easter egg hunting. We hide about 100 eggs in our house every Easter. haha. Is that too many? We will be doing this idea again this year! Maybe we will up the amount of candy canes.

Day 11:

WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT FOR THE TREE! Zip Lining Elf coming through!

How fun is this?! We tied a string from the Christmas tree to our ceiling fan. I wouldn't recommend leaving this up all day though.

We used a candy cane to zip on, a little scotch tape to hold everything in place, and BAM! Your kids will be so shocked by this naughty shenanigan.

Day 12:

It's an Elf on the Shelf Christmas Tree Farm! Grab a few bottle brush trees, a decorative truck or one from your kids bedroom, and some Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes!

Some fake snow, a trees for sale sign, twinkle lights, and you have yourself a Instagram worthy Elf on the Shelf idea.

Who doesn't love an excuse to eat a Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes?!

Day 13:

Grab some leftover wrapping paper from the year before and wrap up that Elf! Chip was practicing his gift wrapping skills!

You could even take this a step further and have your kids wrap their gifts for families this day. They can be taught and practice their own gift wrapping skills.

Day 14:

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer... la la la.

You made it two weeks in! You can do this mama!

This was clever and cute. We used tiny little red craft pom poms and some scotch tape to attach Rudolph noses to the noses of my kids in the pictures.

Our kids found this one hilarious. Maybe they are easily assumed. Either way, this idea is easy to pull off and takes no time at all to complete!

Day 15:

Chip spent all night cutting and pasting and making a bit of a mess. I had way to much fun with this. I used craft paper to create snowmen on my children's bedroom doors.

We left these up on their doors until at least February. They were just too cute to take down.

I have a few ideas on my Pinterest for more Christmas door ideas. My kids loved that we decorated the doors and it made the hallway so cheery and festive.

Day 16:

We were off to do some annual Christmas cooking baking at a family members house. A tradition my children love getting to go do!

Chip made himself as snug as a bug in a rug with his bowl of popcorn and Hershey Kisses. Looks like a good day to cuddle up on the couch and watch Christmas movies.

Day 17:

This is when Aaron took over for a couple days, because I was becoming clueless with ideas. It happens. The Elf on the Shelf takes a lot out of you.

I know a lot of parents that dread doing the Elf. We push through because our kids get so much joy out of it.

I thought his note was so cute.

"Help! I heard you all made cookies, I tried. Don't tell Santa. -Chip-"

Day 18:

Another day that my husband took over the Elf.

This time it looks like Chip got himself into a sticky situation. Rescuing a cat from the ceiling fan?! How did that cat even get up there?

His note says:

"It is crazy around here when you sleep. Kitty was stuck up here and I was trying to save her. Don't do things like kitty. Be good. -Chip"

Day 19:

"I went to look for a midnight snack and found some cookies that were unattended. It's so chilly in here. It reminded me of home. I hope you don't mind, I think i may stay in here today. <3 Chip"

We don't mind Chip! Just leave some cookies for us!

Day 20:

There is only 5 more days till Christmas reminder! Chip left the kids a note and was hanging out in their stockings.

These customized stockings were the best purchase ever! I love that the look like knitted socks. Do you use the same stockings every year or buy new ones?

My husband grew up never having a stocking!!! He still thinks stockings are silly but he knows I love it.

Day 21:

Chip left the kids a cute little candy cane note. He's so clever!

Don't you just love the twinkle of Christmas trees? Chip looks pretty happy hanging out under the tree.

We only have a few more days left with the Elf. Time to make these last few days count.

Day 22:

Chip brought early stocking stuffers! He wrapped them up a box of candy for each to have.

We had a popcorn movie night and watched "ELF!". It's only fitting right?

I believe Chip enjoyed a good chuckle from watching his favorite Christmas movie!

Day 23:

"Let's bake cookies for Santa!"

Time to bust out those cookie cutters and let the kids go wild with the sprinkles. Santa is on his way in a couple days and needs freshly baked cookies!

I wiped up a small batch of our favorite sugar cookie recipe and then used premade vanilla frosting to frost the cookies. Do you know this trick?

If you microwave the frosting for a couple seconds it loosens up and becomes like a royal frosting. As the frosting dries, it will stiffen back up, and taste so good! Just pour it in a wide opening bowl so your kids can dunk the tops of the cookies. Throw on some sprinkles and you're done!

Day 24:

We made it! You made it! We all made it to the very last day of Elf on the Shelf!

We wanted Chips' last day to be extra fun and silly. While we were all sleeping, Chip got into the green streamers we used at a Christmas party. He strung them from the ceiling, doors, and walls down the hallway. He created a maze! When the kids woke up they shouted "WE'RE TRAPPED!".

They had so much acting like secret agents and making their way over and under the streamers. Then just as expected, running through the streamers and ripping them all down. haha. Aaron and I had a blast putting this all together.

25:

Go grab a Elf on the Shelf and start this fun family Christmas Tradition in your home!