It’s that time of year again… tis the season! When a teeny tiny elf-shaped visitor arrives for the next 24 days. A cheeky little elf who demands your attention and creativity every evening right up until the big day itself!
If, like me, you’ve cosied up into that lovely state of sleepiness only to be dragged back awake as the stark realisation of your elf duty flashes through your mind. Or perhaps you even make it until morning, when his smiling little face awaits you, exactly where you left him the day before, his eyes saying “forget about me, did you?”.
Ok, that sounded a little creepy.
If you’re stuck for elf ideas, let me get you started. I spent way too long looking for inspiration last year and the year before so if it saves you losing yourself down the same rabbit hole of elf images, here you go.
- Yoga elf: meditating, downward dog, bridge pose (this was my elf pose of choice last year – he managed to hold it all night).
- Using a mini toy frying pan and utensils from a play kitchen, Elf was cooking himself some Haribo eggs on the hob. You could use an actual frying pan if a toy isn’t available.
- Create an elf climbing wall using Christmas wrapping bows stuck to a door or wall. It looked great but I definitely found this a little tricky – I used blue tac to stick the bows on the door, created a little sign that said ‘Elf Climbing Wall’ in case it wasn’t obvious, and then the tricky part – suspending the elf on the wall (I used string and precarious balancing and the door couldn’t be used for the evening).
- Elf climbs to the top of the tree! Simple.
- Elf builds a snowman out of toilet rolls. You need 3 toilet rolls, some black and orange paper (or coloured in on white paper) to make eyes/buttons/nose and sticky tape to stick them on. For the arms, use a couple of brown pipe cleaners or paper.
- Elf brought a snowman – a bowl of water with eyes/carrot/buttons/twigs in it and a message saying “I brought you this snowman from the North Pole”.
- If you crack open the Celebrations/Heroes/miniature chocolate of choice and save all the wrappers, scatter them on the floor, next to a sleeping Elf and an empty chocolate container… it’s the guilt-free approach to Christmas chocolate consumption. “It wasn’t me! It was the elf!”
- Create a water paradise in the bath or the sink by floating Elf on a miniature inflatable or anything that can hold him and float (we went for a unicorn inflatable cup holder… classy!). Easy (if you have something for him to float on ☺)
- Wrap up your little Elf in Christmas wrapping paper and have another toy stood ‘innocently’ next to the wrap/tape and scissors.
- Get your little Elf to do a (s)elf portrait. You can’t lose on this one because if the portrait looks nothing like your little elf, it’s not your fault – it turns out they don’t teach portrait drawing in elf school!
- Elf twister! Plain paper, coloured pens, draw some dots and write ‘Twister’ on the side. Position your elf in a creative pose and get creative with throwing in another toy or two to the mix.
- Elf noughts and crosses. A piece of paper with the noughts and crosses lines drawn on and then your counters of choice. Some ideas… chocolate coins/buttons, 2 different pasta shapes (penne vs conchiglie), cereal shapes (cheerios vs shreddies). What I’m saying is – don’t buy anything – use what you have! Then, find a friend for elf to play with.
- Elf snow angel. I used sprinkles for this one (again, because I had some already). You could use flour, sugar, icing sugar… whatever you have to hand.
- The Floor is Lava! Ok, so there’s an easy way and a hard way to do this one. I’ll start with the easier version: position your elf precariously clinging on to something and make a sign to say ‘The Floor is Lava!’. If you want to go all out, you need some time/resources to prep this one. I got a bit carried away and cut out a load of orange flames from orange paper. I stuck them all over the floor but stuck little green islands (green paper) in amongst the flames, like stepping stones. I put Elf’s little sidekick on the island farthest away and then positioned Elf dangling from a cupboard dangerously close to a flame. There was a note before entering the room which said that Little Bear and Elfie needed rescuing but the floor is lava so stick to the islands. Did I go too far? Probably. Did we have fun? Yes!
- Create a shoe-shoe train. Gather a load of shoes, put them in a long line so that each shoe touches another shoe, heel-to-toe, put your elf in the shoe at the front as the shoe-shoe train driver and you could even put other toys in the other shoes. I made a little sign to say ‘Shoe-shoe train’.
- Lego challenge. Elf has chosen some Lego pieces and left a little note saying ‘Elf’s Lego Challenge: Can you make something using all these pieces?’.
- Elf goes camping. Fold a piece of paper/card in half and made a tent-like structure. I used a fake tea light candle for the campfire and put mini marshmallows on cocktail sticks for Elf and his friend to toast on their battery powered ‘fire’. I added some Christmassy decorative trees I had in the house to make it look a bit foresty!
- Elf in space! I thought this was going to be easy… so I’m giving you the heads-up that this one took me longer than I expected! I made a paper moon and cut out a rocket shape too. I then used tin foil to wrap Elf and his little sidekick in, trying to make it look like a little astronaut outfit. Then, I stuck the moon and the rocket onto the curtain pole and hung Elfie and Little Bear off there with string. Harder than it should be.
- Jenga. Again, pair up your little elf with a friend and build a Jenga tower. Be creative with what you use – you don’t need an actual Jenga set – sometimes it’s more fun to use something different. I used chocolate fingers last year.
- Elf goes on a toilet roll ride! Squeeze your elf inside a toilet roll and then roll it down the stairs.
- Elf has a snowball fight. This one might need some resources… you can use paper, cotton wool, or marshmallows. Build two little walls opposite each other – one for elf to hide behind and one for his friend to hide behind. I used normal/big marshmallows for this. Then I scattered the mini marshmallows between the walls as if they were little snowballs that had fallen, and put a little pile of them next to Elf and his sidekick. You could use scrunched up paper/toilet roll/or bits of cotton wool.
- Elf Christmas Movie Marathon. Position your elf looking super cosy on the sofa. He could have a few snack wrappers next to him or a few crumbs on a plate and the TV remote by his side.
- Elf playing a game. Work with what you have here. Connect 4/ Snakes and Ladders/ Scrabble (you can put some Christmassy words on the board or the name of your kids) / Marble Run / Guess Who / Pop Up Pirate… and so on. You get the idea.
- If you have a toy Doctor’s kit/Vet’s kit – you can set up a Doctor/Patient scene with Dr Elf helping a sick patient or two. You can take this further with little bandages/plasters.
- A scavenger hunt. This can take time to write out little clues but it’s totally worth it for their little face when they have to figure out where elf is hiding. An alternative is to make a little paper trail they have to follow to find out where he’s hiding (no clues necessary – bonus!)
