Elf on the shelf

[leoniebabey]

Who else still does it?

I’m getting to the point where I think the elves need to go on a holiday haha! I’m running out of ideas we have done it for 4 or 5 years now.
Pop your ideas below I need inspiration, we have done lots of good ones over the years so far I have planned-
Turning an orange into a terrys chocolate orange
Fill their bedroom with Christmas balloons
Draw snowmen on toilet rolls
Stick googly eyes on the elves

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

Jews have something similar called Mensch On a Bench. Ours sat near the menorah and did funny things. We named him Ben.

Pinterest has a ton of ideas!!

 

[Bevziibubble]

we've done it for the past few years.
Some ideas that we do are:
. Skittles experiment
. Decorating Christmas tree in kids clothes
. Making a shoe train around the room
. Using toilet paper for tinsel on Christmas tree
. Writing something on kids head while asleep
. In fridge drinking kids milkshake
. Decorating the eggs with funny faces
. Looking in the fish tank
. Eating chocolate with messy face.

 

[c1403]

We've done it past three years. I tend not to do the messy things but just out the elf in random places like in their Barbie house, climbing the tree etc. May need to up my game this year (they've already asked when he's coming back)

 

[Scout]

I started doing the elf last year (dd was 5), and she had a fantastic time with it. I was a bit lazy though and didn't do much besides moving him from place to place. One night, I put the elf next to her in bed while she was sleeping and took a pic, and then on the night he left to go back to the north pole I left her that picture of the two of them. She slept with that picture for the next few months and now has is framed in her bedroom. I'll do that again this year. And I plan to do better through the month with more fun things.

 

[leoniebabey]

No I don’t like anything too messy. I wish we had started with the posable elves but my youngest finds them really creepy so we have bigger plush ones but because they are plush you can’t do a lot with them. Ideas that have went down well over the years:
- Melted snowman- they brought us a snowman from the North Pole but of course it melted haha! (Used a baking tray and added water, two twigs from outside, a small carrot and googly eyes)

-Planting jelly beans in a bowl of sugar and they grew into candy canes

-sprinkling glitter on eggs and they turned into kinder eggs

- made a zipline

- toasting marshmallows (used a battery operated tea light)

- turned the milk green. Oldest is lactose intolerant so the milk we use comes in a carton you can’t see into which added to the surprise!

- added sprinkles to the cereal

- coloured their noses red while they slept

- changed their bedding while they slept (I don’t know how they pulled that one off ha!)

- undies on the Christmas tree

- rolled toilet roll down the stairs

-covered the tree in toilet roll

- last year I trapped the elf inside a Pepsi bottle. Morgan (9) is still now convinced there is no way I could have done that so they must be real!

- every year the kids hang their lists on the tree in felt envelopes and the elves take them to the North Pole and leave sweets in the envelope

December is the one month we actually get up on time because the kids are so excited to wake me up to see what the elves have done haha!

 

[motherofboys]

I've never done it before, ds3 had one in his class in year 1 and was really upset by it. I'm considering getting one either when he stops believing or maybe this year and letting him know the elf isn't real but not sure if that'll tip him off to the rest.

 

[Babybump87]

This will be our third year of doing it , the girls love it every morning . I must admit I do forget some nights and it just got threw in the Xmas tree or on some decs .

Looking for some ideas this year as the girls are a bit older . I did like the skittle experiment you did last year Bev , that’s going on my list for this year never got around to doing it last year.

Aww that’s such a cute keepsake Scout !

 

[wildflower79]

I think this will be our 5th year of doing it! I'm dreading it a bit, as we've pretty much done everything there is to do. I think my girls will be expecting it again though. They have a cute cuddly elf each, not the creepy looking one lol.

 

[leoniebabey]

My youngest is petrified of the creepy looking ones, he won’t even walk past them in shops.

I tend to do a few free ideas and then I will buy or make props for other ideas. I don’t like to spend too much though.

Every year we do a book advent. Well we did the advent the first year and then each year since we just put the books in a basket and read one each night, they usually get a new one xmas eve, however this year I decided to get Morgan a more age appropriate book that he can read himself each night so the elf will bring that on the first along with a book for Harvey (they will still want me to read the other books just some of them are getting a bit young for Morgan now but for tradition sake he still likes them haha) and maybe some colouring bits/baking bits as they don’t get the use of them in the Xmas eve box tbh.

 

[Mum21boy1girl]

Thanks for all the ideas, I am doing it again this yr, this will be the third yr for us(mostly for my youngest)
I think Alex the Elf will bring a wife with him this yr!! Double the trouble!!

 

[Buttercup84]

Thanks for all the ideas, I am doing it again this yr, this will be the third yr for us(mostly for my youngest)
I think Alex the Elf will bring a wife with him this yr!! Double the trouble!!

Ours is getting a lady friend too, just bought her yesterday
Also picked up a paper crafts/scenes book to use for some days this year but tbh I'll probably redo some past ideas aswell.

 

[Babybump87]

Double trouble sounds like fun! The girls have a elf each so thinking of getting one for DS. Three might be overkill though ?!

 

[Mum21boy1girl]

Double trouble sounds like fun! The girls have a elf each so thinking of getting one for DS. Three might be overkill though ?!

I think three would be fun