Elf on the Shelf Extravaganza: Planning Ahead

The holiday season is just around the corner, and with it comes the beloved tradition of Elf on the Shelf! If you’re like many parents, finding creative and easy ideas for your mischievous little elf can sometimes feel overwhelming. But fear not! I have put together some of my favorite ideas that will spark joy and laughter.

My top 5 Elf setups over the years:

This coming up year will be my 8th year of Elf on the Shelf for my kids. I’m not going to lie the first year was so boring I wasn’t creative at all. The second year was when I started having fun and loved watching the kids reaction with it. Now I have recruited the help of my 2 older kids to help. They really get in it and I love the joy it brings when the little ones find it in the morning.

Here are my top 5 setups from over the years! 

1. Cereal in the toliet:

This is one that I did last year and it got a big laugh from the kids! This was a quick one that just took some planning. I bought everything at the dollar tree for this one.

What you need:

• Your kids favorite cereal
• Plastic wrap
• Spoon

1. Put plastic wrap under the toilet seat. You want to make sure this is on tight so the cereal won’t fall. 
2. Place a layer of cereal on top of the plastic 

2. Elf in the school carline:

At the time my son was in 5th grade and he wasn’t a fan of this one. Oh but my daughter was and still talks about this one. So simple just tape your elf to a window with some notes!

3. Poop Museum:

This another easy one just took some planning for getting everything. I loved this one so much that I recreated it for our Elf Bundle that you can find on our Etsy store. 

Ideas to make this museum:

Yeti: white chocolate balls, marshmallows, white mints, white gumballs

Unicorn: M&M, Skittles, airhead xtremes

Santa: red/green sprinkles, red/green m&ms 

Snowman: snowflake sprinkles, white sprinkles, marshmallows

Elf: mini chocolate chips, Hershey kisses

Grinch: Green tic tacs, green m&ms, green skittles

4. Elf Shrink machine:

This one was fun to make. Take one of the small Amazon box that you have laying around and wrap it with wrapping paper. Cut 2 holes on the ends. With the pieces that you cut out save to cover with foil to use as the “belt” on the machine.

I used Gram crackers and teddy grams but there are some other great ideas that you can use:

• Skittles and skittle littles
• M&Ms and Mini M&Ms
• Kisses and mini chocolate chips 

5. Elf Trapped:

This is one that I did my 2nd year. And just let’s say my kids are still talking about this one. Tape some party streamers from the dollar tree to the door. Thinking this one will have to happen again this year!

Make it stress free!

Elf on the Shelf isn’t just a fun tradition; it’s an opportunity to create lasting memories for your family. From simple setups to imaginative scenarios. The first step to making this tradition less stressful is to plan it out. Here are 25 easy ideas that I shared last Christmas. These ideas make planning stress-free but also maybe you waited until the last minute to move the elf. These ideas will be helpful now and later. 

Printable bundle on our Etsy Shop:

Maybe, you just don’t have the time to plan or just like ideas that you can print and set up. You will love our Elf Bundle that we have on our Etsy shop. We have created 9 printable ideas qnd we also created a calendar of 24 days of ideas for December.

Check out the bundle here and how to use it.

Let the planning start now so you can have a stress-free Elf season during the Holidays. I know I’m excited for December and can’t wait to see what everyone else will be doing. Sounds crazy I know but I love this tradition that we have started with our kids!