Elf on the Shelf

One of my favorite times of year is Christmas. Not just for all the presents I get, but from the pleasure I get from watching my children interact with Claybe. Claybe (named by my daughter) is our resident Elf that visits the children at Christmas time to spy on them for Santa.

If they have been bad Claybe will snitch to Mr. Jolly and their present count will go down.

The Official Elf on the Shelf Story

The Elf on The Shelf was first published in 2005 and has now sold over 1.5 million copies. The story goes like this: Santa first sends his scout elves out to Elf Adoption Centers. They sit and wait until their new owners come to pick them up, give them a name, and register them online.

Elf on the Shelf eating a muffin — Hope you don't mind. I helped myself to your tasty muffins.

Then, the magic happens and the elves will be a part of the family’s Christmas every single year. These elves will become the eyes and ears of Santa Claus for your household, and starting the day after Thanksgiving, the elf will report each child’s activities to Santa each night until Christmas Eve, when they go back to the North Pole until the next year.

In the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Elves may cause a little bit of mischief in your house when they get back from visiting the North Pole. Below are some fun ideas for the elves to get into that your kids will have to find in the morning when they wake up.

Some Elf on the Shelf Ideas

Elf on the Shelf Holding Kitty Hostage — Claybe highjacking a kitty

Elf Barrier

Make a crepe paper barricade into your child’s room that they have to bust through on their way out of the room in the morning. Have the elf sitting by the child’s door with the end of the crepe paper wrapped around him.

Turn your elf into Picasso.

Have him sit on a shelf of pictures or hanging near a group of pictures with a dry erase marker in his hands. Draw funny faces on the pictures, hang some upside down, put some on the floor. The kids will get a great laugh out of all the funny faces the elves draw on the pictures.

Have the elf make snow angels in the kitchen.

Take some flour, sprinkle it on the kitchen floor or counter, lay the elf in it, and move his arms and legs so he makes a snow angel. While this one can get a little messy, it is easy to vacuum up, and the kids love it if the snow angels are made in conjunction with cookies!

Bookworm Elf

Put him in a big comfy chair if you have one with a few new Christmas books stacked next to him. You can place some of you child’s stuffed animals around him to make it look as though he was reading to them. Plus, your kids will have some new fun Christmas books to read.

Elf Engineer

If you have anything to build with at your house, such as Legos, blocks, or anything else even remotely stack-able, dump a bunch of them out on the floor and have the elf build something. If you are really crazy, spread them all over the room and have the elf sit in the middle of the mess.

Overall, there are a ton of ideas for your elf to execute while the children are asleep. The kids will love anything, no matter how simple it is. Just have fun with it!