24 Elf Mischief Ideas (and What You Need!) to Get Busy Mums & Dads Through December
- laurenhaylor
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
The elves are back — and if you're anything like most parents, December becomes a whirlwind of school plays, Christmas prep, and trying desperately to remember to move that elf before bed! So to take the pressure off, we’ve rounded up 24 easy, hilarious, and fun Elf ideas, complete with the items you’ll need for each.
Whether you're a “set it up in 30 seconds” parent or a lover of full-blown elf theatre, there’s something here for every household.
But first, children may start questioning the elf's handwriting, so to address this, we use a letter pegboard for all our elf messages. It includes a wide variety of emojis and multiples of each letter. These pegboards are affordable, and you can get yours here:
Grey Square Felt Letter Board 10x10 Inch with 350 White Plastic Letters - Easel, Drawstring Bag and Oak Peg Boards for Home Decoration : Amazon.co.uk: Stationery & Office Supplies
1. Elf Arrival in a Tangle of Christmas Lights
What you need: A string of fairy lights
A super simple arrival idea! Wrap your elf in sparkling lights with a note:
✨ “Your house needs to be more Christmassy! 24 sleeps!”
2. Cheeky Cheerios
What you need: Cheerios, tape
Stick a Cheerio on your elf’s bum and spell out “BUM HOLES” with cereal.
Guaranteed giggles!
3. Elf on the Slopes
What you need: Cotton wool balls or sheets, candy canes (for a sledge), or tin foil
Create a snowy scene on stairs, banisters, or any surface.
4. Minty Oreos
What you need: Oreos, mint toothpaste
Your cheeky elf is swapping the filling for toothpaste. Classic elf chaos.
5. “I’M AN ELF… GET ME OUT OF HERE!”
What you need: Tape, plate/board, sprinkles, jelly snakes, anything gross
Tape your elf to a board surrounded by creepy crawlies and treats.
6. Crisp Making
What you need: Potatoes, pen, slicer, crisps
Draw faces on potatoes, slice one, and lay out “fresh crisps” on the other side.
7. North Pole Museum of POO
What you need: Cupcake cases, sweets, labels
Create piles of “poo” using different sweets: reindeer, elf, penguin, unicorn, yeti, Santa, nutcracker — anything goes!
(Grab sweets from Scrumptious on Sunninghill High Street!)
8. Elves Eating Domino’s
What you need: Domino pieces
Lay them out like a pizza for a funny “treat night.”
9. Chillin’ with Egg Sheeran
What you need: Egg, orange wool or pen, printed album covers & guitar
Create a tiny Ed Sheeran-inspired egg star and chill him in the fridge.
10. Baker Elf – Rainbow Cake
What you need:
3 eggs
Butter, caster sugar, self-raising flour (equal weight to eggs)
Food colouring
Sprinkles
Set up ingredients with a note explaining how to make Elf Rainbow Cake.
11. Nerf Fight
What you need: Nerf guns, bullets, toys/teddies
Set up a full toy battle scene!
12. Elf Joke of the Day
What you need: A plate, a cracked egg & a note
Draw a face on your egg & tell this classic:
🤣 “What happens when you tell an egg a joke? It cracks up!”
13. Elves Feed the Pets
What you need: Pet food, toy vehicles, scoops
Let the elves “help” by feeding the pets… messily.
14. Elf Makes Breakfast
What you need: Clingfilm, cereal, spoon
Cover the toilet bowl with clingfilm, add cereal, and leave a note:
🥣 “I made breakfast in a BIG bowl!”
15. Snow Art
What you need: Artificial snow cans
Have the elf spray a little festive art on windows or mirrors (easy to clean!).
16. Be Good Reminder
What you need: A lump of coal
Leave a note:💔 “It upsets me when you’re not good…”
17. Moana (or Any) Party Scene
What you need: Toys, themed items
Set up a mini movie scene with a quote from the film.
18. Phases of the Moon
What you need: Printed moon chart
Cut out the full moon and place it around your elf’s bum.
Silly and adorable!
19. Elf Choir
What you need: Empty cans, googly eyes, straws/sticks
Create singing cans and position your elf as the conductor.
🎶 “Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Daddy Smells!”
20. Smartie Pants
What you need: Pants, Smarties
Scatter Smarties over pants and leave a note:
🩲 “Good morning, Smartie Pants!”
21. Elf Makes a Mess
What you need: Cooked spaghetti, sweets, syrup, sprinkles
A messy sensory explosion in the kitchen.
22. Crime Scene Elf
What you need: Flour, googly eyes
Spread flour, leave an elf-shaped silhouette, add eyes and a note.
23. Elf vs Hoover
What you need: Hoover, slime ingredients
Elf gets “stuck” mid-clean whilst preparing slime for the kids.
24. Scavenger Hunt
What you need: Printed rhyming clues, hiding spots, giant chocolate coin
Finish the season with a magical treasure hunt.
(We’re releasing a free PDF for email subscribers on Tuesday 16th December!)
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