80+ Last Minute Elf on the Shelf Ideas (With Photos + Free Printable)

Are you in desperate need of some easy Elf on the Shelf ideas? I hear you!

I avoided the whole Elf tradition for ages because I really didn’t need anything else on my plate in December, but one year my daughter wanted to join in so much that she bought an elf herself.

Busted.

Because I know that lots of parents are spinning 100 plates this time of year I’ve put together 80+ easy and last minute Elf on the Shelf ideas that we’ve actually done at home. They’re quick, fun, use things you probably have around your house and they didn’t cost me a fortune.

You’ll find funny Elf on the Shelf ideas, quick school night set ups, food pranks, elf ideas using your kids toys as well as elf arrival and leaving ideas. I’ve included photos to help you recreate these ideas in your home and a free printable checklist to help you plan your elf’s activities.

I hope that it helps!

Easy Last Minute Elf on The Shelf Ideas

So I’m going to start by saying that I try to plan things out in advance a bit, just as I expect you are doing now. Although, yes I also do the whole late night googling panic too and things often end up getting changed by day three.

As a busy mom I know that with working, having kids, trying to make everything magic plus remembering everything on the school calendar it’s highly unlikely that I’ll manage to keep all those plates spinning.

If you’re also planning ahead for your elf’s final night you might want to check out our Elf leaving ideas which has loads of fun ideas to make their last day extra special without lots of extra work.

In November I write a list of all the elf ideas I’m thinking of planning so that I can also make sure that I have everything I need for them.

Although I do buy a couple of small things to make my life easier, in most cases this was just so I’d know not to use up all the white pom poms in a craft for this site so that I’d still have them when I wanted our elf to have a snowball fight.

I also put all the materials I need in a bag and hide it somewhere easily accessible so that I can grab it just before I go to bed.

Over the last few years I’ve also added a couple of over the top elf ideas that you’ll see below but as a rule I try to stick to low-prep ideas to keep my life easier and that take five minutes or less to set up.

All of these elf on the shelf ideas are the ones from my home that I’ve done for my children and for 2026 I’ve updated this with more elf ideas that we’ve done. I’ll also be adding some new ideas as we do them as I know it can especially be a challenge to think of new things to do if you’ve done this tradition for a few years.

You’ll also find a free printable list of the ideas to the end of this post so that you can tick off each idea as you try it or write down the date on it that you plan to try something. You might also want to bookmark this page so you can refer to the photos for inspiration too.

Quick and Easy Elf on the Shelf Ideas

Our favourite super quick, low prep Elf on the Shelf ideas when you only have a couple of minutes to spare.

Rice Angel

This elf idea is one that took me less than a minute to set up so it’s perfect for those nights when you know that you really won’t have the time or the energy for anything much.

Pour out some rice onto your table or floor and move your elf around to make a snow angel shape. You could also use flour for this but I thought that rice would be a little less messy.

Make sure to keep a dustpan and brush to hand for cleaning any mess up easily in the morning.

Elf Has A Lie In

This was one of our most popular elf ideas which just goes to prove that you don’t need to spend hours setting up your elf each night, five minutes is normally more than enough time.

My kids had been at a party the day before and I knew that we’d all be tired so I tucked our elf up under a blanket and left a note saying that he was tired.

Sponge Cake

December is the month of one of my kids birthdays so this idea was perfect but of course you can do it without a birthday to celebrate too.

Simply grab a cleaning sponge and sprinkle on any cake sprinkles you can find in the back of your cupboard, you now have a sponge cake.

Toilet Roll Countdown

Another super quick idea, sit your elf next to a partially unrolled toilet roll and using a marker write on it how many sleeps there are until Christmas.

Coco Pop Poops

I don’t think it will come as a shock to any parents that kids often like quite childish humour? These poops made from coco pops were a big hit and were super quick to set up.

Toilet Paper Tobogganing

I used a toy toboggan bought online for our elf to ride and made some ‘slopes’ for them to slide around all over our bathroom by draping it with toilet paper.

Snowflake Stickers

Sit your elf on a windowsill with a sign saying ‘It snowed!’ and decorate your windows with snowflake stickers.

Self Care Sunday

Wrap a face cloth around your elf’s head and put them in a bowl filled with cotton balls for their own relaxing Sunday. I even managed to find a couple of my kids tiny plastic ducks to add to our elf’s bath.

Toilet Roll Blanket

Another quick elf idea that you can set up in a couple of minutes; just wrap some toilet roll around your elf’s shoulders and leave a sign saying ‘This blanket smells funny?’

Elf Gets Injured

A quick elf idea with a reminder to your kids to tidy up their rooms! Just wrap some plasters or band-aids around your elf’s arm and legs and leave them with a sign saying ‘Please tidy your room! I tried to go in and tripped over!’

Elf Goes to Bread

Tuck your elf under a slice of bread and give another piece as a pillow and leave a sign saying ‘I’m all tucked into bread for the night.’

Elf Gets Stuck

I stuck our elf onto a picture frame using some paper tape and wrote ‘Help! This tape is sticky!’ on it.

Raiding the Cookie Jar

Leave your cookie jar open and have your elf hanging out of it or next to it with some half eaten cookies and a few crumbs.

Lipstick Notes

Similar to our toilet roll note one day our elf stole a lipstick and wrote a note on the mirror letting us know how many days it was until Christmas.

Paper Mustaches

Elf cut out some paper mustaches from colored paper and stuck them onto family photos to give us all new facial hair.

Mask Hammock

Like a lot of people we still have face masks lying around at home. Grab one of these and make a little hammock in your Christmas tree for your elf to chill out in.

YouTube Cardboard Tube

This idea was super quick to set up, just grab a cardboard tube and write a big letter ‘U’ on it then leave a note from your elf asking if this is how you watch YouTube.

Funny Elf on the Shelf Ideas for Kids

If your kids love silly jokes and toilet humor then these Elf ideas are the ones for you!

Apple Juice

A slightly rude one but as far as my kids are concerned the most funny elf ideas are often the ones with a bit of toilet humour.

Simply pour a little bit of apple juice into a glass and then put a note next to it saying ‘If you’re brave enough taste and see, if it’s apple juice or elf pee!’

Making Poop-corn

Our elf very kindly offered to make everyone some popcorn and I set up this scene so that he had some corn in front of him and some popcorn behind his bottom.

Strangely neither kid was that keen on eating it, it did get a loud ‘eww!’ from them though!

Elf Pea’d

Personally I’m not a huge fan of peas so this was the perfect way to help use up that big bag of frozen peas that had been filling up my freezer.

Simply use peas to write ‘oops I pea’d’ and leave a few peas next to your elf. This was a really quick elf idea to set up too.

Toothbrush

Arguably a slightly cheeky one but my kids adored this and it made them laugh so I consider that a big win, plus it was super quick!

I used my husbands toothbrush which also meant that I found it very funny…

Toilet Roll Decorating

Toilet humor wins again with this idea that takes only a couple of minutes to set up.

Just grab a marker and add some daft Christmas humor to your toilet rolls, my kids favorite was ‘All I want for Christmas is POO.’

Toilet Roll Tinsel

No tinsel? No problems! Our elf wrapped a toilet roll all around our bannister instead.

Dad Smells

Some of the elf ideas that my kids have enjoyed the most are the ones which use their dad as the butt of the jokes and he doesn’t seem to mind so… well it’s the elf doing it and not me.

For this idea I wrote a note saying ‘Help! Dad pooped and it smells so I’m hiding in here.’ Then all you need to do is hide your elf in a glass jar or under a Tupperware container.

Cola Bottle Poop

Our elf enjoyed being sat in a glass while drinking cola and the kids loved that he turned that cola straight into cola bottles!

Nutella Poo

This idea was super quick and made my kids laugh. Simply balance your elf on top of your toilet roll and spread a little Nutella down the toilet roll it so it looks like your elf has had an accident. I added a sign saying ‘poopsie!’ next to it.

Used Chewing Gum

Give your elf a little bowl or plate and put some obviously used chewing gum in it then add a sign saying ‘FREE please take one (slightly used)’

Elf Needs a Poo

Yes, a lot of our Elf on the Shelf ideas are toilet humour based! For this one I sat our elf on a toilet roll and put a few coco pops behind him with a sign saying ‘I’ve been holding that in since the North Pole!’ If you have any Hershey’s Kisses at home then I think they would work really well for this idea too.

Elf on the Shelf Ideas for Older Kids

If you’ve been doing Elf on the Shelf for a few years then you probably need some new ideas more suitable for tweens and teens, these are some of the ideas inspired by phones, tv shows and films that my kids really liked.

Home Alone Elf on the Shelf Idea

Home Alone is one of my favorite Christmas movies and I think our elf loves it too!

I printed a picture of Kevin McCallister and used it as a mask for our elf and left it with a sign saying ‘Keep the change ya filthy animal’ along with some loose change.

How The Fork?

This is obviously an Elf on the Shelf idea for older kids and one to plan for a Monday morning. Simply put your elf in your cutlery drawer with a sign saying ‘How the fork is it already Monday so spoon?’

Is It Cake?

Is It Cake was a really popular tv programme with my kids and our elf recreated his own version with some chocolate mini-rolls on a plate and some brown tubes in the same shape made out of cardboard.

Elf is Cooked

If your kids come out with kid speak then you’ll appreciate this one! Just pop your elf into a saucepan or frying pan and leave a sign saying ‘Oh no, I’m cooked!’

Take a Selfie

If your kids are old enough to have phones then have your elf take a selfie (s-elfie?!) on them and then change this picture to the phones lock screen.

Both my kids and husband thought our elf had forgotten to do anything until they went to use their phones…

Apple Watch

Elfie bought the kids an Apple watch! Ok, it was actually half an apple with some numbers drawn on it with a Sharpie but the thought was there?!

Too Much Coffee

I loved this elf idea as it was so quick to set up! Just pop your elf next to a cup of coffee and a sign saying ‘and that’s why coffee is for grown ups!’ and attach some googly eyes on top of your elf’s eyes, to make it even quicker I’d recommend using the sticky googly eyes.

Elf Lifts Weights

Our Elfie became a regular little Arnold Schwarzenegger this year lifting big, huge heavy weights.

Ok, it was actually two marshmallows with a paper straw stuck in between them but then elves are a lot smaller than humans so it’s probably pretty heavy to him.

Elf on the Shelf Food Ideas

Head to your cupboard or fridge for these easy and quick ideas for your elf.

Hiding In Candy

I’m not sure if in other countries a big box of chocolates is a holiday tradition but in the UK it’s definitely a must and in most households you’ll find a big box of Quality Street or Roses chocolates over the Christmas period.

If you have a tub of some kind of festive treats in your home just hide your elf in them, you could even leave out a few empty wrappers as if your elf has been helping himself.

Toast

I absolutely love a cheesy joke so we had to include some funny elf jokes.

Make a slice of toast and then cut out holes for your elf’s arms and legs then leave a little note next to it – I was cold but now I’m feeling TOASTY! Guaranteed to get them rolling their eyes.

Taco Tuesday

Make a quick notes from your elf saying that it’s Taco Tuesday and then wrap him up in a tortilla wrap, you might need some tape or a toothpick to secure this.

Christmas Tree Farm

Make a little sign saying ‘Christmas Tree Farm – Pick Your Own’ and leave this with some of the Haribo Christmas trees.

Ironing Crisps

Your elf has found some crisps with crinkles in them so he’s ironed them all flat for you. How kind!

If you are doing this activity then I highly recommend placing a piece of paper under your crisps.

If you’re setting out this idea the night before then the chances are some of the grease from the crisps will go onto the paper during the night and you really want that to going onto the paper rather than your ironing board.

Obviously it goes without saying to make sure that you leave the iron unplugged but as it’s December and you are possibly tired consider this a gentle reminder (I often need them too).

A Real Gingerbread House

Not an actual biscuit one though because I’m terrible at baking. Three slices of bread or toast, some fresh or dried ginger and a sign from our elf saying he’d made the kids a gingerbread house – so thoughtful of him!

Elf Charcuterie Board

This one was definitely one of my kids favorite elf ideas. Simply grab a board, make a sign saying ‘Elf Charcuterie Board’ and then decorate the board with Christmas sweets to make a candy themed version of a traditional charcuterie board.

Roasting Marshmallows

I set our elf to sit next to a battery operated candle and gave him some mini-marshmallows on a cocktail stick ready to roast.

Funny Elf on the Shelf Pranks and Mischief

These quick Elf on the Shelf pranks are perfect for busy moms and dads.

Toothpaste Oreos

This was one of our favorite easy elf ideas, pop your elf in the bathroom with an open packet of Oreos.

Scrape out the cream from a couple of them and have your elf replace it with toothpaste!

Obviously toothpaste isn’t a food so don’t do this idea if you have a young child who may try and eat your toothpaste filled Oreos.

Googly Eyes

For this activity you want the googly eyes that already have some kind of tape or glue on the back of them.

I then went round our home and added these to every picture I could find which had a face.

Family photos, Santa decorations and the pictures my kids had up in their rooms all ended up with googly eyes on them instead.

This is a good one for lasting a while as my kids spent ages hunting round the house looking for pictures their elf had decorated.

Decorating The Tree

Decorating in the loosest sense of the word, obviously. Grab a toilet roll and wrap it around your Christmas tree leaving your elf to hold the other end of it so they’re caught red handed!

Escaping Our Dog

Having a puppy in the house definitely added a new level of complexity to planning our Elf on the Shelf ideas and thoughts of leaving the elf on the kitchen floor overnight were definitely out!

For an easy dog-friendly elf idea I put our elf up high where the dog couldn’t reach him and gave him a sign that said ‘Help! I think the dog wants to eat me!’

Zip Wire

I really liked our little elf zip wire! Ours was made across our stair case but you could do this anywhere where you can fix up some string starting in a higher place and then ending somewhere lower.

If your elf has velcro on their hands you can attach this round the string to make it that they are zipping down it or even better use double sided tape to attach your elf’s hands to a candy cane and pop that over the string to make your zip wire.

Elf Makes Breakfast

Sadly there were no bowls though! For this idea I grabbed an old croc belonging to one of my kids that I knew they weren’t going to wear anymore, popped some cereal and a spoon in it and left it for my kids to discover.

Toilet Roll Snowman

I loved doing some of our elf ideas in the bathroom because they were so unexpected – you’d always get a yelp the next day when someone (often my husband) found the elf in there!

This is one of the easiest elf ideas, just use toilet rolls to create a snowman, drawing the features on with markers or a sharpie or using cardstock and double sided tape as I have.

I also printed out in advance a little ‘do you wanna build a snowman?’ card so that our elf could embrace his inner Anna and Elsa.

Poop Testing

Have a hunt through your cupboards and make a ‘poop testing’ station for your elf and possibly your kids too!

This funny idea only took a few minutes to set up using cupcake cases and things like Christmas cake sprinkles for elf poop and brown smarties for reindeer poop.

Crocs

Put some water in your sink and then put a sign up or two saying beware of the crocs.

Pop some crocs sandals into your sink and leave your safety conscious elf on the side carefully avoiding them!

Creative Elf on the Shelf Ideas and Activities

Grab your markers, paints and scissors or download some free printables and add some extra holiday magic to your Elf on the Shelf ideas.

Toilet Paper Snowflakes

Carefully fold some toilet paper and use scissors to cut out toilet paper snowflakes.

Painting

I grabbed a little artists a-frame from The Works and used it to help our elf draw a portrait of one of my kids toys.

My tip with this one would be to not do it in advance, you’ll need to grab a toy from your kids room and as a mom I know from experience that if I had hidden a stuffed animal away during the day to do this it would have been the only toy my kid wanted at bed time.

Instead I waited until they were asleep and then grabbed a toy I knew was popular with my kids and used that for the picture.

Free Elf Printables

There are loads of free printable crafts on this site which would also be great for your elf, just leave the printable out with some coloring pencils, you could try our cut and paste elf craft or maybe our Christmas cards for kids to color in.

You can also check out our free elf masks so your elf can pretend to be Santa, a teddy or a snowman (plus it has lots of props like cups of tea) or grab our free printable elf ice cream stand so that you elf can serve up some treats!

Egg Magic Trick

Our Elf left the kids a note telling them to sprinkle some magic elf dust (also known as cake sprinkles) onto some eggs so that he could perform some magic on them when they were at school.

When they came home that afternoon the normal chicken eggs had turned into Kinder Joy eggs!

Snowball Fight

This idea took a little while to set up due to the props but it still didn’t take ages and it looked really cool so I figured it was worth it!

Have your elf and other toys have a snowball fight using white Lego to make little snow walls for them to hide behind.

Use tiny pom poms as snowballs, if you want your elf or toys to hold them just use a little bit of double sided tape to keep them in place.

If you don’t have any mini pom poms you could use mini marshmallows as a cute alternative.

Elf on the Shelf Ideas with Toys

These Elf on the Shelf toy ideas are the perfect way to create something fun using things that you already own and that you know your kid already loves!

Elf Card Game

Grab a pack of cards and get your toys to have a little card game.

I prepared this one in advance by taping a few cards together using double sided tape and then the toys were able to hold it by using a bit more of the tape to stick it to their hands.

Escaping

If your kids have any villain toys then this is a great one to do and super quick too.

We used a Zurg toy from the Toy Story film with his blaster aimed at our elf and then used the velcro on our elf’s hands to have him cling to a draw high up while escaping.

You could also have your elf escape onto a ceiling fan or chandelier to keep them high up while your villain toy awaits them underneath.

Hungry Hippos

Hungry Hippos is an absolute classic and even though we don’t own a copy of the game I knew my kids would know what it is.

Just grab three additional toys, some kinder hippos and some smarties. As my kids love hippo chocolates this has definitely been one of the most popular ideas this year.

Driving

If you have a toy train or Barbie car at home pop your elf and any toy friends in it and then have them try to drive away – you could leave this near to a door as if they’re off on an adventure!

Elf Twister

There are loads of creative free printables out there to help with your elf antics. I googled a elf twister board that was free to download, printed it out and let our elf play with some other toys.

Sack Race

We’ve got quite a lot of paper bags at home so I set up a sack race for our elf and some other toys by standing them up in paper bags and letting them have a race.

This works even better if you can make them a little finishing line.

Toy Sleepover

Leave a note saying your elf decided to have a sleepover with some of your child’s toys and then pop each of them in a sock to make them a little sleeping bag.

Reading Christmas Stories

Our elf very kindly shared a Christmas book with some of the other toys.

Elf on the Shelf Arrival and Goodbye Ideas

Fun ways to make the first day and last day with your elf even more special this year.

Elf Arrival

For our first year with our elf I did a super easy and quick arrival as I knew my kids would be excited anyway just to have him arrive and I didn’t want to set their expectations too high for the rest of the month.

I printed out a little note from my elf saying how they were excited to visit us from the North Pole and that Santa had given them some money to help pay their way – the money was some chocolate coins for my kids to share.

Want more elf arrival ideas? I’ve made a whole post of easy and creative things to try so make sure you check that out.

Welcome Back!

Ever a fan of a cheesy pun, our elf was welcomed back for the second year with a little note saying ‘donut worry, I’m back!’ and some donuts.

North Pole Post

For the third year I repurposed an old cardboard box and wrote our address on it printed some North Pole themed postage stamps from Canva. I cut a hole in the top and had our elf poking out of it fresh from his trip with the North Pole postal service.

Merry Crispmas

This was our elf’s last night activity for our second year of doing our Christmas elf tradition and I really liked this one because not only was it quick and easy (hurray!) but it also used something that I knew we’d want during the Christmas holidays – lots of crisps.

Being in the UK we obviously use the term crisps but I’m sure that Merry Chipmas would work perfectly well as well.

Paper Cup Game

This is an activity that I did for our elf leaving one year and while it’s an easy idea it did require a bit more money spent on it so it’s one that I’d save for a special day or when your elf is due to go back to the North Pole.

I put lots of paper cups on our floor in a square formation and under each cup was a treat from our elf – it might be some Christmas candy or it might be some festive brussels sprouts!

The kids had to take it in turns to pick a cup to lift and see what prize they won.

Leaving Day

For the final day of the first year our elf visited I decided to have one last go and go a bit over the top for when my kids woke up on Christmas Eve.

I bought some cups with an elf print on them from my local store as a leaving gift and then used wrapping paper to cover our fireplace and any pictures in our front room.

It took about twenty minutes for me to do this on my own and a couple of Christmas wrapping paper rolls but it was definitely worth it for the surprise on everyone’s face. I have no idea how I will top this one in future!

Elf on the Shelf Ideas for School Days

Quick ideas that are perfect for your elf on a school morning.

Shining Shoes

My kids school shoes are supposed to be polished so our elf very kindly made them shine thanks to some kitchen foil (aluminum foil).

Decorating School Bags

Our Elf thought the kids school bags would look even better if they were covered in elf stickers!

Ours were a gift and obviously you could use any Christmas themed stickers you have for these but if you’re in the UK and want to get hold of some then I believe ours came from the Co-op.

Shoe Train

This is a super quick idea but one that still got a laugh in our house. I put all of our shoes in a line and sat our Elf in the first shoe with a sign saying ‘All aboard the shoe train, shoe shoe!’

Christmas Jumper Day

My kids school has a Christmas Jumper Day every year when kids can wear their own Christmas sweaters but even if they didn’t my kids can be seen wearing a Christmas jumper most weekends anyway.

Have your elf join in on the fun by wearing an elf sized Christmas jumper with a little sign saying they wanted to wear one too.

Fried Eggs

Our elf helped the kids get ready for school by making them some fried eggs in a frying pan. We used candy eggs for this rather than chicken eggs so not so great on toast but definitely very yummy!

Elf on the Shelf Weekend or Special Day Ideas

These fun Elf weekend ideas are perfect for when you want to go that little more extra or when you’d like an activity to do with your child.

Film Night

Grab a bag of popcorn from the supermarket and leave a note saying your elf would love to watch a Christmas movie with them tonight.

Gingerbread Christmas Trees

If you have the time and inclination you could set out some tree shaped gingerbread cutters and leave a note saying you were going to make biscuits.

Personally, I bought a kit from my local supermarket that my kids could decorate and left it for our elf to give them as a gift. Either way this makes a great activity to do over the weekend with your child.

Making Christmas Decorations

Because I wanted something for the kids to do over the weekend, I bought in advance some Christmas decorations they could make and then wrapped these up and let our elf give them as a gift.

Door Decorations

By all accounts this one took me longer than five minutes but as most of the shapes in this are rectangles it didn’t take too long, I prepared it in advance ready to blue-tac onto our lounge door and my kids said it was one of their favourite elf ideas so far so I think that’s a win?

On the other side they’re hoping for another decorated door this year and I have no idea how I’m going to do that so do check back and see if I manage it or opt for an early night instead.

FAQs About Our Elf on the Shelf Ideas

What’s the quickest elf setup?

Putting our elf in a box of candy, making a bed for them or giving them a new outfit have been the quickest elf activities for us and have been some of the most popular too.

Where in the house should our elf be?

Last year I noticed one thing with our elf that I thought I’d pass on as a quick tip that might help you too.

During December my kids are definitely more tired than normal and getting them ready for school can be hard.

Because of this our elf tends to be downstairs on school days while I’ve been leaving upstairs antics more for the weekend, such as the elf causing mischief in our bathroom.

The result is the kids come downstairs to look for Elfie and I can get some breakfast served before they think about it too much, making the mornings a little easier for everyone.

How do I keep Elf on the Shelf fun without stress?

I find that the best way to keep things stress free is to plan ahead and know what you are doing each day but to have a couple of super quick plans for things you can do when you’re super tired. Grab some Christmas candy that your elf can gift your kids on an emergency day!

Do I need to buy props for our Elf?

I haven’t bought much for my elf so the things I do buy really had to be worth the investment.

Obviously if this is your first year of your elf visiting then you’ll need to buy an elf.

One thing I bought that my kids loved was a pyjama set for our elf. This is a great buy if you want your elf to have a rest at any point, and you know what? The rest day I did in the first year was my daughter’s favorite day apart from the leaving day. A total win.

One thing I’m looking at buying for this year is an elf baby. Frankly this is just adorable and I know that my youngest is going to squeal when they see it.

The other things I found really helpful which aren’t Elf specific (and will therefore get used again) were double sided tape, pom poms and colored cardstock.

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