Christmas Elf Ideas for Kids – Fun and Cute Ideas for the Whole of December

When a Christmas elf moves in, children's imaginations start to flourish. What is the elf up to? Is he watching? Will he eat his Christmas porridge and what shenanigans and mischief will he come up with next? You can promote healthy activity in children while also creating Christmas magic and cosy Christmas moments together. Small, lovely moments in a surely busy Christmas season.

Christmas elves are part of Christmas, and children love them. Mom and Dad probably do too. It’s fun to see children’s happy reactions and how they try to figure things out.

If you set mom and dad’s Christmas elf imaginations in motion, they can definitely come up with a lot of fun things for the elf to get up to. However, we have tried to help a little with the planning for December. Here at Biltema, we have compiled 31 ideas for Christmas elves that you can use in any order leading up to Christmas. Most ideas can be used more than once.

We have also included the products from our range that you may need when planning the elves’ activities.

31 Christmas elf ideas for extra Christmas cheer in children

1. Excessive decorations at the child’s room – Here, the elf prefers to decorate with Christmas decorations as if his mother is Gertrud Sand. It will be a good start to December.
2. Footprints with icing sugar – Take a small strainer and make elf footprints with icing sugar if you have a pair of tiny shoes or clogs. Then the children can always see where he has been.
3. Add food colouring to milk – The classic where you give milk used for cereal and porridge a new colour.
4. Hang a chocolate calendar on the ceiling with double-sided tape – The children will spend a long time searching for the advent calendar, and them trying to get it back down. Maybe they could ask their “innocent” grandfather for help getting the calendar down.
5. Various Christmas elf apps (elf door app) – There are several Christmas elf apps that can make your elf door much more real. Especially when your child sees an elf going in and out the elf door on a smartphone.
6. Foil on the door – A fun way for the elf to bid welcome when the child enters the kitchen for breakfast.
7. Write a letter to the children every day mentioning something that has happened to them – so they have an idea that the elf is watching and accompanying them.
8. Ask the children to feed the elf – Remember that mom or dad will need to eat the elf’s Christmas sweets, cookies, and rice pudding when it is placed out for the elf. If the children forget to feed the elf, then he will get hungry and become more mischievous.
9. Signs of activity at the elf door – When the elf is home, his clogs are in front of the door . When he’s out on adventures, they clogs are not there. Hang a clothesline and hang up his clothes or place a lantern so it looks like he is active.
10. Move things around – The elf makes sure that things are not where they should be. This is a quick way to create Christmas elf activity.
11. Tape can be used in many places – Place tape over the laser on the gaming mouse. This is both some fun elf mischief and a good thing if you want to eat together.
12. Pyjama fun – Tie a knot on pyjama sleeves. This will make it difficult to put on pyjamas at bedtime.
13. Make a green and healthy toothbrush – Replace the toothbrushes with celery.
14. The elf draws a moustache while your child sleeps – This is extra fun if the child only notices the moustache in front of the mirror when brushing their teeth.
15. Decorate your child’s bike with big bows – Your child will then be able to cycle to school on an elf-pimped bike.
16. Write a letter to children from the elf during December – so the children know he is watching what is happening.
17. Give Advent gifts from the elf – Put a small gift from the elf in their Christmas stocking for a little extra Christmas cheer.
18. Add some cinnamon or other mild spice to dad’s morning coffee – and blame the elf when Dad complains about the taste.
19. Swap the calendar candle – with a vegetable, such as asparagus or a carrot.
20. Decorate the Christmas tree creatively – Let the elf decorate the Christmas tree with the clothes that the children will wear to school or preschool.
21. Put Christmas tinsel in the bedtime book – This is a fun way to start the bedtime ritual. You may want to leave a small note from the elf in which he writes that he is looking forward to reading along.
22. Build a tower of toys on the dining table - You may want to do this when the elf is angry about not having had rice pudding the day before.
23. Tie shoelaces together – Take your shoes to the hallway and tie the laces together. Untying them can be a fun family activity with plenty of laughs.
24. Write “Merry Christmas” – Remember to write Merry Christmas every so often. It can be on the fridge, bathroom mirror, or on the floor. Lipstick or porridge kernels can be used, depending on what you prefer. Of course, this activity means you will need to clean up afterwards.
25. Play “hot or cold” with an Advent gift from the elf – The elf asks mom and dad to help, in a letter that the children read aloud.
26. Draw on the toilet roll – There is room for many Christmas drawings on a toilet roll. Quite a lot actually.
27. Porridge kernels in boots – It’s a fun surprise to find porridge kernels in your winter boots.
28. Decorate the car – The elf has decorated the car so you can get Christmas spirit on the way to school.
29. Empty the chocolate calendar – The elf has munched the entire chocolate calendar because he is hungry. Of course, Dad must remember to clean his chocolate-covered beard after emptying the calendar.
30. The elf asks for help – In a letter, the elf asks for help finding his missing hat.
31. Make a happy bath (The elf washes himself for Christmas Eve) – The elf has been had a bath in the washbasin on 23 December. Place a pair of small swimming trunks and a felt elf hat on the edge of the washbasin, and throw a towel on the floor. Make the water in the washbasin dirty for extra effect.

Remember that the elf’s activities should be fun

Your Christmas elf ideas should not make your child scared, but they should create a cosy and a pleasant atmosphere. So remember to take precautions when planning your elf activities. Say that the elf is joking and mischievous, and he is just playing. Your child should not be frightened.

If there are many children in the family of different ages, you can also involve the older children in the activities, to get more hands and more ideas on the table. The older children probably remember some fun and mischief the elf got up to when they were younger. But even though the children have grown up, the memories of the elf’s mischief will live on, and it will always be real to those who believe in him.

Elf door inspiration: DIY elf door from Biltema

Before starting the Christmas elf activities for the kids, the framework for everything should be in place in the form of an elf door. As it is now, you cannot buy the classic elf door at Biltema. So what’s the solution to that? Of course, we have made our own door as a DIY project, where we have used products and materials in and around our stores. It’s great elf door inspiration.

Follow the steps below and you will be well on your way to getting the most beautiful elf door on your street. The elf door that can of course be added to with lots of Christmas decorations and elf magic. You are only limited by your imagination.

Here’s what you need to do to make our elf door. We made an elf door and some elf accessories. We found our spare parts in our Arts and Crafts Box (28706).

This is what we made:

• An elf door with frame and handle
• A sled
• A suitcase
• Elf clothes and hat
• Ladder with candy canes
• Fireplace
• Lamp
• Candlesticks
• Elf food

Here are some pictures from the process:

What do you need besides the hobby box?

Checklist with the products you will need for our elf door and accessories that you will not find in the Arts and Crafts Box.

You can see the final result here:

You can also paint the door in a suitable colour and add a name tag to the door. Then the children will know the elf’s name.

Bonus ideas for Christmas elves

We can’t quite keep to the 31 ideas we promised at the beginning of the article. So here are 12 more:

1. The elf decorates the cat or dog bed -  Lots of Christmas baubles and cosy atmosphere with the pets. Elves have a reputation for taking good care of animals.
2. Change the toothpaste – Find some special toothpaste and wait for the look on your child’s face. It’s a lot of fun 😊
3. Light in the attic – If the elf has moved into the attic, then in early December you can create some strange sounds from up there. And prepare a door, furniture, cookie crumbs, and LED tealights, so there is a cosy elf atmosphere when the children climb up the ladder to investigate.
4. The elf has been to the library – In the morning there is a bag of the elf’s favourite Christmas stories on the table. Then bedtime reading in December is covered.
5. Put chair legs together – Use elastics or straps to tie chair legs. The elf has gotten up to mischief that the children will see when they pull out a chair.
6. The elf decorates the Christmas tree – In his own way when he has not had food.
7. The elf sleds down the roof tiles – Make a trail with the sled out the window so it looks like the elf has gone for a ride. If necessary, leave some snow on the floor so that it looks like he has just been there.
8. Wet underwear in the freezer – If the elf didn’t get food the day before, you can freeze the children’s underwear. Place the frozen underpants on the table before the children have breakfast.
9. Build a shoe tower – It’s always decorative when the elf is naughty. He uses all the shoes in the hallway as building blocks.
10. The elf prepares the Advent wreath – Find pinecones, clay, candles, spruce, etc. and place on the table. Then you can do a cosy Christmas project together. A beautiful Advent wreath.
11. School books wrapped as a gift – Give the children a gift for school wrapped by the elf.
12. Tape toys to the wall – The elf decorates the walls with toys.

Do you love Christmas as much as we do here at Biltema, as well as lovely Christmas gifts and beautiful Christmas decorations? We have put together plenty of Christmas inspiration ideas and much more in our Christmas section on the website.

Here you will find everything for Christmas.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Biltema.