24 Easy and Cheap Christmas Elf Ideas

One day many years ago I got sucked into the Elf on the Shelf craze. At this point, not many people in the UK were doing it and it looked cute – little did I know what a commitment it would be! Just beware that if you are considering this, the kids love it but it does add a little bit more stress to December. The best advice I can offer is to be organised, make a plan – or use mine – and don’t spend too much money. You’ll find you feel that you need to always do more each year. Here are my 24 easy and cheap Christmas Elf ideas to make the Christmas period as easy as possible.

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1. Elf in a Mug

Place your elf inside a mug with a note saying “Need coffee before more mischief!” No effort is needed with this one. A great way to start December with a nice easy and cheap elf idea!

2. Snowball Fight

Set up your elf with a few cotton balls, using mini marshmallows or cotton balls as snowballs. If you do want to go out a bit more you can buy indoor snowballs, but it really isn’t necessary.

3. Toilet Roll Slide

Drape a toilet roll down the staircase railing and have your elf sliding down. You might struggle with this one in a bungalow or a flat but it could be adjusted to suit your needs i.e. drape from the top of the bookshelf or something similar.

4. Elf Takes a Bath

Fill a bowl with mini marshmallows and sit your elf inside like they’re taking a bath. This one was always a fun easy one, I put it in the bathroom too which made for a fun end to the elf hide-and-seek!

5. Reading a Book

Set your elf with a miniature or regular-sized book, pretending they’re reading to a group of toy figures. We had so many figures and teddies in our house, especially when the kids were little, this was a very easy go-to! Sometimes, as a treat, we would buy a new book and have the elf read that.

6. Candy Cane Zip Line

Create a zip line using a string across the room and have your elf holding onto a candy cane, sliding along. Always gets a giggle, and it is even better when there’s a candy cane treat that can be eaten too!

7. Elf in a Shoe Train

Line up several shoes to make a train, place the elf in one of the shoes, and have toy figures as passengers. Absolutely no need to buy anything extra, shoes, the elf and some other toys you already own all in a row and you’re good to go! The epitome of cheap Christmas elf ideas!

8. Silly Selfies

Place your elf holding a phone or camera and take a few selfies of them with other toys. When the kids were younger and had a phone that they just used to play games on, we used the kid’s phones and took “elfies”.

9. Elf Writing a Letter

Give your elf a small piece of paper and a pencil as if they are writing a letter to Santa or to the kids. A great one for a Saturday or Sunday morning at the beginning of December, leave the letters and spend the afternoon writing those lists and letters! Always a favourite thing to do leading to Christmas, hot chocolates, and toy shop catalogues and the excitement is so nice to feel radiating from the kids.

10. Elf Wrapped in Lights

Wrap your elf in a strand of Christmas lights and have them tangled up somewhere in the house. You can use the lights that you already have to keep this as cost-effective as possible. Nice and easy for when you just don’t have the time to think out of the box!

11. Elf with a Moustache

Draw moustaches on family photos with a dry-erase marker, leaving the elf near the photos with a marker. Another very easy and cheap Christmas elf idea. Another variation of this is to stick googly eyes on photos too. My kids always found these ones hilarious.

12. Cookie Thief

Set out a plate of cookies with a half-eaten one next to your elf. Nice and easy to set up, minimum effort maximum giggles from the little ones. What’s not to like?!

13. Elf Snow Angels

Make a snow angel using flour, sugar, or even sprinkles on the kitchen counter, with your elf lying in the middle. Another one that always got a giggle – I think the messiest ones are always a fan favourite! 30-second set up for you and practically free.

14. Reindeer Ride

Place your elf on top of a stuffed reindeer, pretending they’re getting ready to take off. The hardest part of this is deciding which room to place the reindeer in. An alternative to a stuffed reindeer could be a chocolate reindeer for a sweet treat.

15. Stuck in the Blinds

Pose your elf tangled in the window blinds as if they were caught trying to sneak out. Those cheeky elves can be very nosy neighbours. of all the cheap Christmas elf ideas, this one had to be at the top in terms of the price and effort needed!

16. Elf Coloring Pages

Print off or make a small colouring page and pose your elf colouring it with crayons. There are lots of free colouring pages that can be printed at home. a new Christmas colouring book can mean a few hours of peace and quiet later.

17. Christmas Countdown

Write the number of days left until Christmas on a chalkboard or piece of paper and have your elf holding it up. If you want to jazz this up a bit you could print a countdown or use a chalkboard countdown. Amp up the excitement a bit and keep it low-cost.

18. Spelling with Cereal

A great way to make use of what you have in the house and create a cheap Christmas elf activity. Use cereal or alphabet cookies to spell out a funny message from your elf. I’ve even spelt words with Cheerios and just put them in the shape of the letters.

19. Elves Gone Fishing

Set up a “fishing pole” made out of a straw and string and place your elf on the edge of a sink or bathtub, pretending to fish. easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Guaranteed to get a giggle too.

20. Shoe Lacing Mischief

Tangle up the family’s shoes by switching the laces or tying them together, with the elf holding onto one of the laces. One of those cheap Christmas elf ideas that takes 30 seconds to do. It’s one of those that’s great if you went to bed and forgot to move the elf the night before!

21. Elf Balloon Ride

Attach your elf to a balloon or a group of balloons like they’re floating up to the ceiling. Inspired by UP! This is a fun one – Christmas balloons would make it even more festive.

22. Elf in the Fridge

Place your elf inside the fridge with a note saying, “It’s chilly in here!” or hold a small snack. Another funny one is to add some green food colouring to the milk and write a label saying elf milk.

23. Elf Snowman

Create a snowman using marshmallows or cotton balls and have your elf pretend to build it. This one might take a little bit more than 30 seconds but 5 minutes maximum and just using household items. The kids will love it.

24. Elf Captured by Toys

Pose your other toys “capturing” the elf, tying them up with yarn or string. This is especially effective if you have some superhero toys lying around or wicked witches! Try capturing your elf in an upturned vase or launch box for extra giggles!

If you are totally new to this and considering starting you’ll need an Elf. That’s basically all that you will need, an Elf and a bit of imagination. I joke about the Elves visiting and being a pain but in reality, I’ve loved seeing the kids look for them and get excited. My children are all getting too old for all the magic now and I will miss it. Having lovely elves means that they’ll be passed down to the next generation. One day my own kids will be waking in the middle of the night in a panic because they forgot to move the elves too!

My top tip for December is to set an alarm for just after the kids have usually fallen asleep and move those elves before you fall asleep. The number of times that I have drifted off to sleep and remembered or even woken up in the middle of the night thinking about it is unreal! You don’t need the stress, just a little organisation!

Happy Elf moving.

Becky x

P.s I’ve created a printable pack to make it a little easier for you 🙂 Merry Christmas!