If you’ve never heard of the Elf on the Shelf (where have you been?!), they are special scout elves sent from the North Pole to help Santa manage his naughty and nice lists.

Once a family adopts the Elf and picks a festive name for their Elf, he or she comes to live in their home to keep an eye on things during the day, and uses Christmas magic to return to the North Pole each night. After giving Santa the nightly report, he or she returns home next morning, and invariably ends up in a new location, resulting in the kids madly dashing about the house next day trying to find their Elf!

And whilst the kids are having a great time, you’re the one who has to get creative each night before you go to bed about Elf’s morning location. But fear not, we’ve found some neat Elf on the Shelf ideas for you, that will ensure the magic of Christmas stays alive for everyone well into December!

Before you get started, here’s a neat how-to video that shows you how to make your Elf bendy and poseable, which you will need for some of the creative ideas below.

How does your Elf make their big arrival? Peanut Blossom shows how their Elf parachutes in for the festive season!

Your elf could also arrive via hot air balloon, helicopter, or sleigh.

How about getting Elf to play school and teach the rest of the toys, like this clever idea from A Small Snippet.

If you don’t have a blackboard, use a whiteboard, etch-a-sketch or just some paper.

Make some cute little Elf footprints like Lil Blue Boo did, and pop your Elf outside the patio door.

Get our best content direct to your inbox! You’ll receive quick and easy recipes, fun ideas to entertain the kids, parenting tips, great competitions, as well as offers from brands we trust.

Elf will love playing Twister with all his pals on this fun elf-sized Twister game from Frugal Coupon Living – download the Twister printable and off they go!

Uh oh! Think Elf has gone and upset the LEGO toys. But they’ve gotten their revenge with this brilliant LEGO ambush idea from Living Locurto.

Make Elf his very own toilet roll swing for the doorway, using this fun idea from A Small Snippet.

Planning on travelling in the run up to Christmas? This quick and easy idea from Pigskins & Pigtails is a fun one for little kids and makes sure your Elf doesn’t miss the trip!

Your kids will love seeing Elf ride the zipline, like Rachel Swartley setup for their Elf. What could be more exciting!

Looks like Elf has gone and gotten himself into trouble again with some more of the toys in this clever idea from Life with My Littles.

Elf likes to keep himself fit and strong! Dirty Diaper Laundry got Elf doing some weights, using a straw and marshmallows.

Did your Elf not make it back to the North Pole last night? Get Elf to email Santa to explain and give his or her update and explain what happened. Clever fun from Lil Blue Boo.

Get ready to rock out with this fun idea for an Elf on the Shelf drummer from Frugal Coupon Living. All you need is a few tin cans and pencils.

Let Elf build their very own snowman, using marshmallows. This is from Bombshell Bling who has lots of more inspiring Elf ideas using marshmallows.

A Small Snippet set up their Elf and Rapunzel having a snowball fight, with mini-marshmallows.

Elf can sometimes make himself quite useful at night times, even fixing Barbie’s car! We found this idea on Pinterest, and it would require just a toy car, some LEGO blocks to prop it up, and some toy tools.

Pull up a toy ladder or toy firetruck and prop your Elf up by the tree with some ornaments, like this idea from Beautifully Being Mom. Perhaps your Elf is delivering a new decoration for this Christmas!

Line up all the toy cars and vehicles for a seasonal car wash. The Keeper of the Cheerios created this Candy Cane Car Wash from jumbo craft sticks, sponges and some fabric cut into strips.

If your kids are into science, then this Elf Magic experiment from The Simple Parent is one they should enjoy!

All you need is a bag of Skittles. Arrange them in a circle to do this Skittles science experiment. Your Elf can leave it set up for the kids, then all you do is have your kids pour water in the middle of the plate until it reaches the candy. Then have them wait and see what happens…it’s Elf Magic!

Do your kids love playing Minecraft? Maybe their Elf does too! Follow My Mommy Style’s steps to create your own Minecraft Elf!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWVwBkMFw0v/

These elves from Mommy Glitter have the Christmas Pox – but don’t worry, all you can catch is EXTRA festive cheer!

A fun way for Elf to say goodbye, from The Nerd’s Wife. This uses snow spray and a cut-out template which is available to download.