All elf ideas

Browse funny, naughty and easy Christmas elf setups. Find a quick scene for tonight, a special arrival or an idea using props you already have.

Elf arrival idea – the secret-code message

Three number cards spell out who has returned: your elf leaves a simple alphabet code for the children to solve.

Your elf challenges a teddy to table tennis on a homemade cardboard table, with paper paddles and a tiny scrunched-paper ball.

A cardboard telescope and a little paper star chart turn the windowsill into your elf’s North Pole observatory.

Your elf has started a tiny Christmas snow-globe craft, with a coloured tree and a spare insert ready for the children.

Your elf has made a little abacus from a cardboard frame, cotton string and cereal hoops, ready for a morning counting game.

Your elf has “tidied” the pantry by giving rice, pasta and oats some very questionable Christmas nicknames.

A cardboard half-tube on a few books makes a little marble run for your elf, with a shallow lid ready to catch each rolling marble.

Your elf takes to a miniature stage with a homemade microphone, a spoon joke and a very polite audience of toys.

Six numbered paper squares make a little hopscotch course for your elf, with a button marker and a cheerful Hop to it note.

Your elf checks three finished miniature presents against a homemade clipboard before approving them for Christmas delivery.

A jar of strawberry jam blocks a little road of toy cars, and your elf is left trying to deal with the Christmas traffic jam.

Three little green craft pegs become crocodiles in your elf’s miniature park, with paper eyes, teeth and tails added at home.

Your elf starts a race between two paper boats on a dry homemade river, with a tiny flag and finish sign ready on the table.

Three little paper fish and a clear container make a completely dry aquarium for your elf, with homemade seaweed and no water to tidy up.

A cardboard box and a few pretend controls become your elf’s time machine, set for Christmas but apparently still waiting to work.