We LOVE Christmas and our Elf on the Shelf, but we thought it was time for some NEW Elf on the Shelf ideas! The old ones floating around Pinterest are great, but surely he’s gotten tired of them.

So we set out to create some new shenanigans for your Elf on the Shelf. Our goal was to keep them fairly quick and easy with a few items that you can grab from your local Dollar Tree. (And maybe you already have some of these things anyway!)

We should also add that we made our Elf on the Shelf “bendy” for these pranks. It is simple to do, basically cut open the seams at the ends of his limbs and insert wire. If you would like to see a more detailed tutorial you can google it! There are no shortage of instructions :)

(**Also, if you’re a publisher or content curator we’ll gladly grant permission to use the above image as long as a link back is included, but do not give permission to use any of the individual images below—THANK YOU!!! :)

And don’t forget to grab our Free 2020 Printable Planning Calendar for your Elf on the Shelf. A little planning goes a LONG way with this guy ;)

Oh! And if you don’t have an Elf on the Shelf yet, you can find the complete Elf on the Shelf set HERE!

Without further ado, here are 35 BRAND NEW Elf on the Shelf ideas, enjoy!

Looking for a Departure Letter, too?

It’s hard to believe that your Elf on the Shelf will be making his last trip back to the North Pole soon!! If you need a departure letter, you can find over 20 Goodbye Letters HERE! We hope that they help you send your Elf off in style!!!

Elf on the Shelf Idea #53: Message Board

The Idea: Create an official message board for your Elf to share important messages! I printed the top that says “Official Elf Message Board” and taped it on. Now it is on the front of our fridge for Elf to use whenever he needs to let the kids know something!!
Dollar Store prop: Marker Board
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #57: Bubble Wrap Ready to Roll!

The Idea: Elf is all wrapped up in bubble wrap and ready to roll!!! We cut the bubble wrap into 2″ wide strips and wrapped him up using scotch tape to secure it. We then wrote a note that says “ready to roll!” and taped it on!
Dollar Store prop: Bubble Wrap
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #58: Elf adds his own Stocking!

The Idea: Oh my! Our Elf on the Shelf added HIS OWN stocking this year! How thoughtless of us, we should have had one for him all along! He even wrote his name on it with a magic marker!!
Dollar Store prop: Stocking
Set-up Time: About 3 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #1: “I’m BACK!! (But can you help me out?)”

The Idea: Its fun when Elf on the Shelf comes in with a BANG (literally!). The kids will have fun trying to figure out how he managed to get INSIDE the balloon!
Dollar Store prop: Large Balloons (the ones that come 14 to a pack so it is big enough for him to get inside!)
Instructions: Find Instructions HERE!
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #50: Bathtub Countdown

The Idea: Use the Dollar Tree Crayola colored finger paint soap to write a message! This is quick and easy and of course the kids loved playing with the leftover finger paint in the tub!
Dollar Store prop: Colored Finger Paint Soap for the bathtub
Set-up Time: About 3 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #2: Silly String War

The Idea: This one is quick to set up! Build a couple of walls and place your characters behind them. This one is fun for the adults, too, getting to spray the silly string!
Tip: Leave a little silly string left in the cans so that the kids can spray it, too.
Dollar Store prop: Silly String
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #3: Shark Attack!

The Idea: This looks a little more complicated than it was. I laid out the two strings and then taped the popsicle sticks in place to create the bridge. If you have boys at home you probably have a shark, snake or something else “scary” to put in the water. Our shark is a bath tub toy from Amazon, you can see it here–the kids have a lot of fun with it.
Dollar Store prop: Popsicle Sticks
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #51: Dare Devil

The Idea: This was our boys’ FAVORITE!! Elf was preparing to ride his dirt bike off a BIG jump!!
Dollar Store prop: Dirt Bike Toy
Set-up Time: About 3 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #4: Garage Sale with Printable Sign

The Idea: We took a bunch of our children’s toys (especially their most prized ones!) and set up like Elf was having a garage sale. It was complete with sale stickers and a sign that says that he needs to make room for new toys — you can imagine their horror!
Dollar Store prop: Garage sale stickers
Free Printable: Click here for the printable garage sale sign!
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #36: Christmas Tree Sale

The Idea: Don’t worry if you haven’t found a Christmas tree yet, Elf has you covered! He set up his own Christmas Tree Sale and they are especially tasty!
Dollar Store prop: Little Debbie Christmas Trees
Free Printable: Click here for the printable Trees for Sale sign!
Set-up Time: About 3 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #5: I Mustache Have You Been Good?

The Idea: These mustaches from the Dollar Tree are really fun. They have sticky backs so this is really quick to set up. Round up some dolls or stuffed animals and stick them on!
Dollar Store prop: Sticky Mustaches (in the toy aisle)
Free Printable: Click here for the printable mustache sign!
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #6: Post-It Note Game

The Idea: Our kids thought this was the greatest! We assigned each of our four kids a color by writing their first initial on a post it. We placed those with Elf and the sign and distributed the rest around the kitchen. We put the younger kids’ lower and made the older kids’ higher and harder. It was fun watching them try and figure out how to get them down!
Dollar Store prop: Post-Its (one package has 400, that was plenty!)
Free Printable: Click here for the printable directions sign (and more pictures, this one was really fun!)
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #39: Reindeer dropped Emoji Poo

The Idea: I guarantee your kids with think this new Elf on the Shelf idea is HILARIOUS! Too think a reindeer pooped on the counter last night! They’ll also have a ton of fun playing with the emoji poo splat ball afterwards, too. You may want to get enough for each child in your family!
Dollar Store prop: Emoji Poo Splat Ball
Free Printable: Click here for the printable directions sign 
Set-up Time: About 1 minute

Elf on the Shelf Idea #7: Elf Coffee House

The Idea: Well it should be no surprise that elves need coffee to get their day going, too! This was one of our kids’ favorites! Probably because they’ve never seen the coffee pot WITHOUT real coffee in it in the morning, so they were SURE that elf was in trouble!

They loved getting to taste his coffee and were delighted to see that his coffee grounds were so colorful (and tasted a lot like nerds ;). Just add fruit punch to the pot and nerds to the coffee filter and you’re set! (And I’m often asked if we like our Ninja Coffee Bar (I bought it from Amazon HERE)–YES! Especially if you like stronger coffee or making iced coffee. It would also make a great gift for a coffee lover in your life!)
Dollar Store prop: Nerds and fruit punch
Free Printable: Click here for the printable Elf coffee package!
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #40: Nail Polish Prank

The Idea: Can you believe that Elf was able to paint dad’s toe nails without him noticing!?! He is pretty sneaky!!!
Dollar Store prop: Nail Polish
Free Printable: Click here for the printable note! (Options for both “dad” and “brother” available!)
Set-up Time: About 3 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #8: Snowman Family-ature

The Idea: Making the shaving cream snowmen was really fun. I can’t remember the last time I touched shaving cream, but it was softer and thicker than I remembered. We made a snowman for each member of our family. Then we added faces made out of fuse beads and the picture was done!
Dollar Store prop: Shaving Cream (and fuse beads if you don’t have them at home)
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #46: Ninja Apples

The Idea: Whoa! Cool Apples, Elf!! To make the Ninja Turtle eye bands, simply cut the top and bottom off of a balloon to create the band. Then use the top portion the you cut off, cut it down the middle and tie a knot and tuck it into the side of the eye band.
Dollar Store prop: Balloons and Googly Eyes
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #9: Want to Grow Some Friends?

The Idea: This was another of the kids’ favorites. Basically, anytime Elf was inviting them to do something they couldn’t get enough of it! These little grow capsules are fun. We used shot glasses from the Dollar Store to grow them in but you could use any dish. If you haven’t used them before, they take a few minutes to “grow,” so wait to put them in the water until near show time.
Dollar Store prop: Grow capsules (optional: plastic shot glasses)
Free Printable: Click here for the printable grow friends sign!
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #47: Puzzle Hunt

The Idea: Have your Elf on the Shelf divide up the pieces of a puzzle into these little favor bags and hide them! Your kids will love finding them and putting the puzzle together!!
Dollar Store prop: Puzzle & Favor Drawstring Bags (by the baby shower decorations and favors!)
Free Printable: Click here for the printable puzzle hunt sign!
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #10: Ouch!!

The Idea: Oh no! Elf took a tumble down the steps! Good thing he has lots of fun band aids for his bumps and bruises. Another easy one when time (and energy!) is limited.
Dollar Store prop: Character Band Aids
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #56: Toy Basket

The Idea: This is a great idea! Fill up the basket with old toys to make room for the new ones!!
Dollar Store prop: Laundry Basket, get one or one for each child!
Free Printable: Find the Free printable that goes along with the basket HERE!
Set-up Time: About 3 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #11: Nanny Elf to Lego Men

The Idea: Elf is showing his sensitive side here! The kids went CRAZY over this one…what is it about tiny things that appeal to them? Even the boys liked pushing the lego men in the little strollers! For the baby blankets I just cut up some little scraps of fabric…nothing special!
Dollar Store prop: Baby Shower Decorations: Mini Strollers & Baby Bottles
Set-up Time: Less than 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #12: Shrinking Machine

The Idea: Whoa! Big cookies are going in and LITTLE cookies are coming out!!! I don’t know what the fascination is with tiny things, but the kids were AMAZED at this one and had fun hypothesizing how the machine “works”.
Dollar Store prop: Large fudge stripe cookies & mini fudge stripe cookies (would work with Oreos/mini oreos or large and small candy canes, too!)
Free Printable: You can find the Shrinking Machine sign HERE & more pictures of creating it!
Set-up Time: About 15 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #13: Elf’s Book Club

The Idea: Pipe cleaners have to be one of the best inventions ever! We shaped them into glasses so that everyone could see well. And we were so glad to see that our Elf on the Shelf has a value for reading! ;) The kids had fun afterward putting on the “glasses” and reading the books.
Dollar Store prop: Pipe Cleaners (I also got the red pair of glasses that the polar bear is wearing there)
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #38: Nerds

The Idea: Well Elf, that’s not very nice (but it is true ;)
Dollar Store prop: Box of Nerds
Set-up Time: About 1 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #14: Toilet Paper Fun

The Idea: Can you believe this is less than two rolls of toilet paper!?! When you’re inside it doesn’t take much T.P. to make a big impact. My husband had a ton of fun this one (I think he was having flashbacks to his teen years) and it took very little time to clean up.
Dollar Store prop: Toilet Paper
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #15: Bubble Party

The Idea: Oh Elf, what will you think of next!?! I was trying to figure out a setting to make bubbles in the dishwasher, but then decided it would probably be easier to make them in the sink. So I put some hot water and bubble bath in the sink and used the sprayer to make a bunch of bubbles. Then I transported them to the dishwasher for the bubble party. (Afterward I put the breakfast dishes in and ran a normal cycle- they came out fine!). 

Oh, and if the kids really want to blow bubbles afterward I usually let them blow them into the bath tub. It doesn’t seem to harm anything!
Dollar Store prop: Bubbles (they come in a three pack)
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #41: Candy Crush

The Idea: Well this is one way to play Candy Crush!!! I don’t think Elf quite knows how the game works ;)
Dollar Store prop: Bag of candy, a hammer if you don’t have one!
Free Printable: Click here for the printable CANDY CRUSH Sign!
Set-up Time: About 2 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #16: North Pole Santa Cam

The Idea: Are you ever amazed by what they carry at the Dollar Store!?! Like this little lens that is meant to clip onto your cell phone but works PERFECTLY for a North Pole Cam! It even has a clip on it which makes attaching it to the tree a breeze, and I added the red USB chord to look like a power cord…VERY convincing!!!
Dollar Store prop: Cell phone camera lens & USB cord
Free Printable: Click here for the printable North Pole Cam lens surround & more pictures!
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #17: Music Lessons

The Idea: Elf is showing his musical side this morning! This was really fun to set up. I should note that anytime Elf’s hands need to be stuck to something I just used a small loop of packing tape and it seems to work well.
Dollar Store prop: Mini Recorders (with the party favors–the guitar is from the Dollar Tree as well)
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes 

Elf on the Shelf Idea #37: It’s Rudolph Day!

The Idea: Did you know!?! Today is National Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Day!! Grab your red nose and let’s celebrate!!! (We used scotch tape to attach the pom moms, but rubber cement would work even better!
Dollar Store prop: Red pom moms & Flashing Santa nose
Free Printable: Find the Free printable sign here!
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes 

Elf on the Shelf Idea #18: Elf Goes Postal

The Idea: Oh no, where is Elf now? The note on the door says that he found a new way to get to the North Pole??? And it has stamps and post office markings on it? That silly Elf is in the mailbox!!
Dollar Store prop: Padded Mailing Envelope
Free Printable: Click here for the printable sign!
Set-up Time: Less than 10 minutes 

Elf on the Shelf Idea #10: Ouch!!

The Idea: Well this is a cool idea! Unwrap a book each night to read…some are old and some are new!!
Dollar Store prop: Christmas Books, wrapping paper
Free Printable: Find the free printable that explains the book tradition HERE!
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #19: Balloon Ride to the North Pole

The Idea: What!?! It looks like Elf took ALL of the ornaments off of the big tree and put them on HIS tree!! Tip: We couldn’t fit all of our ornaments on the little tree so I stuck those in a box and set them aside so it LOOKED like he stole them all! The best part: the kids LOVE decorating the tree and had SO much fun putting them back on the big tree :)
Dollar Store prop: Mini Christmas Tree
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #20: Too Late!

The Idea: I guess even elves have accidents! Tip: Use school glue to make an invisible ring to contain the “pee” otherwise it may run off all sides of the toilet…ewww!
Dollar Store prop: Yellow Gatorade
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes 

Elf on the Shelf Idea #42: Snowball Fight!

The Idea: Looks like Elf and the little kitty stuffed animal are having a snowball fight! The little white buckets from the gumball games below sure came in handy again!!
Dollar Store prop: Cotton Balls, white buckets (wedding decoration section)
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes 

Elf on the Shelf Idea #21: Gum Ball Games

The Idea: Why wouldn’t Elf catapult gum balls across the kitchen?! It’s actually a fun game to play (you may want bigger containers to aim for, these were a little tough!)
Dollar Store prop: Gum Balls
Free Printable: Click here for the printable points cards!
Set-up Time: Less than 10 minutes 

Elf on the Shelf Idea #22: Rubber Ducky Fun

The Idea: I did this on a morning when the kids needed a bath. After Elf was done “feeding” the ducks the kids jumped in with them!
Dollar Store prop: Rubber Duckies (sometimes by the toys and sometimes by the baby items and sometimes by the bath bubbles!)
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #43: Where you live + Where Santa lives!

The Idea: Look! Elf is showing you where you live in relation to where the North Pole is and where Santa lives! Cut out the free printable arrows, North Pole sign and penguin to decorate this globe ball from the Dollar Tree! (We set ours on a candle holder for a stand!)
Dollar Store prop: Globe Ball
Free Printable: Find the free printable Direction Arrows, Penguin & North Pole Sign HERE!!
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #23: Bungee Jumping

The Idea: Fortunately our kids knew what bungee jumping is from watching the episode of Full House where Jesse and Rebecca jump. But I’m aware that all kids might not know what this is. Regardless, our boys had fun with the bungee cords afterward pulling their cars and trucks :)
Dollar Store prop: Bungee Chords
Set-up Time: Less than 5 minutes 

Elf on the Shelf Idea #45: Two Ingredient Play Snow!

The Idea: Your kids will LOVE this North Pole snow!! It’s fun to play with, too! To make: mix one box of baking soda with 1/2 cup of white colored conditioner. Mix and add more conditioner until the snow sticks together but isn’t too sticky!
Dollar Store prop: Baking Soda, White Conditioner
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes 

Elf on the Shelf Idea #24: Dice Games

The Idea: It’s nice when Elf encourages the kids to do a little extra learning during the holiday season! These large dice are super fun for the kids to play and the printable Christmas dice games will keep the kids busy for awhile!
Dollar Store prop: Large foam dice
Free Printable: Click here for the free printable dice games!
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #44: Snake Chase

The Idea: Oh my, Elf! It looks like that snake and baby alligator are trying to get you! Good thing you jumped to safety!!
Dollar Store prop: Grow snake and alligator
Set-up Time: About 1 minute

Elf on the Shelf Idea #25: For the Birds

The Idea: When we saw these creepy birds at the Dollar Tree we knew we had to do SOMETHING with them! So Elf is feeding the birds…and he seems to really like them…the nice part is: This is QUICK to set up!
Dollar Store prop: Fake Birds (by the Christmas ornaments) & Sunflower Seeds
Set-up Time: Less than 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #46: Ninja Apples

The Idea: It looks like our Elf on the Shelf is doing a REAL oil change!! He has a drain pan (made from tinfoil with black paint in the bottom) and REAL oil!!
Dollar Store prop: 10W-30 motor Oil
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #26: North Pole Cam

The Idea: This one got a little out of control, at one point my husband and I were arguing about the structural integrity of the “cabin.” TIP: USE LARGE PRETZEL RODS. I didn’t see the large pretzels at our Dollar Tree but was visiting a different one and found them. Then I used frosting in a gallon sized ziplock bag with the corner cut off to pipe on the “chinking.”

(My husband was disappointed that we didn’t have white frosting so that it looked more authentic. ;) It was fun to eat afterward, though! (Because we need more sweets this time of year ;)
Dollar Store Props: Pretzels, Graham Crackers, Frosting & Peanut Butter Cups
Set-up Time: WAY too long!

Elf on the Shelf Idea #49: New Tradition

The Idea: What if your Elf on the Shelf could be working FOR YOU instead of against you? What if he could inspire your kids to get rid of some of their toys? What if each day they were placing a special bow on an old toy that your Elf on the Shelf could take back to the North Pole with him? Wouldn’t that be magical??? Find more details HERE!
Dollar Store Props: Bag of Bows
Free Printable: Find the free printable letter to go with this and more explanation about the new tradition HERE!
Set-up Time: WAY too long!

Elf on the Shelf Idea #48: Shower Time

The Idea: Elf mush have gotten sweaty on his way back from the North Pole so he decided to take a shower
Dollar Store prop: Wash cloth, Kids Shampoo
Set-up Time: About 1 minute

Elf on the Shelf Idea #27: Flower Power

The Idea: Uh oh, is Elf going to get in trouble for bringing dirt into the house??? WAIT! That’s not dirt, it tastes SWEET! Simply put the chocolate sandwich cookies into your blender or food processor and you have instant dirt!!
Dollar Store prop: Chocolate Sandwich Cookies & Artificial Flowers
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #54: Ouch!!

The Idea: How nice, Elf has brought to-go cups so you could bring hot chocolate with you to school this morning!!
Dollar Store prop: To-go cups (come in a pack of 2), hot chocolate
Set-up Time: About 1 minute

Elf on the Shelf Idea #28: Sand Castle

The Idea: Hands down the favorite part of this scene is the “sand castle.” What can I say, sometimes you’re dumping brown sugar out on your counter to look like sand and you just get inspired to build a castle! We also used a few Barbie props and of course the sea shells to make it look authentic!
Dollar Store prop: Sea Shells
Free Printable: Click here for the printable sunglasses!
Set-up Time: About 10 minutes (depending on how detailed you make the castle ;)

Elf on the Shelf Idea #29: Ornament Swap

The Idea: Up, up and away! Elf tried to make it to the North Pole with the balloons last night but got caught up! Of course, four balloons aren’t enough to lift Elf and the basket, so a loop of packing tape attached to a balloon and ceiling fan blade kept him in place. And like most of these, the kids had a ton of fun playing with the balloons afterward!
Dollar Store prop: 2-4 Balloons
Set-up Time: Less than 10 minutes 

Elf on the Shelf Idea #30: Candy Cane Fishing

The Idea: This is another one where the kids had a TON of fun playing afterward! (If you aren’t familiar with the game, the goal is to “fish” for candy canes by hooking them with the one on the string).
Dollar Store prop: Candy Canes
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #31: Garbage Bound Ninja

The Idea: It looks like Elf had to defend himself against some kind of attacker! He has the situation under control, though, as his enemy falls into the depths of the garbage can! Tip: I used a little hot glue to hold the military guy in place.
Dollar Store prop: Military Guy
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #32: “Your turn!” Matching Game

The Idea: Another QUICK one to set up and fun for the kids to play with afterwards. And not, this is a large set of matching cards, I didn’t put them all out!
Dollar Store prop: Santa Matching Game
Set-up Time: Less than 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #33: Motion Sensor Santa

The Idea: I love that often the simplest ideas are the best! This gave the kids quite a jolt when they walked into the kitchen in the morning! They weren’t expecting to set off the motion sensor in this little santa and hear “Ho, ho, ho!!!”
Dollar Store prop: Motion Sensor Santa
Set-up Time: Less than 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #34: Breakfast Surprise

The Idea: It was so nice of Elf to offer to make breakfast! And glad that he’s health conscious, adding in some extra protein with the sardines!
Dollar Store prop: Sardines
Set-up Time: Less than 5 minutes

Elf on the Shelf Idea #35: Cutting Down the Christmas Tree

The Idea: Uh oh! What is Elf up to now?! It looks like he’s trying to cut off the top of the Christmas tree! We better stop him before its too late!
Dollar Store prop: Hacksaw
Set-up Time: About 5 minutes

Related Posts: MORE NEW Elf on the Shelf Ideas!

If you’re Elf on the Shelf gets stuck in a poor place where he can’t stay all day (like an ice block in the middle of the bathtub!), you’ll definitely need one of these! The Magic Elf on the Shelf Moving Glove:

Plus, if you’re running short on time, you’ll love these ideas! Free printable hiding clues:

And it seems that my husband got in the spirit of Elf on the Shelf as well, here is his take on it! 5 New Redneck Elf on the Shelf ideas (and yes, he really put minnows in our bath tub!) See it here:

And check out this really FUN spin on Christmas Gingerbread Houses: Emoji Houses! Your older kids will LOVE making these!:

And while this has nothing to do with your Elf on the Shelf, it is one of our most popular posts right now and super fun! DIY Gingerbread House Kits, includes a free printable topper with instructions and ideas!

 — Or, continue to ideas 21-35 on the next page! –> 

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