a week's worth of elf on the shelf ideas

it is officially december 1st. you know what that means. moms across america are taking out the elf on the shelf for another year. love it or hate it (or choose to ignore it), the elf has become a part of our christmas culture. i'm going to be honest. i have not had a stellar track record with moving "charlie" on a daily basis. i've learned to write out a calendar with ideas for each night so i can eliminate all thinking as to what to do with him once the kids go to bed. preparation has become key. heather has an "elf" alarm set each night at 9:00 to remind her. my goal this year is to avoid letters written to santa claus by my children in years past. they looked something like this:

"dear santa, could you please ask our elf to move to a different place. it's been three days and he still hasn't moved. from addalynne to santa"

in an effort to help moms everywhere. here is your first week of elf on the shelf ideas. good luck!

day 1: the arrival 

our elf usually arrives on december 1st. if you haven't started yet, don't worry. bust him out this evening. we usually include a letter from our elf reminding our kids to "be good." 

the letter

day 2: the dry erase marker

this day takes very little work. color on the glass frames of some of the pictures of your kids around the house with a dry erase marker. the marker will wipe right off with a bit of index. we leave our elf guiltily holding the marker for the kids to find in the morning.

day three: drinking maple syrup

whatever is good for buddy the elf, is good enough for our elf on the shelf!

day 4: time for tea

if you don't have a child's tea set, put out a couple of tea cups of your own around some stuffed animals and let them have a tea party.

day 5: the bubble bath

this one does require a bag of mini-marshmallows. the kids will love it, though and it is easy to put together. light a candle and play some relaxing music for when the kids come downstairs.

day 6: donut day

i reserve donut day for the weekend. who doesn't love a special holiday weekend treat? this one the elf gets to enjoy too. we hide the donuts and let the kids find them in the morning.

day 7: going fishing

this one requires some goldfish and a bowl. we used a kebob stick, a bit of twine and a paperclip to make the fishing pole. the total prep time is about 10 minutes.

that's it! week one is planned for you! enjoy this crazy time of the year and the magic you get to create for our kids. the time really does move much too quickly. come back next week for seven more ideas!