It's 10:47 p.m. You're finally in bed. And then you remember: the elf hasn't moved.
Every parent with an elf knows that walk back down the stairs. So here are 24 pranks, enough for every night from December 1 to Christmas Eve, sorted by how much energy you have left. Most take two minutes and use what's already in your kitchen.
Pick tonight's from the table, or scroll down for how to set each one up.
The whole month at a glance
| Prank | Time | You need |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The toilet paper trail | 2 min | A toilet roll |
| 2. Caught in the cookie jar | 2 min | One cookie |
| 3. The shoe train | 2 min | Everyone's shoes |
| 4. The fridge raid | 1 min | A dish towel |
| 5. Banana faces | 2 min | Bananas, a marker |
| 6. Drawn-on family portraits | 3 min | A dry-erase marker |
| 7. The tissue box bed | 1 min | A box of tissues |
| 8. The toy parade | 2 min | Stuffed animals or toy cars |
| 9. Socks on the tree | 2 min | Clean socks |
| 10. Stuck under a glass | 1 min | A drinking glass |
| 11. Snow angel in flour | 5 min | Flour, a baking tray |
| 12. The bubble bath | 3 min | A bowl, mini marshmallows |
| 13. Mini movie night | 5 min | Popcorn, a few toys |
| 14. The cereal message | 4 min | Cereal |
| 15. Wrapped in lights | 3 min | Fairy lights or tinsel |
| 16. Gone fishing | 5 min | A pencil, string, fish crackers |
| 17. Green milk | 1 min | Food coloring |
| 18. The zipline | 10 min | String, a candy cane |
| 19. Frozen in ice | 5 min | A container, water, a night in the freezer |
| 20. The balloon takeoff | 15 min | Balloons, a paper cup |
| 21. Wrapped the tree | 10 min | Toilet paper or streamers |
| 22. The arrival | 5 min | A small box |
| 23. Santa's wishlist pickup | 2 min | Paper and a pencil |
| 24. The goodbye letter | 5 min | Paper and a pen |
Two-minute pranks for the nights you forgot
Nothing to buy, nothing to clean up. These are the ones to keep in your back pocket.
1. The toilet paper trail
Unroll a toilet roll down the hallway or the stairs and sit the elf at the end, holding what's left. Add a note: "Sorry. I got carried away."
2. Caught in the cookie jar
Tip the elf halfway into the cookie jar, or sit it next to a plate with one bitten cookie and a few crumbs on its face. The note writes itself: "Don't tell Santa."
3. The shoe train
Line up every shoe in the house, nose to heel, down the hall. The elf drives the first one. Kids find their own shoes first, which is half the fun.
4. The fridge raid
Wrap the elf in a dish towel like a blanket and sit it on a fridge shelf between the milk and the butter. "It reminded me of home."
5. Banana faces
Draw a face on every banana in the fruit bowl with a marker. The peel takes the ink, the banana stays fine. Leave the elf next to the bowl, marker in hand.
6. Drawn-on family portraits
Take a dry-erase marker to the glass of your framed family photos: hats, mustaches, reindeer antlers. It wipes off with a tissue. The elf sits nearby, looking pleased with its work.
7. The tissue box bed
Tuck the elf into a box of tissues with one tissue pulled up as a blanket. "Long night. Do not disturb." This is also the one to use when you really did forget, at 7 a.m., with a child on the stairs.
8. The toy parade
Line up the stuffed animals or the toy cars across the living room floor, all facing the same way, with the elf out in front.
9. Socks on the tree
Hang the kids' clean socks on the Christmas tree like ornaments. The elf sits underneath with one sock on its head.
10. Stuck under a glass
Put the elf under an upturned drinking glass with a teddy bear standing guard next to it. "Help. The bear did it."
Five-minute pranks with a kitchen
A little more setup, and still done before the kettle boils. Put a baking tray under anything that spills and the cleanup is one trip to the sink.
11. Snow angel in flour
Spread flour on a baking tray, lay the elf in the middle and sweep its arms and legs up and down until the angel shows. Tiny footprints leading to the flour bag finish it. Powdered sugar works too.
12. The bubble bath
Fill a bowl with mini marshmallows and sink the elf in up to its shoulders. Add a face cloth over the rim and a bath toy if there's one around. No marshmallows? Cotton balls.
13. Mini movie night
Sit the elf in front of the TV or a tablet with a small bowl of popcorn and a row of toys as the audience. Leave a Christmas film paused on the screen, and you've planned tonight's family movie too.
14. The cereal message
Spell a short word on the table in cereal. "HI" is enough. Sit the elf at the end of the last letter, holding one piece.
15. Wrapped in lights
Tangle the elf in a string of fairy lights or tinsel and leave it on the shelf. "I was only trying to help decorate."
16. Gone fishing
Tie a piece of string to a pencil, sit the elf on the edge of the sink, and drop a few fish-shaped crackers in the basin or in a bowl. The catch is breakfast.
17. Green milk
Add a few drops of green food coloring to the milk and put it back in the fridge. The elf sits beside it with the little bottle. This one takes a minute and gets talked about all day.
Showstoppers for the weekend
For a Friday night when you have a coffee in you and want the gasp.
18. The zipline
Run a piece of string across the room, from a curtain rod down to a cabinet handle. Hook a candy cane over it and tuck the cane through the elf's arms. The kids walk in on an elf in mid-flight.
19. Frozen in ice
Put the elf in a clear container, fill it with water and freeze it overnight. If your elf isn't waterproof, seal it in a zip bag first. In the morning, stand the block on a tray with a note: "I got too close to the North Pole." Let it thaw a little before small hands pick it up.
20. The balloon takeoff
Blow up five to ten small balloons and tie them to a paper cup with string. The elf sits in the cup like a hot-air balloon pilot. Tape the bunch to a shelf or hang it from a lamp so it looks like liftoff.
21. Wrapped the tree
The elf decided to help decorate. Wind toilet paper or streamers around the Christmas tree, or across a doorway, and sit the elf on top of its work.
Three pranks with a job to do
The first night, the last night, and the one that quietly solves a problem for you.
22. The arrival
On the first night, the elf turns up in a small cardboard box with air holes poked in the lid and a label from the North Pole. Inside, a short hello: "I'm back. I missed you. Be good-ish."
23. Santa's wishlist pickup
Leave the elf next to a sheet of paper and a pencil with a note: "Santa asked me to bring back your wishlist." By breakfast you'll have the list, in their own handwriting.
Then put it where the grandparents can see it. Make your child's Christmas wishlist on Wishes and share one link with the family. Everyone books what they're giving, so nobody buys the same gift twice.
24. The goodbye letter
On Christmas Eve, the elf leaves a letter thanking the kids for the month and promising to come back next year. Mention one prank by name. It's the line they'll read twice.
Questions parents ask
When does the elf arrive?
Most families start on December 1, and some start the weekend after Thanksgiving. There's no wrong day. If you start late, the elf "got held up in the workshop".
What do I do if I forgot to move the elf?
Say it liked the spot so much it stayed, or that it's resting after a long flight. Then use the tissue box bed tonight. It takes one minute.
How do I keep the pranks from making a mess?
Set anything that spills on a baking tray: flour, marshmallows, cereal. Keep markers to dry-erase on glass and banana peels. And pick the kitchen over the carpet.
Do I need to buy anything?
No. Twenty of these use things most homes already have: a toilet roll, a cookie, shoes, a glass, flour, string. The four that might need a shop are the marshmallows, the food coloring, the balloons and the fairy lights.
Does the elf have to be naughty?
Not at all. Some families run a kind elf instead: it leaves a note about something nice a child did, or sets out breakfast. Mix the two and nobody knows what tomorrow brings.
Keep it small
The pranks your kids remember aren't the ones that kept you up until midnight. They're the ones that made them run down the stairs.
Two minutes is plenty. See you on the stairs at 10:47.
Elf on the Shelf is a trademark of The Lumistella Company. Wishes isn't affiliated with it. We just like the mischief.
