Community Corner

Ideas for Hiding that Pesky Elf on the Shelf

Some creative solutions for our Patch readers.

By Liz Taurasi

Did your Elf on the Shelf appear in your home after the Thanksgiving holiday? If so, you know how difficult it can be to find a new and intriguing place to put him or her every night to keep making the magic happen in the days leading up to Christmas.

For children it’s the excitement of finding their elf in a new spot each morning when he or she returns from reporting to Santa each night. For parents, it can be at times a chore as there are times they forget and other times where the constraints of life make it hard to be super creative.

With that I bring you some ideas for you to steal, share and get your creative juices flowing:

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Send Your Elf Tubing! - Attach him to a toy inner tube, add a string connected to a toy boat in the tub and you have a summer sporting elf!

How About a Little Game of Cards? - Set up some friends (Barbie, Elmo, GI Joe you get the drift) and a deck of cards and you have a game of cards.

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Got a Doll House? Even if you don’t you can build a lego structure and hide your elf inside.

Give Your Elf a Workout - Create an elf-sized barbell with two marshmallows and a Q-tip and you have your elf getting in shape for his nightly trip back to the North Pole.

Hide Him Among Friends - Remember that scene in "ET" where he was visibly hiding among the stuffed animals in the closet - that’s an easy idea for a night when you’re lacking some creativity.

There’s also a plethora of websites and Facebook pages with even more unique ideas to peruse, here are a few:

What unique situations has your Elf on the Shelf been in? Share your ideas in our comments section below. 


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