Excited to finally be sharing the Elf on the Shelf Family advent that I created for my family in 2019! This is an idea that you can take pieces from, mix and match or just grab a few ideas to make your family holiday celebrations a little extra!
So yeah, we have an Elf – her name is Elfie. Olive decided she was a girl and her name was Elfie, so that’s what we named her! Most years we would just move Elfie at night when the kids went to bed (or try to remember to move her). I really didn’t get too complicated with it all, but in 2019 – I had this grand plan to use the Elf as our advent and make it a family affair.
Enter the Elf on the Shelf Family advent! Starting on December 1st, Elfie brought the kids notes every day with a different activity or gift – sometimes just one, sometimes both. I wanted to share it with you in case you are tired of the candy advents or Lego ones and just want to do something a little different. Like I said at the beginning of this post – take from this what works for your family – I am all about inspiration! (This advent was completed in 2019 before the pandemic, the pictures below were taken before the pandemic).
Dec 1 – Hello note with a gift
A little hello from Elfie with a little gift. I found the card games at 5 below.
Dec 2 – Lego Minifig build friendly competition
We love Legos so a minifig blind bag gift came with this note. The kiddos came up with some wacky minifigs that night.
Dec 3 – Holiday cooking night
Elfie brought us a fudge-making kit – so we made yummy fudge. It was fun to make and eat!
Dec 4 – Mario Cart night
We don’t often play video games all together so this was a special treat – Mario Kart races with all 4 of us. Elfie brought the kids fun car toys.
Dec 5 – Art night
I dug into my craft supplies and we made Christmas ornaments with pipe cleaners, glitter, and plastic ornament balls.
Dec 6 – Light event and hot chocolate
A local park in St. Louis has a great drive-through light display and we have gone every year since moving here. So this night we got in the car with hot chocolate in new mugs and headed to see the lights.
Dec 7 – Six Flags Holiday Park
Six Flags St. Louis is about 30 minutes from our house and we had a season pass so we headed there to see the lights around the park and ride some rides.
Dec 8 – Gingerbread house kit
I found a gingerbread house kit from Costco and the kids created a yummy palace.
Dec 9 – Game night
I got this fun Camp game all about animals and the outdoors. So we pretended we were camping by making microwave smores and played the game at the kitchen table.
Dec 10 – Holiday Storytime
We have a pretty good collection of holiday books and Elfie brought the kids some snuggly stuffed animals and we read stories by the fireplace.
Dec 11 – Holiday School concert/fro-yo treat
Olive had a school concert on this night. We went to the concert and then got frozen yogurt as a treat after.
Dec 12 – Holiday Science night
I found a few holiday science projects online and thought my kids would love it – they did. We made exploding glitter bombs and grew crystal candy canes. Science is cool!
Dec 13 – Holiday Movie night
We watched Elf on the big screen in the basement and munched on popcorn and movie theater size candy.
Dec 14 – Family outing to the Missouri Botanical Garden Glow
We got tickets to the Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical gardens for this family outing. It was a lot of fun, even in the cold.
Dec 15 – Holiday Cookie baking
We have to make sugar cookies every year so why not add them to the advent! This soft sugar cookie recipe is the best – especially with homemade buttercream frosting. Love the kid’s creations!
Dec 16 – Snow Day
This day was not in the original plan but I went with it! It dumped snow so school was canceled and enjoyed the snow day!
Dec 17 – Read to animals at the Humane Society
Thankfully the Humane Society was open so we could read to the animals still. I love this program – so cute!
Dec 18 – Light hunt in the neighborhood
Elfie brought cozy holiday blankets and we bundled up in the car to drive around the neighborhood light hunting.
Dec 19 – Zoo Lights
I think most zoos do a Zoo Light type of event and the St. Louis Zoo Wild Lights did not disappoint. So fun!
Dec 20 – Stay up late with the babysitter
Mom and Dad had to see the new Star Wars movie – so the kiddos got a night with the babysitter.
Dec 21 – Local outing
Elfie brought us fun holiday headbands to wear at a local holiday outing – but the kids decided they didn’t want to go, so we didn’t. And that was totally okay!
Dec 22 – Supper with Santa at a local restaurant
We normally go visit Santa at the mall or another location but a local restaurant was having a Supper with Santa night and it was just such a great idea we had to get our reservations. Yummy Italian food and chats with Santa!
Dec 23 – Lego build competition
Another Lego night – this time building little mini sets that Elfie brought.
Dec 24 – Christmas Eve – Elfie goodbye, Christmas eve gift
On Christmas eve, Elfie gave the kids her goodbye note and a final gift. We usually do Christmas PJs on Christmas eve – this year it was a Gremlins theme with Mom-made PJ shorts and stuffie and the movie. We watched part of the movie with the kids, but V not so much – still a little too scary just yet.
Such a memorable advent this year – so much family fun. I really believe this is something that you can go way over the top with or totally low-key – just depends on your family. Most of the gifts I got were low-cost (think dollar store or 5 below), other days we used stuff we already had or were already planning to do.
Come back tomorrow for my tips on how to create your own Elf on the Shelf family advent! Just a few steps to create an advent adventure perfect for your family! The printables of the elf notes will be in the Free Printable Library as well! Thanks for joining me on our adventure!
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