Elf props worth buying (and what to skip)
Nothing here is required. If you're shopping anyway, these are the few things our 142 ideas use again and again, picked safety first.
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Before the first night
- The Elf on the Shelf® box set (Amazon): only if this is your first year. The storybook and the elf come together, and every idea here works with it or any elf doll. Arrival ideas
- A small props kit for elves (Amazon): tiny signs, cups and accessories in one box, handy on busy nights. Last-minute ideas
The elf drawer
One small box of these covers most of December.
- Wrapped mini candy canes (Amazon): They fit an elf's hands and turn up as fishing rods, hockey sticks and hiking poles. Used in 10 ideas
- Mini marshmallows (Amazon): Snowballs, bubble baths and cocoa. Cotton balls do the same job for kids under 4. Used in 9 ideas
- Cotton balls (Amazon): Snow, clouds and snowballs that are safe around toddlers. Used in 6 ideas, like Elf Pickleball Match and Elf Spa Day
- Painter's tape (Amazon): Lines, lasers and signs on walls and doors that come off clean. Used in 3 ideas, like Sleigh Pickup Spot and Toilet Paper Finish Line
- Mini clothespins (Amazon): For hanging notes, garlands and tiny laundry lines. Used in 2 ideas, like Curtain Rod Pull-Ups and Zip Line Arrival
- Dry-erase markers (Amazon): For messages on mirrors and windows that wipe right off. Used in 1 idea: Mirror Message
For bigger weekends
- Big foam letter magnets (Amazon): Big letters that little hands can move; check the age label and skip sets with small magnets. Used in 1 idea: Fridge Magnet Message
- Full-size candy canes (Amazon): Long enough for the limbo bar, with plenty left for a week of candy cane ideas. Used in 1 idea: Candy Cane Limbo Under the Tree
- Mini rubber duck (Amazon): For an extra-silly bath. Used in 1 idea: Marshmallow Bubble Bath
- Mini tin mailbox (Amazon): If you want to reuse it every December. Used in 1 idea: Classroom Kindness Mailbox
- Mini wooden skis for 12-inch dolls (Amazon): If you want the run to look official. Used in 1 idea: Toilet Paper Ski Slope
- Self-stick googly eyes (Amazon): One big pack lasts all season. Used in 1 idea: Googly Eye Eggs
What to skip
- Small magnets and button batteries. Both are dangerous if swallowed.
- Real candles. Every idea here works without a flame.
- Anything sharp, or small enough to choke on, in a home with little ones.
- Big kits you'll use once. A roll of tape and some paper go further.