If you’re hosting a holiday party this year, consider an Elf theme! You can be as extravagant as you want with the decorations – just ask Pinterest! We kept it pretty simple, decorating with the Christmas decorations we usually put out. To tie into the theme, we made an “Elf Village” North Pole sign with a wrapping paper tube, washi tape, and a few descriptors to guide people around our backyard.
Food
If you think about the Elf movie, you know there are four main food groups:
- Candy
- Candy Canes
- Candy Corn
- Syrup
If you have the room and creativity, you could make a great buffet with a cute DIY sign and these foods on display (and for eating!). We kept it easy and made Pillsbury Elf Sugar Cookies and other holiday treats.
We decorated water bottles by wrapping them in green cardstock, with black belts and yellow buckles. This was a simple cut and tape project – perfect for creating while watching a Christmas movie! I enlisted the tape skills from my very eager-to-help preschooler.
Entertainment
Since elves are fun and silly, the entertainment at an Elf party should be the focus during your party planning. We painted an easy Elf Yourself photo op on a piece of cardstock. Simply cut out a head hole, add some snowflake stickers, and you’re ready for fun!
I wanted to have a few interactive games for the kids, ranging from a few months old to elementary aged. I found a narwhal ring toss game in the Target dollar spot that fit the theme perfectly. If you remember the movie, Elf, you’ll remember Mr. Narwhal’s appearance at the beginning.
If you have a few summer sand buckets laying around, elf snowball toss is an easy DIY game that kids of all ages have fun playing. We used washi tape and cardstock to make the green beach buckets look similar to our elf water bottles. We taped card stock numbers inside each bucket for the older, more competitive kids. Finally, we set out large, white pom pom “snowballs” and let the games begin.
To top off the party entertainment, we hired an elf to add a little extra cheer to our party. The kids loved listening to her tell stories, playing “Elf Says,” and having a freeze dance party. They even had a chance to get their face painted.
Overall the theme was great. We had a lot of fun planning and everyone seemed to have fun during the party.
