The Rascally Reindeer – our alternative to Elf on the Shelf!
You’ve probably heard of The Elf on the Shelf, right? That mischievous elf who shows up at the beginning of December to keep an eye on your kids as they count down the days until Christmas.
By day, the elf sits on a shelf, watching to see who’s naughty and nice, and by night, he gets into all kinds of trouble while they’re sleeping. He’s known for making a mess in the kitchen, playing with the kids’ toys, and getting himself into sticky situations that he can’t get himself out of. When you wake up in the morning, you catch him, red-handed, in the act.
A cute and kid-friendly alternative
We don’t do Elf on the Shelf here. I don’t personally have a problem with him, although I hear that he creeps a lot of people out. The reason I don’t do Elf on the Shelf is because my own kids were too old for it when I found out about it.
I’ve come up with an alternative though – something fun that I do with the daycare hooligans during the month December as we count down to Christmas. Let me show you what we do instead of Elf on the Shelf here at our house.
Meet The Rascally Reindeer!
These reindeer decorations were originally going to be Christmas tree ornaments. They wound up being a too big for my liking, so I popped them into a potted plant until I could figure out what to do with them.
See all of our Easy Reindeer Crafts here.
The next morning, my daycare hooligans were delighted to come across them “hiding” in the potted plant, and the idea it me!
These twig reindeer could be an alternative to the Elf on the Shelf here in my daycare! I was pretty tickled to think that a project gone wrong could end up being so much fun!
Check out this post for more cute and friendly alternatives to the Elf on the Shelf.
How we use our rascally reindeer as an alternative to Elf on the Shelf
Our reindeer don’t get into any mischief at all.
They simply find new hiding spots each night, and they hunker down inconspicuously and wait for the hooligans to come looking for them in the morning. It’s like a game of I spy or hide-and-seek… with reindeer.
You may also like our Triangle Twig Reindeer Ornaments and our Tiny Twig Reindeer with Scarf Ornament.
How to make our Rascally Reindeer Decorations:
For your conviencience, this post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Supplies
- twigs or small branches
- glue gun
- googly eyes
- red pom poms or buttons
Instructions
Simply glue a couple of eyes and a nose to your twig reindeer and let the fun begin! Where WILL they show up?
Here are ours, trying to blend in among the clementines.
Found you!
And here they are appropriately hanging out in the Christmas Cactus.
They seem to like greenery because one was spotted here camping out in the hibiscus, and another was chillin’ in the spider plant.
One night, they even managed to escape into the backyard!
Oh, those Rascally Reindeer! We never know where we’re going to find them!
What a fun way to count down the days to Christmas!
More alternatives for Elf on the Shelf:
7 Kind and Friendly Alternatives to Elf on the Shelf
Traditional Elf on the Shelf Ideas:
40+ Elf on the Shelf Idea by Kids Activities Blog
You may also like:
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
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MultiTestingMom
I really love this idea – SO cute!
Kathy Radigan
That is adorable!!!!
Joanne Rowe
Love it, will do this myself! 🙂
Kate
They are so cute! Much better than an elf 🙂
happyhooligans
Aw thanks, Kate! Glad you like them!
world-travler
Christmas has always been a family celebration in the Grinkmeyer home, but as our children grew older we found that their interest in Christmas morning waned and the sparkle in their eyes was gone. The day after Thanksgiving, 1992, we introduced the Christmas Web in our home with the placement of Magic Wands into their socks that had for years been hung at the fireplace mantel. Attached to each Magic Wand was a piece of yarn (a 70 yard piece of yarn). When our two teen-aged children came down Christmas morning, they found that the yarn was wound through the house – around window latches, door knobs, chairs and doors. It ended in a closet or cabinet which held their special Christmas gift from one of Santa’s elves, an elf who had been looking out for them for the past year and knew of their desire for this special Christmas gift.
The Christmas Web continued as each of our children got married and as they had children. Each of our grandchildren have an Elf on the Shelf or Elf Magic elf who is now the elf that hides their special Christmas gift each year and leads them to it with their individual Magic Wand. We now have seven Magic Wands each with 70 yards of yarn winding through our house every Christmas morning, making getting a cup of coffee an acrobatic achievement before the winding hunt begins.
The Christmas Web has become a highly anticipated family tradition for our children, grandchildren and us. We hope it brings as much joy to your family as it has to ours.
happyhooligans
I can’t even tell you how awesome I think your idea is! What fun parents you must be to come up with something so crazy-creative to restore the magic of Christmas in your home! Thank you so much for sharing your story with me. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, once again, with your family!
Heather @ Crayon Box Chronicles
So clever and completely adorable! Love how your crafts are completely manageable for all the hooligans! Thank you for sharing on our FB page! Pinned!
Erica @ My Little Sonbeam
So very cute! I love it!
Tiffany H.
How cute!!! LOVE this idea!
Makeovers Motherhood (@MOandMH)
Oh, I LOVE this! If it weren’t the wee hours of the morning, I’d be out looking for reindeer sticks! Super can’t wait to make these with my boys! I am featuring this on Makeovers & Motherhood’s Welcome Party Wednesday Link-Up this week! Thanks for sharing!
Danya Banya
I love crafting with sticks! These are simply gorgeous!