A new idea for your elf door, every night.
Pranks with a photo, a list of what you need and a letter for your children — so you are not standing there at half past ten with nothing.
12 ideas included, free.
Get the free app On the App Store and Google Play.
From the app: the gummy bear garland.
Three ideas for tonight
Three from the app, free to try, with or without it. Each one goes up in about five minutes. See all twelve.
The Snow Storm in the Kitchen
5 minutes3–8 years
The elf tried to bake, and covered half the kitchen in snow. Well — in flour.
How to do it
You need: flour (a handful), a spoon or a small bowl
- Scatter a little flour over a dark surface — a baking tray, the counter, or the floor in front of the elf door.
- Press small elf footprints into it with your thumb, a thimble or a little toy brick.
- Tip a spoon or a tiny bowl over next to the prints.
- Leave the flour bag standing nearby with the top open.
The elf's letter and a small task for the children are in the app. Full version of this idea.
The Frozen Toothbrush
5 minutes4–10 years
Overnight the elf turned a toothbrush into a block of ice.
How to do it
You need: your child's toothbrush, a tall glass or plastic cup, water
- Wait until the children have brushed their teeth in the evening.
- Stand the toothbrush in a tall glass or a plastic cup.
- Fill it with water until the head of the brush is covered.
- Put the glass in the freezer overnight.
- In the morning, stand the glass — or the ice block with the brush in it — next to the elf door.
The elf's letter and a small task for the children are in the app. Full version of this idea.
The Blue Milk
5 minutes2–10 years
The milk in the fridge has turned a glowing, impossible blue overnight. What exactly was the elf brewing in there?
How to do it
You need: milk, dairy or not (1 carton), blue food dye (a few drops)
- Take a nearly full carton of milk out of the fridge.
- Open it carefully and add 3 or 4 drops of blue food dye.
- Close it and shake until the shade is even all the way through.
- Put it back in the fridge and leave a tiny elf tool beside it — a doll's spoon or a small glass vial.
The elf's letter and a small task for the children are in the app. Full version of this idea.
New to the elf door? Here is the whole thing.
Through advent a small elf moves in with you. He lives behind a little door, writes the children letters and plays pranks at night. The good part: there is not much for you to do.
Put up the door
A small wooden door against the skirting board, and the elf has somewhere to live.
Set it up at night
Once the children are asleep: one prank, one letter, a few crumbs. Five minutes is usually plenty.
Look surprised
In the morning they find what he has been up to. You drink your coffee and know nothing at all about it.
Where our elf comes from
He is a nisse, or a tomte if you ask a Swede: the Scandinavian household elf, a small bearded figure in a pointed hat who has been living in farmhouses and behind skirting boards for several hundred years. He looks after the house through the dark months, he likes porridge, and he is an absolute menace if he gets bored.
That matters, because it is the kind of elf you get here. Ours does not keep watch over your children. He does not report to anybody. He does not stop working if somebody hugs him. He turns the milk blue, he strings the gummy bears up over his own front door, and in the morning he leaves a note explaining himself — badly.
Elf Diaries is an independent app. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to any other elf brand, book, doll or product.
And on the tenth night, when nothing comes to mind?
That is the bit Elf Diaries takes off you. You get:
- pranks with a photo, a list of what you need and a few short steps
- a small task for the children, and the elf's own version of events
- letters and notes that print straight out
- a plan up to Christmas, with a reminder in the evening
- the arrival, the stay and the goodbye as one ready-made sequence
12 ideas included, free.
Pick your elf: the Explorer, the Rascal or the Dreamer.
Questions people ask
What is an elf door, and where does the tradition come from?
The idea comes from Scandinavia. There the nisse (Norway and Denmark) or tomte (Sweden) is a small household elf who lives quietly about the place, keeps an eye on things through the dark months and gets up to mischief when nobody is looking. Families began putting up a tiny door for him to live behind, and over the last few years the idea has spread across the UK and the US. Through advent an elf moves in behind that little door, writes the children letters and plays small pranks at night.
Is this connected to any other elf brand or toy?
No. Elf Diaries is an independent app made by a two-person team in Germany, built around the Scandinavian household elf described above. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to any other elf product, book, doll or brand, and our elf follows none of their rules. Ours does not watch the children, does not report on them and does not lose anything if you touch him. He writes letters and he makes a mess.
How does the elf season usually run?
Most families get a note a few days beforehand announcing that someone is moving in. The elf arrives at the end of November or on December 1. From then on something happens every night: a letter, a prank, a small surprise. The children find it in the morning. Shortly before Christmas he packs up and says goodbye.
What do I need to get started?
A small elf door — supermarkets, craft shops and the usual online places all have them from autumn onwards. A bit of decoration, if you like. And one idea every evening. The ideas are what the app is for.
What does the app actually do?
It gives you pranks with a photo, a list of what you need and short steps. With each one comes a small task for the children and the elf's own version of what happened. Letters and notes print straight out. If you want, the app spreads the ideas you like across the nights up to Christmas and reminds you in the evening. You can filter by time, age and cost.
What does it cost?
The app itself is free: the arrival, the stay and the goodbye come as a ready-made sequence, with 12 ideas included. If you want more, the 2026 season pass adds another 70 — that is a purchase inside the app, and the store shows you the price where you live. Worst case, you got twelve ideas for nothing.
Can I not just find all this online for free?
You can, somewhere. Spread across a thousand pins, PDFs and forums. The app has it in one place, sorted by how old your children are and how much evening you have left — including at ten at night, flat out on the sofa, with nothing whatsoever coming to mind.
Is it worth it if I have almost no time?
Especially then. Most of the ideas take five minutes. The app tells you beforehand what you need and reminds you in good time. You can pick something on the night or plan a whole week in advance.
Do I need craft supplies or a budget?
No. Most ideas use what is already in the house: flour, socks, toilet paper, a scrap of paper. You can filter by cost and decide for yourself how elaborate any evening gets.
What ages is it for?
Roughly 3 to 9. You can filter the ideas by age, and you pick one of three elves to move in: the Explorer, the Rascal or the Dreamer.
Can the letters be personal?
Yes. Your elf gets a name of his own, and if you like, he writes to your child by name.
Does it work in the UK and in the US?
Yes — it is one app in English for both, and everything in it uses things you have at home either side of the Atlantic. One thing to know when you search: on the UK App Store it is listed as Elf Diaries, on the US App Store as Christmas Elf Diaries. The button on this page takes you to the right store either way.
Is it on iPhone and Android?
Both — the App Store and Google Play. The “Get the free app” button sends you to whichever one fits your phone.
What happens to my data?
The app needs no account. What you type in — your elf's name, your child's name, your plan — stays on your phone. The rest is in the app privacy policy.