All good stories have a villain who ends up turning good and everybody knows the villain at Christmas time is the Grinch who always tries to steal Christmas. The Grinch can escape Whoville and come to your house to make things interesting this Christmas. Afterall the Grinch has been around longer than those cheeky elves.
Naturally he's going to inject a little mischief and try to thwart the elf on the shelf's plans most nights, but as the month goes on they may become friends and start working together to spread the Christmas spirit. Here's lots of ideas if you want the Grinch to come visit with the elves this year.
GRINCH ELF IDEAS: WHEN WHOVILLE'S ANTI-HERO MEETS ELF ON THE SHELF
If you want to invite some Grinch mischief into your house this December you can adopt a special elf sized Grinch doll. You can get plain green or red Grinch dolls here or here {or from Catch if you're in Australia}. If you want to make them posable, wire them with this elf flex kit.
*Please note these are not official Elf on the Shelf items, however they are the same size as scout elves.
Arrive with Elves
The Grinch can make his debut into your home at the same time the elves arrive, or pop in randomly throughout the month. If the elves want to dress up like the Grinch as well you can get a Grinch sweater like the ones above here, or you can get Grinch face jumpers here.
If the Grinch wants to bring a Grinch game you can get:
Christmas countdown
The Grinch can help count down until Christmas. You can get the free printable Grinch countdown here and the Grinch can change the number of days in the bauble each night.
Grinch kisses
The Grinch can try and turn the elf into a Grinch using an empty bag of special Hershey's Grinch Kisses.
Grinch the elves
The Grinch can also try and turn the elves into a mean Grinch by literally sticking his face on them.
Grinchmas Era
If the Grinch wants to get in on the Taylor Swift bandwagon, he can set up his own Grinchmas concert with a Holly Jolly Era poster. We all know he's probably secretly a swiftie just like the elves.
Grinch reading bed time story
The Grinch isn't always mean, he can help put the elves to bed by reading them a bedtime story. The Sounds of Grinchmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and I am the Grinch are his favourite books.
Grinch fart
That's one way to make a dutch oven! Even the Grinch loves toilet humour and fart jokes.
Grinch food
Even though he relies on Max to get his food ready in Whoville, the Grinch is perfectly capable of cooking. You can make some mini Grinch treats by printing these free printable Grinch food labels in teeny tiny sizes and taping them over some foam. Or, you can get this set of miniature Grinch movie night props.
Grinch milk
The Grinch can turn the milk into Grinch milk by adding green food colouring.
Grinch poo or Elf pee?
Grinch style would you rather mystery challenge... would you rather drink elf pee or eat Grinch poop? Kids who love toilet humour and mystery challenges will love this one! For Grinch poop you can use any green lollies like green skittles, green m&m's, green tic-tac's, green jellybeans or green chocolate buttons.
Grinch pee
Of course the Grinch can pee in a cup too, but it won't look like lemonade! Use some green cordial, or green food dye and water to make some disgusting Grinch pee.
Grinchmas breakfast
It's well known that elves love to create a North Pole breakfast, so it's only fair that the Grinch gets his chance to throw a lavish Grinchmas breakfast too. Complete with lots of special green treats like green chocolate milk {use white hot chocolate mix and green food colouring} and green grinch waffles {use this grinch waffle maker}.
If you want to go all out decorating the table you can add a grinch balloon garland and there's a variety of grinch backdrops and grinchmas tableware available to turn your Grinchmas breakfast into a real party.
Take out the elf trash
We all know how important it is not to forget bin day, well the Grinch can help you with that! He's more than happy to take out the elf trash. Get elf sized recycling and trash cans here.
Grinch holds elf hostage
Uh-oh looks like the Grinch is trying to get rid of the elf again! Or maybe he's just wrapping him up like a present and putting him under the tree...
Elf jail
If wrapping them up doesn't work then the Grinch can always put the elves in jail. He'll have to keep a close eye on them though because jail breaks happen and an elf jail can easily become a grinch jail if they get revenge.
You can make a jail using a cardboard box and some straws or candy canes as the bars. If you want a more realistic jail cell, elves fit perfectly in this novelty phone jail.
Grinch shrinks elf
If jail doesn't work to keep the elf {or elves} in line then the Grinch can always pull out his shrinking ray and zap the elf into a teeny tiny version. What a great way to minimise your problems.
Grinch steals Christmas tree
Oh no the naughty Grinch is trying to steal the Christmas Tree, just like in Whoville! Lucky his big red sack doesn't cover the whole tree though so I don't think he'll get very far.
Grinch gets caught
There's only so much pranking one can take before they fight back and the Grinch better look out because even though elves are primarily good, they're not adverse to taking a bit of revenge when needed.
Grinch the bathroom
If the Grinch wants to make his presence known he can grinch the bathroom by changing everything to Grinch themed items like a Grinch shower curtain, Grinch toilet seat covers, red and green towels and a Grinch bathmat.
He can also go a step further and set up a green bath for the kids using green bath bombs or a slimy green bath using green gelli baff. He might even turn the toilet water green with a few drops of food colouring.
Grinch the mirror
The Grinch can try and turn everyone in the family into a Grinch by drawing himself on the mirror so no matter who looks in it they'll always look like the Grinch. Just make sure he uses paint markers or chalk pens which will wash off with soap and water.
Grinch holds elf over the toilet
The bathroom can sometimes be a dangerous place for the elf and Grinch to hang out if one of them takes the opportunity for revenge. The elf better hope the Grinch doesn't let go and the Grinch better hope the elf doesn't come for payback later on.
Grinch the loungeroom
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| Image | @elfontheshelf_sahmstyle |
If he's not content just grinching the bathroom he can always grinch the entire loungeroom. Wrap the tree in a lime green disposable tablecloth then make sure he draws his face on it. Make the room even more grinchy with green balloons or a balloon garland, green streamers and swap out the lounge cushions for some Grinch cushions.
Post-it note Grinch
The elf, or the Grinch himself, can make a huge life size Grinch out of post-it notes. You can google Grinch pixel art images so you know how many of each colour to add to create the final image. Don't forget to stock up on green, red, black and white post-it notes.
Get along shirt
Eventually Santa will probably get annoyed with the Grinch and elf constantly antagonising each other and he'll force them to learn to get along by wearing a get along shirt. Good luck with that one guys!
Grinch rice flipping
If you have a lot of time to prepare and want an epic idea that'll wow the kids, then the Grinch can leave his face made out of rice for you to flip. When you do, his face will appear like magic in the air. You'll need to dye some uncooked rice green, red, black and yellow beforehand.
If you've never done rice flipping, you'll probably want to watch this rice flipping tutorial and do a few practice runs. Don't worry you can also save the rice afterwards to use for sensory play so it won't go to waste.
Elves take Grinch back home
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A great way for the elves to leave when the Grinch is in the house is to capture him and take him back home with them. They can drop him off to Whoville on their way back to the North Pole. That way you'll know he definitely won't be getting up to any more mischief, or ruining Christmas. You can get a printable Grinch goodbye letter so he doesn't leave without saying goodbye to the kids.
If you're looking for more cheeky, mischievous, or even elaborate Elf on the Shelf ideas, join our Facebook group Elfing Around for lots of inspiration from thousands of people around the world.
MORE ELF IDEAS
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