Elves aren't just fantastical creatures who come to spread Christmas cheer each year, they also know how to do magic! Unlike Harry Potter and his Wizard friends, elves don't rely on magic wands and spells for their magic. They have many magical tools including items found around your house and some even have their very own magic shrinking machine.
Whether they're levitating, transforming or shrinking items, your kids are sure to be wowed by their magical elf powers. These elf magic tricks may even turn the most skeptical children into true believers.
Easy Elf Magic Tricks using a Cheese Grater
Harry Potter needs his wand to create magic, but elves can make magic happen using a trusty..... cheese grater. Yes I said cheese grater. I know it seems an odd choice, but who are we to question elf magic and how it works?
Elf makes glitter from ornaments
Where exactly does glitter come from? I'm sure all parents wonder this as they find it scattered around the house in the most unlikely places.. Well according to elf magic, glitter comes from ornaments.
Elf turns crayons into m&m's
Did you know elves can turn rainbow coloured crayons into m&m's? Just be sure to tell the kids they only turn into m&m's when elf magic is involved otherwise they may try to chomp down on other crayons.
Elf turns a banana into banana lollies
If your kids aren't huge fans of fruit, don't worry the elves can turn bananas into banana lollies! Turning fruit into lollies has to be every kids dream.
Elf turns notes into coins
If your country has notes, the elves may use their special magic grater to turn them into gold or silver coins. Please note no money will be harmed in this magic trick.
2 Day Elf Magic Tricks
Sometimes elves have ideas that are so magical they need 2 nights to make the magic happen. They may also need the children's help to make the magic work, by planting special seeds or sprinkling magic glitter.
Elf Kinder Surprise egg trick
One of the most well known magic tricks elves can do is turn normal eggs into Kinder Surprise eggs! The kids will need to sprinkle some special glitter {or sprinkles} onto the eggs to help the magic happen overnight. The next morning the eggs will turn into Kinder Surprise eggs for the kids to eat with a toy inside they can keep.
If you don't have Kinder Surprise eggs where you live {in some places they are banned}, you can always use any other type of surprise eggs that contain toys.
Elf grows peppermints into candy canes
The elves can also turn peppermints into full size candy canes. They might need the children's help to plant the peppermints into the dirt and then in a day, or two, they'll grow to become full size candy canes the kids can eat.
Elf grows Skittles into candy canes
Elves can also grow special rainbow skittles candy canes. The kids will need to plant regular skittles into some dirt, or snow, and then wait overnight for them to turn into colourful candy canes.
Elf Magic Shrinking Machine Tricks
If you're as old as I am, you'll probably remember the movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids {you can stream it on Disney+}. I remember watching it as a kid and being so fascinated by it. Wayne Szalinski may have mastered the art of shrinking things back in the 80's, but he's not the only one who can do it - elves have shrinking magic too!
With their magic shrinking machines elves can shrink all sorts of items down into teeny tiny sized elf items, perfect for them to play with, or even eat. The best part is an elf shrinking machine is super easy to make - grab a cardboard box and some Christmas wrapping paper, then let the elves add their magic to make it work.
Elf shrinks Oreos to mini Oreos
Normal Oreos are way too big for the elves to eat, so they've used their magic shrinking machine to make mini Oreos that are the perfect size for elves. Yum! They're also known to get a little bit cheeky at times and prank the kids with mini Oreos.
Elf shrinks chocolate kisses to chocolate drops
If you ask me the bigger the chocolate the better, but I can see why elves would like smaller chocolate drops. Guess the kids will have to eat the bigger ones for them then.
Elf shrinks huge gummy bears to normal gummy bears
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| Image: @zippy_n_max |
This one may seem a bit counterintuitive as normal gummy bears are elf size, however I'm sure the kids will appreciate the huge gummy bears. You can use the world's largest gummy bear, or get a big gummy bear mould and make your own gelatine gummy bear. If you want to avoid the sugar high, you could also use jumbo gummy bear mochi squishies for the large bears.
Elf shrinks Christmas cookies
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| Image: Elf on the Shelf |
It's really hard to bake the perfect teeny tiny elf sized cookies so sometimes the elves need to borrow big people cookies and use their magic shrinking machine to make them the perfect size. You can get the Merry Mini Shrinking Machine free printable here.
Elf shrinks donuts into mini Cheerio donuts
Those genius elves have also worked out how to shrink donuts down to teeny tiny elf size with the help of their shrinking machine {and mini Cheerios}. You can get the Magic Shrinking Machine free printable here.
Elf shrinks Funko Pops into Bitty Pops
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| Image: @zippy_n_max |
I know many kids, and adults, who loooove collecting Funko Pops, so it makes total sense that the elves would want to shrink some down so they can have their own collection of Bitty Pops too.
Elf shrinks burgers
The elf can also shrink burgers into teeny tiny elf sized burgers. Obviously using real burgers might get a bit messy so the elves use gummy burgers instead. You can do this using Krabby Patties and mini Krabby Patties, or if you're in Australia use Trolli burgers and Trolli mini burgers.
More Elf Shrinking Machine Ideas
- Kit Kats to mini Kit Kats - Use a Kit Kat snack size and Kit Kat mini party size.
- Lollipops to mini lollipops - Use large swirl lollipops and mini lollipops {or fake lollipops if you don't want the kids eating them}.
- Candy canes to mini candy canes - Use individually wrapped normal candy canes and mini candy canes.
- Spoons and forks to doll cutlery - Grab cutlery from the kitchen and use miniature doll cutlery that matches your regular cutlery.
- Christmas baubles to tiny baubles - Get some baubles off the tree and shrink them to miniature baubles in a similar style.
- Elf into mini elf - for the ultimate shrinking trick have the elf's legs sticking out of the shrinking machine and a miniature elf coming out the other side.
Elf levitating Food Magic Tricks
Elves love to make a mess in the kitchen by getting into all the food, drinks and pantry items. Sometimes they make magic instead - getting food, or drinks to float in mid air! No wingardium leviosa needed!
*FYI these food and drinks will not be fit for consumption in the morning, so make sure the kids don't taste test.
Elf floating spaghetti and fork trick
Elves can make spaghetti and forks float in mid air! To do this they'll need a potato and some wooden skewers.
How to make floating spaghetti:
1. Cook spaghetti as usual.
2. Cut a potato in half and place it flat side down in the bottom of a bowl.
3. Stick two skewers into the potato and position fork prongs onto the top of the skewers so they support the weight of the fork and hold it in a floating position.
4. Use a different fork to place the cooked spaghetti over the end of the floating fork and falling into the bowl. Make sure enough spaghetti is covering the skewers so they can't be seen.
5. Fill the bottom of the bowl with more spaghetti.
Tip: add some oil on top of the spaghetti to help keep it looking fresher for the morning so it doesn't dry out so much overnight.
Elf floating noodles and chopsticks trick
Elves can also do the levitating magic trick with 2 minute noodles and chopsticks.
How to make floating noodles:
1. Cook 2 minutes noodles as usual.
2. Cut a potato in half and place it flat side down in the bottom of a bowl.
3. Stick two skewers into the potato and position chopsticks onto the top of the skewers so they support the weight of the them and hold them in a floating position. You'll need to use a small rubber band to hold the two chopsticks together.
4. Place the cooked noodles over the end of the floating chopsticks and falling into the bowl. Make sure enough noodles are covering the skewers so they can't be seen.
5. Fill the bottom of the bowl with more noodles.
Elf floating drink trick
Elves can also make liquid float in mid air too. They're probably just trying to be helpful making a coffee or hot chocolate for the morning, but sometimes things get messy, luckily this mess is easy to clean up.
How to make floating liquid:
1. Shape a piece of alfoil into the shape and length of the falling liquid you're making.
2. Carefully add hot glue in drops onto the alfoil.
3. Paint the dried hot glue brown to look like coffee or hot chocolate, or white if you're making milk.
If you want an even easier option, you can get already made small spilled coffee cup statues that you can set up with the elf.
Elf pouring cereal magic trick
Elves can make cereal pour itself into a bowl while the cereal box floats in mid air! Again the best part about this one is that there's no stray cereal pieces so no mess to clean up.
How to make floating cereal:
1. Position the cereal box where you want it. Either lean it onto the edge of a bench or cabinet or hang it from the roof with string.
2. Shape foil into the shape you want the cereal to fall from the packet to the bowl.
3. Hot glue individual cereal pieces onto the foil until the foil is completely covered.
4. Pour extra cereal into the bowl.
Elf cascading popcorn trick
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| Image: @elf_holly_and_elf_krystal |
Elves can also make popcorn fall through the air straight into the bucket without making a mess. Although microwave popcorn usually only takes about 2 minutes to make, this will take a lot longer.
How to make falling popcorn:
1. Make popcorn according to instructions.
2. Shape alfoil into a roll from the popcorn bag into the bucket below.
3. Hot glue popcorn pieces onto the alfoil, covering all of the foil.
4. Fill the bucket with more popcorn.
More Elf on the Shelf Magic Trick Ideas
But wait there's more! The elves can also turn water into lollies, make parents say yes to things they normally wouldn't and they can even be cut in half, just like the illusion at real magic shows.
Elf turns tap water into gummy bears
Just like elves love shrinking down massive gummy bears, they also like turning water into gummy bears. Warning this one takes a bit of prep.
How to make gummy bear water:
1. Put the plug into the sink, or put tape over the drain.
2. Shape some alfoil into a roll from the tap to the drain.
3. Hot glue gummy bears onto the alfoil, covering all the foil.
4. Add more gummy bears into the sink to cover the entire drain.
Elf turns tap water into sprinkles
Elves can also magically turn water into sprinkles. Just don't turn the tap on while they're in there.
How to make sprinkle water:
1. Put the plug in the sink, or tape it off so nothing can go down it.
2. Cut a piece of double sided tape the length of the tap faucet to the drain.
3. Cover the front side of the tape in sprinkles.
4. Stick the tape into the tap.
5. Fill the base of the sink with more sprinkles to cover the drain.
Elf turns corn into popcorn
Elves can turn real corn {or toy corn} into real popcorn with their magic popcorn popper machine, no microwave needed! Get the elf popcorn popper machine here.
Elf makes Skittles rainbow magic trick
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| Image: @jamesandholly.eots |
The elves can also turn skittles into a rainbow right before the kids eyes. This one is technically a science experiment {instructions here}, but watching the rainbow appear like magic is mesmerising for kids and definitely feels like real magic.
Elf invisible ink letter
Elves can also do magic on parents with their invisible ink letters. The elf will leave a letter for the children that only they can read, which tells them what they can ask their parents for and their parents will say yes. Ideas include ice cream for dinner, lollies for breakfast, takeaway dinner, movie night, or anything else they normally wouldn't get.
Elf magic show
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| Image: Frugal Coupon Living |
The elves are so magic they can even be sawed in half and still survive completely unscathed. If you have two elves one can be the magician and one can be cut in half, or if you only have one then another toy can be the magician {as above} who cuts the elf in half. Find out how to set up this trick here.
If you're looking for even more fun, easy, or even elaborate Elf on the Shelf ideas, join our Facebook group Elfing Around for lots of inspiration from thousands of elf enthusiasts around the world.
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