Elf Doors - A Christmas Craft Idea for Nannies

Christmas is just around the corner! If you are working as a nanny, governess or tutor, here's the chance to up your arts and crafts game and inspire your charges with an amazing festive-themed activity.

Elf doors are at an easy and creative Xmas activity that will keep you and your kids busy by the nice warm fire on a (hopefully) snowy afternoon. They are great fun to make, will impress your charge's parents and provide many a photo opportunity. And don't forget working together is a great way to build up the kids' “elf-confidence”!  Sorry...

Seriously though, making elf doors is quick and simple to do, so let's dive in!

Step 1: Gather your materials

To make your elf doors you will need:

-Some tree bark or offcuts of wood

-PVA glue

-Acrylic paint

-Extra stick on materials - sticks, leaves, flowers, or glitter in Christmas colours like red, green and gold, sequins, baubles etc.

It's a great idea to get your kids out of the house for a walk to find your materials. Try your best to track down some logs or felled trees for old, ideally dry, bark.

In the absence of natural bark, small offcuts of wood or even some cardboard will do the trick.

Step 2- The creative process

It's time to use your imagination! Size up your doors as you see fit and get any wood gluing done now. Then let the painting begin! We painted a base layer of white acrylic on the doors with bright colours, to give them a base to shine upon. Let the white paint dry well before painting the colours of your design on top.

Designing doors has no limits. You can add porch roofs, door handles or even windows. Sketch out some ideas with your charges before using your best pieces of wood, and consider adding glitter, tinsel or sequins for extra Christmassy effect.

Step 3: Place your elf doors! 

Once your doors are ready and dry, find suitable locations for them around your house or garden. Ours actually garnered attention from passers by, who stopped to take photos!

Make sure you get your own footage too: take out your phone and pose for some “Elfies” next to your creations. Don't forget to send them to your kids' parents! 

We hope that you have found this helpful and if you would like to check out some of our other arts and crafts activist then dive in over here!