Pandemic Prep Station

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Kitchen Difficulty ●●●○○ Messiness ●○○○○ Ages 3–10

How it's done

Your elf is busy preparing for the day by setting up a little health station right on the kitchen counter. You will find them perched behind a small fort made of stacked toilet paper rolls, wearing a spare child-sized mask. A bottle of hand sanitizer sits nearby to complete the look. This setup takes about ten minutes to arrange and involves absolutely no cleanup for you the next morning. It is a straightforward, relatable scene that kids between three and ten will easily recognize. This display was Inspired by What Moms Love.

You'll need

  • masks
  • hand sanitizer
  • toilet paper

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Pets in the house?

Should be fine around pets as long as you place it out of reach.

Why this works

The kitchen is the first room most kids visit in the morning, for cereal, for milk, for the toaster. An elf scene staged here has the highest odds of being the first thing your child spots and shouts about. This mid-difficulty scene trades a little more setup time for a bigger 'wow' moment when your kids walk in.

Variations

  • Bigger-kid twist: For an older crowd that sees through simple scenes, step up to Buddy Four Food Groups , same room, cleverer setup.

If it doesn't go to plan

If the elf ends up too well-hidden and the kids can't find it, nudge them with a vague hint ("Looks like our elf went somewhere cozy"), the discovery is the point.

Inspired by What Moms Love . Visit the original post for more photos and the full backstory.

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