Christmas: a very The Elf on the ShelfR time of year!

The run-up to Christmas is always a busy time for the Christmas tradition that is The Elf on the Shelf®, and Christmas 2025 is no exception – especially as the brand celebrates 20 years of storytelling with Santa’s official Scout Elves alongside new characters and stories from The Elf on the Shelf® Santaverse®, the storytelling universe that gives families an interactive look inside the enchanted world of Santa Claus.

Rocket Licensing, which manages The Elf on the Shelf Santaverse in the UK for brand owner The Lumistella Company, has announced a number of major promotions and events for November and December this year in the UK market, including collaborations with McDonald’s, two major sculpture art trails and the return of the 15-foot tall Scout Elf to three major cities.

The most wide-ranging of the new events is a part of the UK-wide Happy Meal® campaign, in which a Scout Elf will be a guest at dozens of McDonald’s restaurants this festive season, where families will have the chance to meet one of Santa’s happy helpers in person.

From Wednesday the 19th of November, for a limited time only, families visiting McDonald’s restaurants can unwrap the magic of Christmas in a Happy Meal® with one of 12 adorable, official plush toys from The Elf on the Shelf Santaverse, each with its own cheeky charm and festive flair, or a heartwarming original storybook featuring beloved characters from The Elf on the Shelf Santaverse to dive into.

McDonald’s restaurants will be hosting a range of character visits, face painting and themed activity pages designed to bring the magic to life for the whole family. They will also be incorporating the Mayo Chicken into the Happy Meal® menu and transforming McDonald’s popular carrot sticks into Reindeer Treats with special packaging, ready to fuel Santa’s helpers through the season.

Wild in Art, a team of creative producers of innovative public art trails, is behind The Elf on the Shelf® sculpture art trails, to which twelve artists have contributed, with plans to feature twelve sculptures each at Sheffield Park and Clumber Park National Trust during the festive season.

Starting mid-November 2025 and continuing until early January 2026, each of these popular National Trust sites will support the sculpture trail with trail stop activities. Sheffield Park is including touch, smell and drawing-based guessing games, races, music, catapults, snowballs and a chance to have a selfie with The Elf on the Shelf Scout Elf mascot, an opportunity that proved very popular at the recent Brand Licensing Europe event where a sculpture of a beloved Scout Elf was on prominent display.

In addition, a 15-foot tall The Elf on the Shelf Scout Elf can again be found in Bristol, Liverpool and Croydon in south London this December on top of several buildings where, in a daily game of search-and-find, the Scout Elf will travel around town and city centres from the first to the 24th of December, finding the perfect spots to bring holiday joy to children and adults alike.

These festive events take place just as the first original animated The Elf on the Shelf® preschool series, Scout Elf Squad, debuts on the official The Elf on the Shelf YouTube channel. The interactive show with singalong songs follows four new Scout Elf characters who use their unique skills to learn, play and save the day through magical adventures that promote teamwork, kindness and fun. Scout Elf Squad premiered Monday 24 November, timed for Scout Elf Return Week, when Santa’s helpers typically head out from the North Pole to homes around the world. A total of five episodes will roll out before 22 December.

The global success of The Elf on the Shelf® now extends to more than 23 million Scout Elves adopted by families around the world – 20 years after The Elf on the Shelf tradition from The Lumistella Company began in the US when Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda A. Bell self-published the keepsake boxed set The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition.

Christa Pitts, Co-CEO of Lumistella says: “With Christmas fast approaching, The Elf on the Shelf® has some wonderful family events planned to celebrate the holiday season as well as our 20th anniversary of elftastical storytelling. Our thanks to McDonald’s, Wild in Art, Liverpool, Bristol and Croydon BID companies, Rocket and everyone involved this year in bringing The Elf on the Shelf to restaurants, parks and buildings across the UK! More than ever, Christmas 2025 will be a very The Elf on the Shelf time of year!”

Rob Wijeratna, Joint MD, Rocket Licensing, adds: “As you’d expect for one of the country’s most popular seasonal brands, there’s a high level of activity planned in the UK for The Elf on the Shelf this year – in fact after 20 years of this beloved Christmas tradition, it’s higher than ever. We’re certain that these events will help to make this a memorable Christmas season for families across the UK.”