The Mall in Walthamstow is inviting visitors to ‘elf’ themselves this December at the shopping centre, as part of its Christmas celebrations.

Launched in 2006, ‘Elf Yourself’ is an online, interactive, seasonal phenomenon which gets families, friends and colleagues into the festive spirit.

“We want to take the fun offline and make it a completely immersive and memorable experience,” said Richard Jones, The Mall’s marketing manager.

“It’s an entertaining way to get the entire family or office into the Christmas spirit and we can’t wait to see the results.”

A team will be on hand at the shopping centre every weekend in December and on Christmas Eve from 11am-4pm to help transform guests into elves and sprinkle some festive magic.

So that no one gets away lightly, photos will be uploaded to The Mall’s Instagram page and new elves will automatically be entered into prize draw to win some special goodies.

And the fun doesn’t stop there. As well as festive face painting throughout each weekend in December, The Mall’s Ask Me Point team will be spreading seasonal joy with 12 days of giveaways. Each day one very lucky customer will be approached by the team and given an early Christmas present.

There will also be a special wintry ‘crack the code’ game where visitors will have the chance to win a gift which will be frozen in a glass cabinet.