So you've all heard of Elf on The Shelf. No?
OK, so it's this American thing (of course it is). It started as a storybook with an accompanying
elf. The theory is that Santa needs to
work out who's on the nice and naughty lists and so sends an elf to homes
where he's not too sure which list the child should be on....the elves then
keep an eye on the little darling before reporting back to Santa on Christmas
Eve. However, these elves are very
cheeky and each night they get up to all sorts of mischief!
Sounds good, right? We did this when Ella was 4 and she loved it. She was the right age to get the magic of
Christmas without asking silly questions or suspecting too much.
It's a good incentive to encourage them to behave in December as well as
getting in the Christmas spirit. The
downside, you have to think of something to do with the sodding elf every night
before bed!
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| Introducing Buddy The Elf |
If you want the real deal you can buy them online in the UK here. When we did the Elf on The Shelf we couldn't find them in the UK so bought a cute cuddly version from eBay.
Here's my top 10 easy things to do with your Elf.
1. Ready for 1st December the elf can be waiting with an advent calendar and a note explaining why he's come to stay
2. Decorate the tree with underwear or scarves & hats
3. Make a mess! The elf could have raised the cereal cupboard- we did Buddy spelt in Cheerios
4. Hide the elf in the fridge or freexer (after all, it is cold in the north pole)
5. Paint Dad's toenails a festive colour
6. Draw an eyeliner moustache on yourselves and act oblivious when your little cherub spots it
7. Use shake & vac or flour to make fake snow, and make snow angels with the elf
8. Paper up their bedroom door with festive paper so they have to break through the door to escape (might be best on the lounge door to avoid a middle of the night break down!)
9. Swap their regular cereal bowl for a Christmas one and have the elf waiting at the table with it for breakfast (they could have tree shaped crumpets waiting)
10. On Christmas Eve morning replace the Elf with a leaving gift- this could be some Christmas PJ's or a goodie box with hot chocolate, a Christmas DVD and some reindeer dust ready for that night. I made a little book of his visit where I printed photos of all the things he'd done during his stay.
And if you wanted a further reason to spend every evening in December thinking of something amusing to do with your Elf....
