Elf on the shelf christmas tradition
As a family, we all love christmas and the build up to it. It is such a special time of year, for giving, thinking of others, traditions, fun, children and family.
Last year, I first heard about ‘the elf on the shelf’, a great christmas tradition. He is a little elf you can buy, he comes to your house on 1st Dec and stays with you until christmas. He has been sent from santa, to watch over the house and family, see who’s being good and who’s not. He flies back to santa every night to report and returns again by the morning, landing in a different place everyday. This means you can have so much fun with him. He must not be touched, otherwise his magic will go and won’t be able to fly.
When I first heard about this, I absolutely fell in love with the idea, so we had to get one (or you could make your own, you don’t have to spend money on buying the ‘real thing’).
Our elf arrived last December and we named him ‘Jack’, as you have to name your elf. The children absolutely adored Jack, they would rush downstairs everyday running around, trying to find where Jack was each morning. We had lots of laughs, placing Jack in some interesting places….he played with the toy cars, he had a bite out of an apple from the fruit bowl, he rode on the toy dog, he sat on the roof of our nativity advent calendar and in our christmas tree. The children loved him. Then on christmas eve night, Jack left us with a note, that he will return again next December. We are all now looking forward to seeing him again in a couple of weeks time.
The ‘elf on the shelf’ comes with a beautiful story book which the children love to read. Then we also got the DVD, which I must say was absolutely perfect for us, as it was a family of an older boy who had 2 younger twin sisters! I think this made the whole experience even more magical!
This time, I have been doing some surfing on pinterest, for more ideas of what to do with our elf when he returns. If you’d like some ideas please follow my ‘elf on the shelf’ board on pinterest.
Our ‘elf on the shelf’ is going to be such a great, fun, family tradition, I think we will be continuing with it long after the children don’t believe in it. My husband and I got so excited every night thinking of what we could do with ‘Jack’. I love creating christmas traditions for the children to grow up with and remember, it is such an important part of childhood.
What christmas traditions do you have? Do you have an ‘elf on the shelf’, what does he get up to?
We have an Elf on the Shelf this Christmas, it’s been crocheted by the boys Grandma, no idea what they will think of it! My youngest is still quite scared at the idea that Father Christmas comes in to our house, he doesn’t want to find someone in our lounge! We don’t really have any traditions, apart from the boys get to pick a nice new tree decoration each year.
Ooh, good luck with your elf, it is so much fun
We had an elf for the first time last year (not an official elf on the shelf but a rag doll who i made an elf outfit for!) Ours is allowed to be touched and played with and sometimes brings treats, crafts or sets up some Christmas baking. It went down so well in our house that not only is Jingles coming back this year but we also had a ‘summer elf’ stay for the summer holidays!
Ah, I ove the idea of a summer elf. Maybe our’Jack’ will have to come back for a holiday in the summer
Sounds like this is going to be a lovely family tradition for your little ones. #MMWBH
I think so, we all had so much fun with him last year
I love the idea of the Elf on the Shelf -
#MMWBH
It is great fun
awwww thats such a lovely idea. i’ve heard about elf on the shelf before and didnt quite understand what it was so glad i read this
Thank you, we loved it last year, can’t wait to do it again
A friend of mine did this with her kids and they loved it. Thanks for reminding me x
Great, I would recommend it
Ah- how cute! Have never heard of this before but really want to do it now! Am so looking forward to developing our Christmas traditions.
I love christmas traditions with the children, I would recommend this tradition x
I like the idea of elf on the shelf – might be doing that this year too.
Yes, you must, it is so much fun for children and parents!
Oh, I love this idea – we will have to get involved this year – thanks x
Have a go, it is so much fun for everyone
Oh to buy my Elf! Wonderful idea. Thanks for sharing x
Great, enjoy!
We got one last year too (creepy little fellow…). The kids loved him, Elfie his name was, and they are already looking forward to his return
Hubby had fun moving him every night, particularly if he managed to give me a fright with his morning location…! #PoCoLo
Fantastic
We all loved our elf x
My elf is on his way!!
Fantastic, hope you have lots of fun with him
Oh, wow I am sooooo doing this. Feeling inspired and know my 3 year old will love it! Thanks so much for the idea! Will be checking back for ideas of what the elf can get up to! #pocolo
Great! Hope you have lots of fun x
I absolutely LOVE this idea. I am off to locate my Elf
I am also going to use him to help Grace start to tidy up after herself! Thanks for linking to PoCoLo x
Fab. We love our elf, and I think we (parents) have as much fun with him as the children do. It’s also great to get the children to behave too
I’ve only just cone across this and I love it! Our elf is on his way
#magicmoments
Fantastic, it is so much fun all round
My elf is ordered, can’t wait for him to arrive! x
Great, hope you have as much fun as we did last year x
my elf is due any day now .. thanks for linking up with #magicMoments x
Fab, hope you enjoy your elf x
I’m going to start Elf on the Shelf this year with my son. He’s only 9 months old so wont understand it at all but I’ll be propping him up next to the elf at random Christmas events and take photos to show him in years to come. Have fun with your elf
Great, I think it is just as much fun for the adults too. My husband and I were in fits of laughter with him last year
Ours arrived just in time yesterday. We read this book this morning, and my 4yo has named our elf Cherry. The kids are a little excited, but I think I’m the most excited right now. I love the idea of creating special family traditions as hubby and I are starting completely from scratch in this department
That’s fantastic! I love the name cherry. I hope you have lots of fun with Cherry.
Thanks hon, I’ll keep you posted of course xx
I LOVE the Elf on the Shelf, and long may the “tradition” last! Ours is called Raymond, and that’s my husband’s fault entirely :o) x