If Christmas in your house doesn’t feature the Elf on the Shelf, you must have a heart of stone. Either that or you’ve been living under a rock of late, because this is everyone’s favourite little Elf.
The Elf on the Shelf has been steadily growing in popularity over the years, and no wonder. It’s a completely genius idea, and a really lovely way of creating some magical Christmas memories for your little ones. In fact who am I kidding; it’s becoming a whole heap of fun for the adults, too.
Here’s how Karen tried to explain the Playpennies team’s obsession with the Elf on the Shelf last year:
Have you ever wondered how Santa knows who is naughty and who is nice? The Elf on the Shelf is Santa’s very own special helper who decides who should go on the naughty list and who should go on the nice.
The tradition begins when Santa sends his scout elves out to Elf Adoption Centres. Waiting for their families to bring them home, the Elves hibernate until their family reads The Elf on the Shelf, gives their Elf a very special name, and registers their adoption online. (You can do this bit in-store at selected shops, too.) Once named, each Elf will receive its Christmas magic and become a part of the family's Christmas each year. That's the appealing part for many I think. We all want our children to have memories of family traditions, especially at Christmas time. Well looked after, your Elf could last generations I guess!
The Elf flies to the North Pole each night to fill Santa in on who’s being good in his or her household and who’s in danger of ending up on the naughty list this year. Each morning, the Elf returns to its family’s home to take up residence again and spend the day keeping a watchful eye on nice and naughty behaviour.
But beware - elves are notoriously playful, so it’s highly likely that your Elf will get up to some serious mischief while you’re all asleep. In fact half the fun of having your very own Elf is dashing around the house each morning trying to work out where he is and what he’s been up to overnight.
Depending on the age of your little one, you can of course adapt the Elf on the Shelf premise to suit your own family. I know of ‘critics’ who find the whole idea of kids being held to account for their behaviour by a tattle-tale Elf a little on the creepy side (Now c'mon, people, it's a bit of fun...) but most Elf fans I know have hours of fun with this, and the kids go utterly crackers for it.
And on Christmas Eve, the Elf listens out for Santa's bell which signals the time for all Elves to fly back to the North Pole until next December, promising to return next year.
But what really seems to have taken off is the whole idea of the Elf’s overnight antics. Our very own Gem’s Elf seems to have raised the bar on this, as you’ll see from her fabulous pics…
Check out this link for loads more examples of crazy Elf on the Shelf ideas. I say 'ideas' but it's obviously the Elf that is doing this....
If you're fans of the Elf on the Shelf, we'd love to hear all about it over on our Facebook page...
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