Elf on the Shelf Fun

Have you heard of Elf on the Shelf (EotS)? Have you got an Elf on the Shelf? I do… er, um, I mean my kids do! ‘Cos it’s all about the kids, truly!

So for those of you who were, before reading this blog, unaware of the global phenomenon that is ‘Elf On The Shelf – A Christmas Tradition’, a very quick overview is that your family is assigned a Scout Elf (available from great childrens shops everywhere!), and from December 1st, your family Elf sits and watches all day and each night, uses their magic to fly back to the North Pole and reports to Santa as to whether their charges have been naughty or nice!

The real fun begins, however, when the Elf arrives back in the morning….. they’re such rascals! They tend to get up to all sorts of mischief on their return! My children have two Scout Elves, who go by the names Sienna and Super Elf. Every morning, the kids wake up and race around the house, looking for their Elves. They could be anywhere – bungee jumping from the light fittings, in the cupboard drinking maple syrup, sitting on the toilet having wrapped the entire thing in Christmas paper, a ‘snow’ (mini marshmallow) fight with Barbie and Ken, or maybe sleeping under the Christmas Tree, exhausted from having decorated said tree with the kid’s underwear!!!

It’s also a wonderful way to encourage fantastic behaviour for the whole of December!! ‘Hmm, what do you think the Elves would think about you doing that?’, ‘Do you think Santa would like to hear about the from the Elves?’. My children are generally very well behaved anyway, but with the ever watchful eyes of Sienna and Super Elf, it’s very easy to give them a quick reminder about being on their best behaviour.

MY KIDS TOP 10 FAVOURITE ELF TRICKS

My kids love to talk about what their Elves get up to, and year after year they wonder out loud if the Elves are going to get up to their favourites again…

10. Driving the Barbie VW
9. Snow Angels (using flour)
8. ‘Bubble Bath’ (using cotton balls)
7. Snow fight with Barbie and Ken (using white chocolate buttons or mini marshmellows)
6. Weetbix castle
5. Colouring the milk red and green
4. Drinking the Maple Syrup with straws
… and here are their top three. Note the toilet humour in all three….!!!
3. Wrap the tree in toilet paper
2. Wrap the toilet completely in Christmas paper. Everything except the seat. So the toilet stays wrapped for the rest of December…
1. Decorate the tree with underwear

I hope you have enjoyed reading about Elf on the Shelf! This will be the 5th year that my family has followed this wonderfully exciting and creative tradition! Perhaps you’d like to join us this year?