Elf on the Shelf Christmas and Elf Magic traditions are taking the country by storm, for good reason. They offer a delicious way to build holiday excitement and keep kids on their best behavior. This is how they work.
The “official” Elf on the Shelf, Elf Magic Elf or other elf, comes home early in the Christmas season to spend the holidays with his family.
Every night, the elf on a shelf returns to the North Pole, while his children sleep, to report to Santa about his behavior.
While Shelf Elves have a more serious reputation, Magical Elves are a mischievous bunch and tend to make a mess or do a crazy trick while everyone is asleep. Your kids will love waking up each morning and seeing what trouble the leprechaun got into the night before.
Here are ten ideas found on the internet and from local families to inspire your elf:
Elves love to do what your children love to do
Elves adapt quickly to a home and many mornings find themselves busy with the favorite activities of the children who live there. Reading their favorite books, playing games (including Wii or Nintendo DS), having a tea party with their beloved dolls, and riding skateboards are Elves’ favorite pastimes.
Elves like computers and social networks
Elves in households with teenagers have been known to have email, Facebook and Twitter accounts to monitor the children online and send funny emails, status updates and tweets. Many elves also seem to surf the Internet late at night, finding fun new sites for kids to enjoy.
Elves love to be in pictures
Apparently, Elves are very good at self-portraits. Many families have found their digital cameras filled with pictures of their Elves in all sorts of crazy poses.
Elves often have a driver’s license
If an Elf cannot be found in the morning, the car is the first place to look. Elves are often found in the driver’s seat, sitting on a pile of pillows or books. The car may be parked upside down or in a crazy position, and in some cases even down the street or in a neighbor’s driveway. Usually Christmas music blasts through the speakers and the gas tank is eerily closer to empty than before.
Students write in journals
Elves and children often learn more about each other and build bonds by writing letters back and forth. Some Elves arrive with a festively decorated journal to keep all correspondence in one place. It is rumored that some Elves only write backwards, so children must hold the note up to the mirror to read it. Some are versed in Pig Latin or other codes that older children must decipher.
Elves tell potty jokes too
Bathroom humor spans all languages and species. Elves love to turn toilet water green (with food coloring), decorate Christmas trees with underwear, decorate children’s rooms with toilet paper or entire houses, and write on bathroom mirrors with Christmas lipstick. breast.
Elves spell their names, everywhere!
Every leprechaun has a name. Some are named by the children they watch. Others arrive with a note introducing the Elf. Either way, all the Elves seem to like to leave their signature as often as possible. Maybe the Elf’s name is written in Cheerios, flour, or chocolate syrup on the counter. Other times in toothpaste on the bathroom mirror. Best of all, in food coloring on freshly fallen snow.
Elves love things that remind them of home.
Snowball fights with cotton balls are a favorite pastime of the elves. Also, elves often make elf-sized snow angels. If real snow isn’t available, Insta-Snow or flour are good substitutes. A favorite game of the Elves is Candy Lane. If the house doesn’t already have a copy, the Elves have been known to bring one from the North Pole as an early Christmas present.
Elves don’t always come alone
What could be better than a leprechaun on the shelf? Various Elves, of course. That means the shenanigans can multiply and kids wake up to elaborate scenes of Elven mayhem. Maybe a game of poker or a game of baseball or football or a play with elves in costumes (taken from other dolls).
The elves play with their neighbors the elves
So many families have their own elf on a shelf during the holidays that the elves join the neighboring elves to add to the fun. Many neighboring elves have been waiting together at the bus stop for their children to arrive. Other Elves organize a Christmas party for the neighborhood children.
As you can see, the possibilities are endless for your elven lore. Happy Holidays!