Elf on the shelf

[isellison73]

I’m new to this and doing this for my 3 year old granddaughter any easy ideas she would get?

I didn't do this, each to their own and all. I just think it encourages bad behaviour.

What I prefer to do is starting tomorrow Advent, get Mary, Joseph and the donkey to have a little journey, step by step each day to the empty manger. After midnight mass Jesus appears. Then from boxing day until the 12th day of Christmas you can have the 3 wise men move closer each day

Keep it simple while they’re young. The elf could bring sweets, bring hot chocolate ingredients, bring a toilet roll snowman friend, sit in a boot with a train of shoes and toys behind and “shoe shoe train” sign ….. hide in the Christmas tree, draw faces on the bananas ….

She will likely just delight in the elf moving

There are a few ideas for the elf dotted about on the internet.
Ideas for example -
Day 1 - He arrives with a letter from Santa plus Advent Calendar. Letter can say Elf is here for a short visit and Santa will collect him on Xmas Eve.
Day 2 - Sprinkle Flour on a table - Do snow angel shape
Day 3 - Decorate the tree if it's not up yet
Day 4 - Elf draws Moustache on Family members photo etc etc etc
You get the idea Have some fun with him!!

DS is 3 next week and we have a list of things that the Elf will get up to.

loo roll around the Christmas tree
flour to make snow angels
sticking googly eyes on fruit
sitting in spaghetti
snowflake shaped cotton buds
hiding in shoe
drawing faces on eggs
shoe train
elf painting
sticker explosion
snowball fight with mini marshmallows

etc

Creepy American rubbish that's taken hold here. Our DS was a preschooler over 20 years ago in US and it wasn't esp prevalent there then. It's an old 'naughty or nice' thing from mid century US that's undergone a commercially led revival. Just like the naughty or nice concept it has zero connection to any genial old Father Christmas tradition.

There are reusable sets you can buy on Amazon with backdrops and props in handy envelopes. The official ones are pricey but if you're going to do it year after year then it is probably worth it. This is the first year we're doing this with my 5 year old daughter - previous years the elf has just brought the Christmas bedtime book which was exciting enough for her.

Our elves are only naughty on weekends. Rest of the time they are asleep from elf school. Makes it much easier

We used to just hide it in funny places. Like halfway out the letter box when they got home school. In the Christmas tree. "Eating" the advent calendar chocolate (but its ok, he's left a different sweet). Playing a board game with Teddy. That sort of thing.

Mine is lazy so only really moves about the house & does the odd messy thing eg throwing cushions on the floor.

I keep it very simple. Either hide them or I’ve them in the tree, hanging from a light etc. sometime they help me and fold laundry or empty the dishwasher 😂😂

Did you know there is this thing known as just scrolling by if something doesn’t interest you? You say each to their own so why not practice what you preach? It’s harmless fun for a small child.

Nothing wrong with alternative suggestions though. I really like this idea.

You could take your own advice!

Our elf isn’t cheeky and doesn’t bring. Anything lol - literally just turns up somewhere new ever morning that is too high to reach lol. Sometimes he is too lazy to move somewhere new or just moves later on (when we forget to move him 😝)
but it was enough for the first 3 - to be honest now that they’ve outgrown it I was thinking of just not doing it but they were outraged at the thought the 3 year old wouldn’t experience it lol

Keep it as simple as possible and just move it
once a day. If granddaughter doesn’t live with you make sure the elf just stays at yours and doesn’t follow her home. A family member ‘kindly’ gifted the elf to my children when they were very young and years later I still hate them a little bit for it 😅