So I haven't really kept it a secret that I just don't really
get the whole Elf on the Shelf obsession. In fact, I wrote an
entire post about it two years ago here on the blog. I do enjoy seeing pictures my friends post of their elves getting into all sorts of mischief, but I just don't love highlighting the idea of children being watched and reported to Santa on whether they're being naughty or nice. I mean, are we really going to withhold Christmas presents from our kids if they're naughty? Probably not.
A couple of weeks ago my brother-in-law sent me a link to a blog post entitled
Kindness Elves: An Alternative Elf on the Shelf Tradition by a woman in the UK who uses cute little elves to help teach her children love, kindness and gratitude during the holiday season. The whole post immediately resonated with me and I knew I wanted to try and institute this new, creative idea into our Advent activities. I searched and searched for little elves that were half as cute as this woman's and couldn't find the perfect pair, but I picked up two cute little ornaments at target for $2.00 each and they are working just fine!
On the first day they made their appearance the boys named them Freddy and Fred. Since then their names have been changed to Mig and Tig (much more Elfy if you ask me - but totally the boys doing)! Each morning the boys come downstairs and search around the house to find Mig and Tig and see what the little note they left says. Mig and Tig encourage kindness and generosity and also lots of fun. Sadly I'm usually (read:
always) still in bed with Sadie when the boys wake up at 6:00 in the morning (at the absolute latest) so I do all the creative work and miss the excitement every morning. Scott assures me looking for the elves is the first thing the boys do when the come downstairs and I have to say I do think it's definitely helped provide some focus for the season for us. Here are some photos of Mig and Tig and some of the things they've had the boys do...
Good Morning Camden, Micah and Sadie,
We are friendly elves and we have come to help you get ready for Christmas! Can you give us names please?
Good Morning! Thank you for giving us great names yesterday! We wanted to share our Pez with you today! Can YOU share something of yours with someone today? Love, Freddy and Fred
Dear Camden and Micah,
We were so happy to see you share Isaac's helicopter so nicely with him yesterday! What good boys! Would you tell us all about why we celebrate Christmas today? We'd love to meet Jesus, Mary and Joseph in your manger scene! Love, Freddy and Fred
Good Morning Boys,
We are making a list of elves to pray for. Even little elves (and children) can pray and think about others. Who should we say thank you for? Is someone sick or sad or lonely or happy? Let's pray for them! Love, Freddy and Fred (taken almost word-for-word from The Imagination Tree)
Here's the list the boys came up with...
(the other side says - kids who are hungry, people who are sick like Bepa, Daddy...) Precious.
Good Morning Boys! We hope you are ready for a fun day today! We are looking through our cupboard to find food to share with elves who don't have enough food to eat. Can you look through your cupboard and find some food to give to people who need it in your town?
The boys had fun going through our food and putting together a couple bags to bring to the food pantry. Charlie even allowed the boys to unpack our donations and put them all up on the shelves. Very cool experience for all of us.
We are so proud of you for donating so much food to the food pantry yesterday! Some families in your town will be so thankful when they eat the food you shared with them. We were also very impressed with how nicely you played together! Enjoy this yummy treat!
Good morning! We love living in your house because you have the nicest neighbors! How about we bake them some yummy pumpkin bread to let them know how much we love them! Love, Mig and Tig
It was snowy and cold, but they were troopers!
Our house isn't very warm and cozy, would you help us build a new one? Thank you! Love, Mig and Tig
The boys had really wanted to make a gingerbread house and so I thought this would be a fun way to sneak it in...
Such concentration...
I am so thankful to have discovered this wonderful idea. The woman who writes
The Imagination Tree blog said her children approached her and asked her if they could give their toys away to people who needed them. Our boys are
not there yet...But they are learning about compassion and kindness and generosity and I am so thankful for that. Love these little guys and can't wait for Sadie to be old enough to join in the fun! Happy Advent, All!
2 comments:
What a cute idea! We do elf on the shelf but not the "naughty or nice / no santa" part of it. It's just a fun way to get the kids out of bed in the morning. I had all these fun ideas from Pinterest this year, but my tiredness from my 5:00 am workout doesn't always let me get very creative at 10:00 at night. I'll have to remember this for next year. Oh, and I promise Sadie's gift is coming, but no until this spring now when she can wear it. I was planning on doing a Christmas version but then I had too many people order things from me and I didn't get it done. But I promise, it's coming! :-). That tiredness and kindergarten teacher in December thing also meant I didn't get Christmas cards done, but maybe for New Years. Thanks for your card, it was very cute! Have a great Christmas and give everyone hugs from us! -heather
Lindsey - I love this so much! I'd really love to incorporate - thank you for this wonderful idea!
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