The Elf On The Shelf

[crokett]

it is a book my wife brought home. It is the story of the Christmas elves and how before every Christmas they show up. The first time you see them each year the kids have to name them. Then every night they fly back to Santa and report on the kids' behavior for that day. The next morning, the kids have to find the elf. It is fun finding new places for the elf each night and I know my daughters have fun finding it in the morning.

[vanguard]

My folks just sent one last week. I have a 5 and 7 year old they love finding the elf each morning. My brother-in-law was over for breakfast this sunday and the boys were showing him the elf. My oldest son motioned Dan to come closer and then whispered to him - 'he can see everything'.

[crokett]

It is a lot of fun. My wife thought I was overreacting (and I probably was) but I had concerns about using the elf as a club to get the kids to behave. So we agreed that we would emphasize the finding it part rather than the behavior part and not discipline the kids by reminding them the elf can see them. Oh, the other fun part was the name. My oldest wanted Sara. My youngest wanted Dara so the elf's name is SaraDara.

[Norm in Fujino]

As soon as my son was able to understand, I created adventures (aka buried-treasure hunt) for him each Christmas. The first clue would appear somewhere around the tree, giving him a hint (or part of a map) where to look next, whether inside the house, or out in the garden. Each next clue would be accompanied by a small present, and he had a time figuring out where the final present lay. It was also good practice for his English, since we lived in Japan. What surprised me was my daughter; when she was in middle school, one year she came to me and said she wanted an adventure, too. Made me proud.

[crokett]

Norm that is really clever. How old was he when you did this and what kind of clues did you leave? My oldest would be interested in something like this.

[Norm in Fujino]

Norm that is really clever. How old was he when you did this and what kind of clues did you leave? My oldest would be interested in something like this.

I think he was probably 5 or 6 when I started doing it, and it was more difficult (for me) than I thought it would be. I can't remember anything about specific clues now, and each year I'd do it a bit differently. I do remember that one year I gave him part of a map with each clue, so that only when he had the full map could he find his way to the final present. It always took me quite a bit of time just trying to figure out what kind of clues to leave, and how to draw a map that he couldn't figure out without having all the pieces. It's harder than you think at first. Just as an example, if you have a doghouse, you could leave a clue that says "Fido can be found here most of the time" or simply "Fido sleeps here." Ideally, the degree of difficulty you put into the clues should be matched to the age and intelligence of the child, but it's not always easy to do it right, and I remember I had to help him a bit with some of the more cryptic clues.