Elf on the Shelf

This year we decided to start the Elf on a Shelf holiday tradition.  We have several friends who do this with their kids and our kids keep asking about it, so we decided to do it ourselves.  So far so good.  If you're not familiar with Elf on a Shelf, check out the following link.

http://www.elfontheshelf.com/

We started by reading the book and learning about the history of the elf.  Then starting the morning of December 1, my wife and I hid the elf in the house.  The goal is to hide the elf each night or have the elf doing something for the kids to find.  I'm pretty sure my 6 year old understands the elf isn't real, but my 3 year old probably thinks the elf is real and moves by itself (in the same way she thinks Santa is real).

To start out we hung the elf from a hook hanging between the living room and kitchen area.  Both kids completely passed under the elf without seeing it!  It wasn't until they finished breakfast and walked back into the living room that my 3 year old finally found it first.  The next morning we set the elf up on the kitchen counter with a bowl, a spoon, an box of open cereal, with some cereal in the bowl and some scattered on the counter.  The kids loved that!  In the future we have several other things planned such as the elf reading a book, the elf getting into the DVD collection, the elf playing with toys, etc.

Our elf, Sparkle, reading a book to stuffed animal.s

Sparkle spying on the kids through the Galileo telescope!

The kids love it and I have to admit that I love it too.  I keep thinking of interesting things for the elf to do at night!  So there you go.  Elf on the Shelf is fun for the entire family!