Elf on the Shelf — To be or not to be?
First…this post is definitely one of those “better late than never situations.” My work schedule picked up quite a bit post-Thanksgiving, so I didn’t get around to finishing this when I had originally anticipated…oh well.
Parents either seem to love the Elf on the Shelf or hate it. It can be a touchy subject for parents. For some, they love the creativity behind moving the Elf every night, while others dread having to come up with new ideas (or even just remembering to move the Elf in the first place).
I actually started doing the Elf on the Shelf and Mensch on a Bench back in my teaching days. I used it as a way to teach my class about random acts of kindness. My students used to love finding where our Elf and Mensch were around the classroom each morning and what fun they got into overnight. Each morning, the Elf and Mensch also had a new suggested activity to encourage the students to demonstrate acts of kindness. For each student that completed an act of kindness, they received a heart that was placed on a giant Grinch outside my classroom door. The students’ goal was to make the Grinch’s heart bigger by filling the Grinch with kindness…earning them a holiday party prior to winter break. It was a great way for students to share non-monetary gifts with one another and get into the holiday spirit.
I’ve been doing the Elf on the Shelf at home now for the past few years with my own kids. I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love finding new things for the Elf to do each night, but I definitely have to set an alarm each night to remember to move the damn thing. My kids look forward to finding our Elf and seeing what he was up to or if he brought them anything. Our Elf, named Elvis, makes his annual appearance on December 1st, and sometimes brings the kids something like items for fun holiday activities, treats, or pajamas and popcorn for a holiday movie night.
This year I made myself a calendar to help plan and organize myself (instead of my usual late-night perusing of Pinterest to find inspiration). Maybe I’ll get my act together next year and make an editable version for others to utilize.
I also put together a list of Elf on the Shelf ideas if you need some inspiration.
Here are some of Elvis’ antics over the years (I noticed a few days are missing from over the years, so will go back and add those in soon):
Check out my Instagram stories for what Elvis gets up to this holiday season (there’s a stories highlight that has them all saved from over the years)!
Feel free to share some of your fun ideas too…I’d love to hear them!
