The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition

This was a big hit this year with our daughter. She is 8 and we were not sure she would enjoy it. We were very wrong. We brought this out after Thanksgiving, read the book and have been enjoying the crazy and weird things this elf does every night. On a few occasions, our daughter swore he moved when we were not home and even left it a picture and notes. It is nice to see her wake up happy and ready to find the little rascal. The elf itself consists of a typical stuffing material and is pretty bendable and strong. We have had him bend-hung-flattened and he is like new with no signs of any issues. The box it comes with is very solid and makes for a great sturdy storage for in between seasons. Great idea that once you buy it, will provide years of enjoyment. Highly recommend. Might even be adding the girl version in the future. I took one star away as the hands lacked an important feature. They come stitched together which limit the function for positions, etc a great deal. They should put strong magnets in the hands so that you can separate them and use them for metal object ideas, etc.

We have always wanted one of these but it cost to much!! So I was so happy for 22.00! I wish everyone could get that price!!

I was so nervous to try this out. I didnt want to blow Christmas/Santa for my 6 year old. I worried that he might not buy into it, and therefore might not buy into Santa anymore either (he might start questioning it all). I think its incredibly important how you introduce this, so make sure you put a lot of thought into it. I decided to create a letter from Santa & snuck it into our mailbox (and had my 6 year old get the mail that day). Santa told them (6 & 3 year old boy) that because there are so many children in the world for him to watch over, hes decided to send one of his elves to watch over our family. I think its incredibly important to immediately address WHY youre getting an elf right now (when you didnt before) and why YOUR house is getting one, when not everyones house has one (I was worried about kids at school). Santas letter announced that the elf would be arriving that night, so to watch for him in the morning. The next morning the elf showed up sitting up in the Christmas tree, with the book about him underneath the tree, and a handwritten letter (Moms left-handed writing). It was a flawless entrance, and my 6 year old believes it all even MORE than my 3 year old! He was instantly writing letters back to Santa, asking our elf to take it back to Santa that night, etc. The rest of the month was SO fun, not only for the magic in my kids faces each morning, but for the fun my husband and I had each evening getting the elf set up in new fun ways. Make sure you have a plan in place for if they touch him (there need to be consequences or they wont believe hes magical), and make sure to set a daily reminder on your cell phone (I did 10pm). You dont want to blow it by not having moved him one day. They almost cried the day he had to say goodbye! On the last day he was holding baby Jesus from our nativity, leaving a note to remember that while Santa & presents are fun, remember that Jesus is the real meaning of Christmas (were quite religious normally, so I had to tie it in somehow, without being the lame family that doesnt allow Santa stuff at all). ;) Definitely recommend!!!

This elf is much loved.

My son loves this whole thing....I have been going nuts every night making his elf that he named Spikey Hattie do strange things all over the house. There are two things that I would complain about though....first, that the elf doesnt have bendable arms and legs. You would think that this company would know what people will be doing with it and would make the elf capable of holding onto things and staying in certain positions, instead of just being all floppy and really difficult to make it stay in whatever position you are trying to get it to stay in. I ended up having to do middle of the night emergency elf surgery, and opened up the ends of his arms and legs to put wire inside and them sew it back up, so that I could get him to the point where he was able to do more than just sit awkwardly. Also, the price is pretty outrageous, especially for a floppy and not so well made toy elf. I mean, cmon....thirty bucks is ridiculous for something like this....Its taking advantage of the fact that parents want to make their kids christmas special by doing things like this. If I knew how to sew better than I do, I would just make my own, and just buy the book or something.

I was a little hesitant purchasing The Elf on the Shelf, because I dont try to focus Christmas entirely on the Santa aspect, but more on the giving aspect. I broke down and got one this year figuring if I really didnt like it or thought it put too much emphasis on gifts that I could tell my son that Santa decided he was good enough he didnt need to send the elf for following years. The night after Thanksgiving our Elf landed on our mantel. I called my son (almost 4) and daughter (22 months) in the room and my husband and I read the book to them and explained the process and rules of our new house guest. I never couldve imagined how interactive this little guy would be. My son insisted that his name is Elfey, and is so excited to talk to him every morning. He is genuinely concered about how is trip was and if he got too cold. I absolutely love listening to their one-sided conversation. He knows that if he is naughty Elfey will have to tell Santa and that he may not get his Santa gift this year. The only downside I can see is that my son is already sad at the thought that Elfey will go back to the North Pole with Santa on Christmas Eve and will be gone for an entire year...Hopefully the gift Santa leaves will alleviate this dreaded time. This doll is a great size big enough that my kids can spot him no matter where he decides to land for the day, but small enough that he can fit in/on anything, he even decided to perch on our Christmas tree one day. He has a great little face that adds a lot of character and life to the little doll. The book says the kids arent allowed to touch the elf, which is why its okay that Elfey isnt the most durable toy around. I have no doubt he will be more than able to survive the years of perching around my house for my kids and possibly even grandkids.

This creature possesses dark magic. I thought I was going to have to move him around like other people say they do but I didnt. He was always in a different place in the morning. At first the things Jingle did were pretty cute; making the toilet paper into a snow man, writing notes to my child in cute backwards handwriting...but then things started to get strange. The first morning that I became concerned was when I found him in my daughters bathroom in front of the mirror that had writing on it. I expected it to say something cute like Its almost Christmas or Happy Holidays! but what I found was REDRUM. Being horror movie fans, I just chalked it up to him trying to mess with my husband and I and told my daughter that he was just being silly. But then the next morning, I found something VERY disturbing. Jingle was sitting in my daughters floor with one of her barbies in A NOOSE. After this occurred I told my daughter I thought it was time to send Jingle back to the North Pole and ask Santa for a new elf. She was confused but said okay. So I took the elf and tossed him in the dumpster at our apartments and went to Target to purchase a new one. Due to being freaked out over the elf I had received I purchased a girl one this time. That night I showed my child her new Elf on a Shelf and she named her Lulu Bell. That evening I placed Lulu Bell in the Christmas tree and the next morning she was still there! I was elated that I had finally gotten a normal elf and that Jingle was gone. I went to bed that next night after putting Lulu Bell on the couch with a book on her lap and the next morning I woke up to my daughter screaming. I ran into the living room to find Lulu Bell on the floor with what I assumed was ketchup on her neck and there beside her was Jingle, with a butter knife in his hand and ketchup on it as well. I quickly called Amazon and informed them of the situation and then I found out, they had never sent me an elf because the one I wanted was on back order.... (This was a fictional story for the amusement of myself and others. My true review is that my daughter loved her elf and we had a lot of fun with it!)

I purchased the Elf on the Shelf in November and started using it December 1st. We are not doing the naughty elf, so he simply changes positions every night. It has made getting up and going in the morning more enjoyable for my 2 little kids (3 & 4). If we ask them if they want to see if Chippy (our Elfs name)has moved overnight, they are happily getting out of bed. This has been a nice change from the sour attitude weve had lately from the 4 year old. The story is nice to introduce the Elf. The website where you go and register your elf is well made and the activities (coloring pages, letter to Santa, etc.) were fun for my kids to do. I like what the elf looks like because he reminds me of elves my grandma had as decorations when I was a little child. My kids are not afraid of him, but I can see how some kids might be. My one and only complaint, and the reason that I didnt give it 5 stars, is that I really wish that the elf was posable (had wire in his arms & legs). It makes it difficult to be too creative with what to do with him when he is limited to sitting places. I will be spending a bit of time this morning seeing if I can insert some wire myself.

I would give this 5 stars, but I ordered back in October and just put it on top of my closet til the night of the 30th of November. And when I got it out I noticed it was a girl and not a boy like I ordered. Still using the elf and just calling it a boy, but my kids cousins have pointed out to him that his elf is a girl. And Ive assured him either is fine, its just here to report back to Santa each night. Just wish since boy is advertised that thats what I wouldve got sent.

This was a nice book, but did not include the elf so we had to return.