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Product Details
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Product Description
How does Santa really know who is naughty or nice? The answer is finally revealed in...The Elf on the Shelf A Christmas Tradition.TM
The Elf on the Shelf A Christmas TraditionTM is an activity the entire family will enjoy. Based on the tradition Carol Aebersold began with her family in the 1970s, this cleverly rhymed children's book explains that Santa knows who is naughty and/or nice because he sends a scout elf to every home. During the holiday season, the elf watches children by day and reports to Santa each night. When children awake, the elf has returned from the North Pole and can be found hiding in a different location. This activity allows The Elf on the Shelf to become a delightful hide-and-seek game.
In addition, each shipment is marked for special delivery from Santas workshop. ALL PRODUCTS ARE BRAND NEW!
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
399 of 411 people found the following review helpful
Format:Toy
Durability:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Educational:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a tradition that will carry on for generations!
HOW IT WORKS:
The kit comes with an elf doll and a book. The book explains that Santa has sent an elf to watch over the children and the elf reports back to Santa each night. The kids get to decide the name for the elf together - this is a touch decision! You read through the book with your child, it explains all the rules, then each night you move the elf to a new spot. One of the rules is that the children cannot touch him - this is a great rule because although he's a sturdy doll, I think he might get loved out much too quickly if they were allowed! The author was so thoughtful to think of all these helpful rules.
Rules:
* The children cannot touch the elf or he will lose his magic
* The elf can listen to what the children tell him, but cannot talk back, that's Santa's law.
* The elf flies back to the North Pole each night and tells Santa what he has seen - when he comes back he goes to a new spot in the house.
The kids start searching for the elf immediately when they wake up! Knowing Santa is watching has definitely motivated them to be a behave a bit better! This cute little tradition makes the Christmas season more fun. It's a very special tradition in our house. I love that the book has an old fashioned feel to it, the illustrations are wonderful.
CONS:
* Your children will ask you every night from Halloween to Thankgiving when the elf is coming back!
* You have to remember to move the elf every night! Sometimes this is a bit of a challenge for us. :) However, our elf does sometimes just get comfy in the spot he's in, so he must have decided to come back to the same spot.
HOW IT WORKS:
The kit comes with an elf doll and a book. The book explains that Santa has sent an elf to watch over the children and the elf reports back to Santa each night. The kids get to decide the name for the elf together - this is a touch decision! You read through the book with your child, it explains all the rules, then each night you move the elf to a new spot. One of the rules is that the children cannot touch him - this is a great rule because although he's a sturdy doll, I think he might get loved out much too quickly if they were allowed! The author was so thoughtful to think of all these helpful rules.
Rules:
* The children cannot touch the elf or he will lose his magic
* The elf can listen to what the children tell him, but cannot talk back, that's Santa's law.
* The elf flies back to the North Pole each night and tells Santa what he has seen - when he comes back he goes to a new spot in the house.
The kids start searching for the elf immediately when they wake up! Knowing Santa is watching has definitely motivated them to be a behave a bit better! This cute little tradition makes the Christmas season more fun. It's a very special tradition in our house. I love that the book has an old fashioned feel to it, the illustrations are wonderful.
CONS:
* Your children will ask you every night from Halloween to Thankgiving when the elf is coming back!
* You have to remember to move the elf every night! Sometimes this is a bit of a challenge for us. :) However, our elf does sometimes just get comfy in the spot he's in, so he must have decided to come back to the same spot.
143 of 160 people found the following review helpful
By A. Fielding
Format:Toy
My kids just received this Thanksgiving day as a gift and I am now ordering them for every child I know. It is such a cute idea. Santa sends the elf to watch the children and then the elf reports to Santa every night and comes back to a different spot in the house. My kids wake up with a running start to see who can find the elf first. The kids must name the elf and they really enjoyed that as well. It is such a nice tradition to help make the Christmas Season even more fun and special. I know it will be with our family for a very long time.
38 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Toy
Durability:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Educational:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Let me begin by admitting that I was a bit reluctant to let one of Santa's helpers into our home with the task of surveilling my five year old daughter. Would his fear-driven monitoring technologies and reports (he uploads data to the Fat Man every night) serve as a carrot or a stick to our kindergartener? Are these the kind of values we want to impart? We pulled the trigger and Larry began his stint as the eyes and ears of Santa two weeks ago.
Everything was going well... or so it seemed. Our daughter said goodnight to Larry each evening and then my wife and I moved him according to the supplied instructions. His new vantage point in the house allowed him to "get the goods" on our daughter every day until she worked out his new location and could adjust her behavior accordingly, so as to improve her chances of scoring big on Christmas.
And then it happened. Larry was out "shopping" one night (he generally stays out late) and I came across his laptop and Excel spreadsheet detailing my daughter's behavior. The workbook was open to the "naughty" tab and his notes covered everything from "not washing after wiping" to "picking one's nose" to "breaking wind in mixed company." Seriously? Who needs this kind of oversight? I knew it was time to bring the elf down a peg. I bided my time.
The opportunity presented itself last weekend at poker night. Four of my buddies and I gathered around our humble table to trade chips over a few hands of Texas Hold 'Em. Larry watched intently for a while before announcing that he wanted to "sit in for a few hands." Suffice it to say that Larry has no poker face whatsoever. Elves may also be color blind (not sure he can count either) and things quickly went from bad to worse for the poor little guy. By the end of the night, he was into me and my buddies for Two Large. "I wonder what Santa would think about all this?" I asked him pointedly.
Long story short, the reports on my daughter back to Santa have improved dramatically, and Larry has started down the long road of working off his debt by Christmas. I hope you can share the excitement of fabricating new chores each day for your own elf. We use an advent calendar to track the compound interest and keep things simple. Big fat five stars for this product!
Everything was going well... or so it seemed. Our daughter said goodnight to Larry each evening and then my wife and I moved him according to the supplied instructions. His new vantage point in the house allowed him to "get the goods" on our daughter every day until she worked out his new location and could adjust her behavior accordingly, so as to improve her chances of scoring big on Christmas.
And then it happened. Larry was out "shopping" one night (he generally stays out late) and I came across his laptop and Excel spreadsheet detailing my daughter's behavior. The workbook was open to the "naughty" tab and his notes covered everything from "not washing after wiping" to "picking one's nose" to "breaking wind in mixed company." Seriously? Who needs this kind of oversight? I knew it was time to bring the elf down a peg. I bided my time.
The opportunity presented itself last weekend at poker night. Four of my buddies and I gathered around our humble table to trade chips over a few hands of Texas Hold 'Em. Larry watched intently for a while before announcing that he wanted to "sit in for a few hands." Suffice it to say that Larry has no poker face whatsoever. Elves may also be color blind (not sure he can count either) and things quickly went from bad to worse for the poor little guy. By the end of the night, he was into me and my buddies for Two Large. "I wonder what Santa would think about all this?" I asked him pointedly.
Long story short, the reports on my daughter back to Santa have improved dramatically, and Larry has started down the long road of working off his debt by Christmas. I hope you can share the excitement of fabricating new chores each day for your own elf. We use an advent calendar to track the compound interest and keep things simple. Big fat five stars for this product!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
My new tradition
The elf made it on vacation. Of course he needed one before the holiday season starts. Hopefully my children will enjoy the elf this season..
Published 11 days ago by Patty Ann
5.0 out of 5 stars
Start a great tradition...
My oldest loves this tradition. I do wish the elf was made a little better and had feet or some kind of shoes as I have to hide the feet as the little guy doesn't really have any. Read more
Published 14 days ago by ROCK
5.0 out of 5 stars
loved it
My grandkids loved it. It was a big hit. We had a blast finding new places to put him. Fun...
Published 17 days ago by Tom
5.0 out of 5 stars
So adorable!
We bought this to start our tradition really early. Our twin girls were only 3 months old, but I wanted pictures of him in their family album for years even before they remember... Read more
Published 18 days ago by Heavenly9918
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Christmas Idea
I dont have children, but I do have roommates and this was a great way to get every one in the holiday spirit. Elfie kept us all on high alert. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Krystal
5.0 out of 5 stars
An awesome tradition in the making...
The Elf on a Shelf has been a tradition in my family (with my now 5 year old son) for several years, since we were gifted one by a family member. Read more
Published 23 days ago by EricEst1978
5.0 out of 5 stars
My kids loved it
I have a 4 & 5 year old boy. And I think they will ask about "Elfy" (the name they gave him) every time Christmas rolls around.
they absolutely enjoyed it. Read more
they absolutely enjoyed it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by richard p jackson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kids love it but we let them touch the elf
I really like the story and the concept of the elf watching over them to see that they are good girls and boys. My kids also like waking up to try and find where the elf is hiding. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bailey
5.0 out of 5 stars
Such a fun tradition
We started this tradition this past Christmas. He showed up when the tree did. My husband declared it the creepiest thing he'd ever seen but my girls, 4 and 2 LOVED looking for him... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Rachel Stevens
5.0 out of 5 stars
Elf
Awesome product! I bought this for my first grandchild to pass on the tradition. I can't wait til he's old enough to understand the concept and story.
Published 2 months ago by Suzie
