Help! I Need Your Opinion on The Elf on the Shelf. A New Christmas Tradition?
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I came across the The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition with Blue Eyed North Pole Pixie-Elf
Year after year, children and adults alike are baffled by the mystery of how Santa really knows who’s been naughty or nice. After much urging by the elves and Mrs. Claus, Santa has allowed his biggest secret to be revealed in The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition . Touted as “The best thing since The Night Before Christmas” this gift set includes a light skin, blue eyed North Pole pixie-elf, hardbound children’s book and keepsake box. Children can register their elf online and receive a special response from Santa.
Some of the rave reviews from Amazon:
After hearing from friends and reading reviews how great this was, we bit the bullet and got it. I cannot say enough about how cute this was for our two boys (age 6 and 3). They bolted downstairs every morning to find the elf, and the oldest cried when he touched it accidentally because he thought it would lose its magic. The story and elf was the sweetest thing. Note, however, that parents have to remember to move the elf around every night, or come up with creative excuses for why the elf decided to come back from the North Pole into the same spot! :-).
Wanted a fair skin, blue eyed elf for my blonde, blue eyed grandchildren which is hard to find. This elf is perfect and very well constructed. The book that accompanies it is educational and adds the sense of reality for the non-believer! Pricing for the elf is the best I found in my 2 years of searching for it. My daughter puts it up the day after Thanksgiving and moves it every day. The children look for it first thing every morning and it adds to a positive and joyful discipline experience. They “know” they are being watched by Santa’s elf and never know where the elf will show up. It is absolutely a family tradition that maintains a child’s heart. I hope they never lose it.
But then I came across this review and I started to think twice…
I received this book as a gift and am sad to say how creepy this book/toy is. The elf itself looks like something out of a horror movie…and I’m supposed to let it hang out in my house?! The book has beautiful illustrations, but the story is something else. This elf is supposed to spy on your kids no matter where they are, noting whether they have been good or bad, and report back to Santa. I believe that this is infringing on their rights to be kids. So what if they’re bad once in a while…they’re kids! Kids make mistakes and PARENTS should be the ones to teach them this, NOT some little toy! I’m all for traditions like Santa, but can do without the elf on the shelf.
I heard about ELf on the Shelf yesterday and the idea seems cute but I think it would scare some kids, having something move around at night may be a little creepy. It seems creepy to me but it just depends on your child. I am not going to risk scarying my kids….just in case. I just tell my kids that I have to report to Santa on how they are acting and that seems to be enough for them!
I think maybe use it less that they are watching them and come to life and more of just a fun hide and seek:).
We have a couple family & friends that have the Elf on the Shelf! I think its super cute! I am thinking of getting it next year when our toddler would better understand Christmas & the Elf on the Shelf!
I saw it last night at Borders and thought about it as well. It sounds like fun but my 3 yr old daughter is still struggling with her fear of ghosts.
I was just at Hallmark the other day and had one in my hand! I have 2 girls, 2 and 4 as well and I wanted one forever. I would up going home and ordering the one off of Amazon! Anyway, I follow your blog and just happened to see this and chuckled at the similarity!
Get it! 🙂
I think its fun- and my kids are chickens like their momma. I found Christopher PopinKins, which is quite similar but far cuter, in my opinion- and thats what we went with. He has a female friend now as well, but we’re sticking to Christopher. We don’t do a lot of the “reporting to Santa” thing, but the kids think its GREAT fun to figure out where Christopher is every morning!! They are 5, 3 and 1 (obviously the 1 year old doesn’t participate)
I’ve never heard of this before. But I have to say from the picture the elf is very creepy looking. Has a head sort of like those creepy dummy’s that people do ventriloquism with. I personally would not get it but I understand why someone would
I am so glad we bought ours in 2008. We named our elf “Owen” and my kids (3 and 5) are already asking when he’s coming 🙂 They love looking for him every morning to see what new spot he’s picked out. Our elf is a boy but you can also now buy a skirt to make yours a
girl elf. It’s really so much fun and a great tradition !!
We have a similar tradition, but we use the elves from Elf Magic at http://www.elf-magic.com/. Their elves are really adorable and definitely not creepy-looking like others are. My kids love them. We don’t say that the elves are spying on them. We tell our boys that elves are playful and love to visit the house every night and hide in a new place for the kids to find them! Each night when the boys go to sleep, my husband and I find a new location to hide the elves (sometimes it’s in the Christmas tree, sometimes in bed with the boys, etc.), and they love to get up in the morning and start looking for their elves. It’s been a great tradition that our family looks forward to every year.
My daughter got Elf on the Shelf from her mother-in-law for my grandkids a couple years ago. I believe it is like anything……….if you as an adult make it out to be creepy and scary that is the reaction the kids will have. I mean, seriously, why are there people that have to take the fun out of everything? he isn’t poltergeist-like at all……….
You also get to name your elf. For some reason the kids have always wanted a brother named Andrew……….
My daughter has made it fun……..each night before she goes to bed she moves ‘Andrew’ to a new location. The first thing Noah and Olivia do is look for him the next day to see where he is hiding. It’s so much fun. There isn’t a BIG deal made out of them being naughty. He is mentioned on the days they are wound up and nearly climbing the walls. Otherwise he is a good conversation starter for guests. They are 7 and 5 now, they haven’t had many Christmases’s where Andrew hasn’t been a part of their tradition.
Oh, Andrew shows up the morning after THanksgiving…….so every Black Friday morning……….we put him out before we take off to do some Christmas shopping.
The elf is creepy and it will never sit anywhere in my home.
It took me a few minutes to think about what I was going to write for my comment. When I was younger we had a elf topper for the Christmas tree, but it was only out when the tree was up.
Now, after watching too many Stephen King movies and watching Poltergeist, I would say that the elf sitting on a shelf , like you’ve mentioned watching children and reporting back to Santa, is a bit creepy.
My son got this last year and he loved it. I am even more excited to get it out this year because he loves finding things, so searching for th elf each morning will be a treat for him! I reveiwed this on my blog last year: http://thechildrensnook.net/2009/11/04/the-elf-on-the-shelf/
I bought this recently to use this Christmas. I had read about it last year and thought I would wait and get it after Christmas on the clearance sales. Ha Ha Ha….it doesn’t go on clearance, apparently….they just pack it up for next year to sell at full price. So, I waited until I got a gift card and a good % off coupon and also used my B&N membership discount to get it. So, it was practically free! LOL Anyway, I am excited to start the tradition with my son…he is 3 1/2. I think he will have so much fun looking for it each morning. I want to start it the day after Thanksgiving to start off the Christmas season.
I think if you like the idea and want to try it with your boys, you should! Honestly, it’s not creepy or anything….if you make it fun and exciting, your boys will love it. So what if it isn’t the most attractive doll….it’s an elf! I say, go for it! If it doesn’t work out for you then you can sell it on ebay.
I vote YES!
I almost bought this last year for my Grandson -and when I went back they were all gone! Going to get it this year….I think if you make it a fun thing w/your kids and set it up right it can become a fabulous Christmas tradition in your family! I grew up w/a tradition of St Nick’s night, started by my Grandparents. This was an “Old world” thing, German or maybe Dutch in origen (Early in Dec. St. Nick comes around, cking for Santa to see if you’ve been naughty or nice…there’s more to it, but we’re talking about the Elf here!) I con’t the St. Nick’s tradition w/MY kids, and now we are con’t w/the Grands. I love handed down family traditions, and so do my kids – we’ll love creating a new 1 w/Elf on the shelf!
I remember having an elf in the tree as a child, and I loved him! I don’t have an elf now for our kids, but this is making me consider it. Children need to be able to imagine and pretend, and some of my fondest memories come from what I imagined the elf was thinking/saying. My parents never pressed the “Be Good for Santa” thing, we were supposed to be good all year because we were their children! The elf was pure fun. The more I think on it, the more I want one.
Honestly, I have no problem with an elf-type tradition but I wonder about this whole “tradition” advertising. When did this become a tradition? I had never heard of it until about a week ago. Sounds like a profit generating tradition to me.
The cutest tradition ever!
I had one of those elves when I was a little girl.
I love the idea but agree the elf is creepy, so I saw these small cabbage patch kid elves on QVC, order those and will use the book without and our much cuter elf.
sounds a bit scary.. but i’m not sure. I know I would be scared!