Whether you love it or hate it, Elf on the Shelf season is rapidly approaching! I personally love the tradition of moving the elf every night (as long as I remember!) and as my sons have gotten older, the older ones now like to move the elf each night for their younger brother. I'm actually dreading when my youngest doesn't seem interested anymore because I've enjoyed it so much over the past 6 years. I know not everyone loves the tradition as much as I do though so I created some printables to help you out!
The first printable is a list of over thirty ideas that you can reference each night if you don't know what to do with your elf. This list helps me a lot when I'm feeling stumped and just looking at it makes me smile remembering the kid's reactions to some of these stunts! You can click here to print the list or pin it to Pinterest for future reference.
The second printable I have for you today is to keep handy for when you are ready to retire from your Elf moving responsibilities! This "retirement" letter congratulates your child or children for doing so well and retires your elf from his or her scout elf responsibilities. It also gives your children permission to touch and play with the elf. I plan on using this letter when I can tell that my youngest is about done believing as a way to gently stop the tradition. Click here to download this letter for printing this year or simply pin the letter to print later. (Video tutorial for how to download and print below.)
I hope this helps your family this holiday season! Feel free to leave more fun Elf on the Shelf ideas in the comments so I can add to and expand the list each year to come!
MommaBob says
Retirement letter?!? Genius! You have solved my Elf dilemma. My daughter is in 6th grade, so I thought for sure she’d figured it out. It’s my fault because I’ve done some pretty impressive things that convinced her that it must be legit, because mom couldn’t pull them off. After several years x25, ideas have run out, but she loves the tradition, so my plan this year was to have her move the elf for ME to find. At the last minute, I still wasn’t sure if she officially knew. Since neither of us want to be the one to admit the real magic behind the elf, He’s back again this year! I figured at this rate, I’ll be sneaking in her dorm room to do her elf still!!😝 But the retirement thing is PERFECT! Sooo grateful. He’s retiring….and so am I!