What is the christmas elf

What is the Christmas Elf Tradition? – Elf For Christmas

Say hello to the Christmas Elves – with cute little faces, dinky clothes and festive striped jumper and tights, the Elves are brimming with Christmas charm. Behind this cheeky little face is Sarah, a mum of two, who wanted to provide a magical Christmas tradition for her children in the form of an Elf for Christmas.

But who is the Elf for Christmas? We know they love cookies and playing games. More importantly, our Christmas Elf is really good at watching children’s behaviour and reporting back to Santa. Christmas Elves are also quite good at causing a bit of mischief during the night when no one is watching, so please beware!

Start your own modern family Christmas Elf tradition and bring fun, magic and adventure to your home year after year by adopting your own Elf for Christmas. It’s the perfect way to make magical memories for the little people in your life.

December will never be the same again!

Why Do We Have an Elf for Christmas?

Elf usually arrives on December 1^st, sent on a special mission from the North Pole and instructed by Santa Claus to keep an eye on behaviour in the lead up to Christmas. Your Elf toy comes with a complete Christmas Elf Magical Reward Kit box to help you create fun and magic, while making sure your little ones believe. We will send your Elf and Magical Reward Kit box out once ordered. It’s up to you to get your Christmas Elf out and set up on December 1^st, or whenever you think best.

Once Elf has arrived, you are now under Elf Surveillance.

How Does the Christmas Elf Tradition Work?

Each night mum, dad, carer, teacher, or whoever is in charge of the Elf sets up the mischief. Our Christmas Elves have been known to spill breakfast cereal, play with toys, climb up the Christmas tree, leave footprints across the hall, scatter underwear around the house, paint mum’s nails with funny patterns, wrap things up with loo roll and much worse!

Luckily, there will be some days where you’ll find your Elf has been kind and helpful. Sometimes, the Elf might set the breakfast table, wash the dishes or even do the laundry.

Elves can also suggest “kindness activities” you can do as a family in the run up to Christmas. We will share ideas on our blog about “kindness ideas,” which could include baking for an elderly relative, visiting a neighbour or donating a Christmas gift to charity. Elf may leave a note to encourage this kind of behaviour – it’s up to you. You can make Elf as kind and helpful or as mischievous as you like!

You never know what Elf will do next!

What is in My Christmas Elf Kit?

Your Christmas Elf Toy arrives in a box with a welcome letter, explaining Elf’s role in your home. Elf brings a behaviour chart, a sheet of stickers, Elf Report Cards and two Nice List Certificates that can be used to reward good behaviour. There is also Beware of the Elf signs for your door in case for any overnight mischief, plus a Thank You postcard you can use in January to continue the magic.

But Elf has more! Two blank Letters to Santa Claus are also included, ready to post off to the Big Man himself, as well as a Goodbye Letter for when it’s time for Elf to go back to the North Pole. The Christmas Elf Kit is designed for a family with two children (some items are shared). You can order refill kits for larger families or for use each year.

We will supply you with lots of ideas and antics that your Elf can get up to each day. If you register your information, we will send you unique personalised emails directly to your children or class, straight from Santa Claus, with information that your Elf has learnt about you.

It really is magic! All you need to do is believe it!

What Happens to Elf After Christmas?

An Elf for Christmas is just for Christmas. On Christmas Eve you can pack away Elf in his box until next year. Or as you tell the children – Elves need to go back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve to join their friends in sweeping up the leftover wrapping paper and start the toymaking for next year!

Elf will leave you with a Goodbye Note for your children on Christmas Eve. To keep the Elf magic alive throughout the year, we have personalised postcards that can be sent to you. Try them for a special birthday, or as a reminder to be good over the holidays.

Start your own family Christmas Elf Tradition with Elf for Christmas!

Christmas Elf Facts, Worksheets, Appearance & History For Kids

Worksheets /Seasonal and Holiday /Christmas and Winter /Christmas Elf Facts & Worksheets

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A Christmas elf is a fictional magical dwarf-like character also known as Santa’s elf. A Christmas elf is known to be Santa Claus’ helper and live with him at the North Pole throughout the year. They can also be called Santa’s helpers or Santa’s magical elves.

See the fact file below for more information on the Christmas Elf or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Christmas Elf worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Appearance

They are often depicted as small, not exceeding 4 feet, and with long pointy ears.

A signature look of a Christmas elf is a red or green-clad costume, a pointy hat, rosy cheeks, and pointy ears.
Elves look similar to the dwarves of Norse mythology, but they are more active and busy.
Their clothes keep them warm despite living in an extremely cold habitat.
Some believe they live in tiny cottages which they decorate with Christmas lights, gingerbread, and other Christmas ornaments throughout the year.
Some believe they live in forests or underground.
They can be either male or female.

The Tasks of Santa’s Helper

A Christmas elf’s tasks include making toys as Christmas gifts, taking care of the reindeer, baking cookies, making candy, preparing Santa’s sleigh, and assisting Santa with other tasks.
One of the primary tasks of Christmas elves is to make toys all year long.
A common scene where Christmas elves are found is working at Santa’s toy workshop at the North Pole.
A special task of a Santa’s elf is to work in Santa’s mail department sorting the letters Santa receives from children.
Christmas elves make sure Santa reads each one of those letters.
Elves can also tag along when Santa delivers his presents on Christmas.
Elves love to eat cookies and candy.
It is unsure how many elves are Santa’s helpers. Some say it’s six, some say it’s nine.

History

In Germanic paganism, elves were believed to be creatures of light who resided in the heavens and later underground as magical beings.
Scandinavian folklore portrayed elves as house gnomes who protected their homes from evil spirits.
It wasn’t until the mid 19th century when these elves were associated with St. Nicholas, or Father Christmas.
The Christmas elf character was first introduced in 1856 when writer Louisa May Alcott wrote a book entitled “Christmas Elves”, which never got published.
It came later than the character of Santa Claus, which emerged in the early 17th century in American folklore.
Christmas toys and presents being highly related to the elves can be traced back to the mid-1800s with the “nisse” in Denmark and the “tomte” in Swedish.
In 1823, St. Nicholas was also referred to as an elf in A Visit from St. Nicholas, a poem written by Clement Clarke Moore which is more known as ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas.
The image of Christmas elves was popularized when it became the front cover illustration of the American magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book for its 1873 Christmas issue.
The illustration depicted Santa surrounded by elves and toys, and came with a caption referring to the scene as a preparation for Christmas.
In 1925, the belief that the elves lived in Santa’s village at the North Pole was changed when it was discovered that the reindeer are found in Finland and not the North Pole.
Post-Christian folklore depicts Christmas elves as mischievous tricksters.
Presently, Christmas elves are included in children’s folklore in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.

Other Versions

In Belgium and the Netherlands, St. Nicholas is accompanied by Zwarte Piet (translated as Black Peter) who is portrayed as a black person wearing a colonial outfit.
In Iceland, mischievous tricksters called the Yule-Lads visit homes from December 12 to 24 to leave presents and play pranks.
In Germany, the companions of St. Nicholas are the Knecht Ruprecht.
In Luxembourg, the same characters are called the Hoesecker.
In Nordic countries, Christmas elves are considered nisses and not elves. Nisses, unlike elves, typically wear only pure red outfits.
Santa’s Elves have creative and cute names such as Alabaster Snowball, Bushy Evergreen, Pepper Minstix, Shinny Upatree, Sugarplum Mary, and Wunorse Openslae to name a few.

Media Appearances

The Christmas elf character has appeared in multiple films and television shows, most of which are Christmas themed, such as Santa Claus: The Movie, Elf, Santa’s Workshop, Arthur Christmas, and Like Father, Like Santa.
The Christmas Tree Elf, is a children’s picture book by Valentine D’Arcy Sheldon which tells the story of how Santa met the elves.

Christmas Elf Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Christmas Elf across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Christmas Elf worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about a Christmas elf which is a fictional magical dwarf-like character also known as Santa’s elf. A Christmas elf is known to be Santa Claus’ helper and live with him at the North Pole throughout the year. They can also be called Santa’s helpers or Santa’s magical elves.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

Christmas Elf Facts
Incomplete Origins
Various Versions
An Elf’s To-Do List
Elf Sketch
Toy Factory
Truth Factory
Name Hunt
Desination: North Pole
Learning Reindeers
Letter to Santa

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

New Year's miracle: how "Elf on the Shelf" brought millions to the family who invented it

It seems that Christmas traditions go back to the years when people did not yet have the Internet and TVs. But sometimes - a New Year's miracle! — a simple family tale becomes popular throughout the country. This is exactly what happened with Elf on the Shelf, which helped the Chanda Bell family make millions (and, of course, immediately acquired an army of haters). We tell the story of this controversial character.

In the family of an American girl from Atlanta, Chanda Bell, there was a Christmas tradition: mother told the children that a special elf, Santa's messenger, constantly monitors how they behave on the eve of Christmas, and then tells everything to Santa himself. Every day the elf hides in a new place in the house - he himself is not so easy to track down, but he sees everything. You can also tell him what you want for Christmas. And if the elf saw that the child was behaving well, the wish was surely fulfilled.

Chanda Bell has long believed that the elves are some kind of universal Christmas tradition, and not just their families and homes. But it wasn't like that.

Decades have passed. Chanda grew up, became a literature teacher, married a work colleague and had two children. Once she visited her mother, she was moping: she had health problems, her husband had business problems. And, as Chanda herself says, she accidentally started a conversation with her mother about that elf from childhood. Just to support her with "warm family memories". As a result, Chanda Bell and her mother Carol Ebersold decided to write a book. Thus, in six months, "Elf on the Shelf" was born. They were sure that the story of a personal family elf would appeal to others as well.

They even got a literary agent, but they could not sell the rights to the book: the publishers did not believe in the success of another "Christmas project" from unknown ladies. Then the family united: Chanda and her mother were joined by Chanda's twin sister Krista Pitts (for this she left her career as a popular TV presenter), and all family funds were used. “After deciding to self-publish the book, my husband and I used all the credit cards, my sister sold the house, and my parents even invested their retirement savings. Everything we had, we invested in this company, ”Bell later said in an interview.

The story of a miracle?

In 2004, the book was born. She was sold together with a toy elf. A year later, the family managed to sell 5,000 copies. The Bell sisters traded books from the trunk of a car, sold them at gift shows. The case changed everything: in 2007, actress Jennifer Garner was photographed with this same elf in her hands.

“I don’t know how she got it, but the phones immediately exploded with orders,” said Chanda Bell. A little later, the elf was shown on the popular TV show Today. And already in 2008, books and elves appeared in all toy stores, chain bookstores, supermarkets, and the collection of stories began a triumphal procession through the tops of children's bestsellers.

The family's business grew with the elves. Now it is a huge company built around the story of elves and Christmas.

Dozens of people are employed in production, books sold with a total circulation of more than 13 million copies

The company's income increased in progression - an average of 150% per year. As a result, from a valuation of $16.6 million in 2011, the company grew by 2015 to a valuation of $85 million.

Chanda Bell gives interviews to all the world's leading media, including Forbes, and is proud that this business is still a family business, and their Atlanta office has Christmas trees and Christmas all year round. “I like that,” she adds.

The family managed to build a new Christmas universe inside the classic one. The elf's website has sections for children and parents, as well as guides for teachers. The elf now has a lot of faces and customizations (elf-boys, elf-girls, in the new series there is an elf with a cast leg on crutches), and a lot of friends. There is an Elf Pets franchise, Elf on the Shelf cereal, animation on Netflix, CBS and TBS. That is the ideal marketing move. Which, moreover, vigilantly monitors that not a single alien elf sets foot on their territory. The basic set with an elf (figure and book) costs from $30 in American online stores.

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What are the elf's rules that the book dictates? The elf plays hide and seek with the children all the time (in fact, every night parents move the elf from place to place in houses and apartments, on Pinterest and Instagram you can find a lot of ideas where else to hide the elf). It is absolutely impossible to touch an elf! This is the main rule that he sets. If you touch it, then all the magic will evaporate, and Santa will not hear everything that the elf has seen and knows. Remember this thesis: it will be important when you read about the criticism of the elf.

When does an elf come to the house? There are no hard and fast rules here. Some associate the appearance of the elf with the start of the advent calendar. An elf is supposed to be given a name. You can talk to him - in the rules of the elves it is even advised to do this, saying that although the elf cannot answer, he hears everything. Elf can give children tasks.

And some more lyrics from the creators. "We are the voice of Santa's North Pole and we are honored to share his stories through our products, entertainment content and immersive experiences," Chanda Bell said in an interview with Forbes.

Even in the midst of the pandemic, the company was positive: “We want people to feel that there is something normal in their isolation. We get a lot of questions from children whether elves can get covid. We say no. They are magical!” - one of the sisters was quoted at the end of last year.

And now that criticism!

But Elf in a Box not only has millions of fans, but also many critics. Even if you enter an English-language query into Google search, in the collection of answers to questions you will see: "What's wrong with this elf?"

One of the pillars of the American press, The Washington Post, in 2012 published the column "The Elf on the Shelf: He Must Be Stopped!". The author called the story of the elf a "Faustian deal", but not empty words and not from the point of view of theory, but talking about her own children. "An elf came into our lives three years ago - I desperately needed someone's help, my boys were monsters." And what is the result? Here is how she describes the result: “You will get a wonderful disciplinary tool. My little pagans instantly turned into angels as soon as I said: "The elf is watching. " And this is not at all the usual "Santa is watching." It was reality: he looked at them with dead eyes, sitting on the ledge, then on the bookshelf, and then on the chandelier. In January, I began to fear withdrawal." Christa Pitts reacted succinctly: "I just don't understand this negativity."

Another authoritative American magazine, The Atlantic, published a text with the title You're a Creepy One, Elf on the Shelf ("You're creepy, elf on the shelf"). It was devoted to criticizing the elf - and not even the marketing component of the story, but what values he broadcasts to children.

“The worst thing about an elf is the message he carries, and the very meaning of his existence: to spy on children!.. An elf learns from a child his Christmas wishes — but not peace on earth or a cure for cancer, but only material gifts. And then, after a month of spying on the kid's behavior from hiding, he tells Santa if he's been good enough." Another thesis of the author of The Atlantic was that the elf deprives Christmas of its sacred meaning: “Do not use it to intimidate your child into thinking that good behavior equals gifts. If Christmas has a religious meaning for you, isn't kindness its main meaning?"

One can argue about the second thesis, but the first one is also supported by expert psychologists. In one column on the Psychology Today website, the idea of an elf was analyzed from the point of view of critical thinking of children and adults. And also because of the history of education through the promise of a gift or encouragement. “Dealing with bad behavior through the promise of rewards for good behavior is a terrible and harmful practice.

This is lazy parenting, the simplest but also the worst way to get a child to behave well

It is important for children to learn self-control and to do what is right for themselves. A child who does something well just because an elf is watching him learns the opposite: behavior is determined by rewards... And now let's think about how this is broadcast in the adult world, when children understand that in the real world often the greatest rewards come from lies and deceit ?

In Vox, the critique of the elf went into the third plane, starting with a phrase that could become a slogan against all marketing: “If there is one most popular lie that we plunge children into, it is the myth of the elf on the shelf. Here's everything you need to know." And another quote: "An elf is a symbol of a state of surveillance, disguised as a child's toy." The author of the article analyzes in detail the mechanics of playing elf, where there is no place for the user, because the rules are already written. "I monitor and report to Santa everything you do!" the elf warns, adding that "the word will come out if you break the rule." Sounds pretty familiar!" - it seems that even without a deep knowledge of American realities, the allusion is understandable.

A Vox article written in 2016 ended: “This year has been tough. Now more than ever, we need the freedom to enjoy our vacations without the ghost of government surveillance in our homes, no matter how fabulously decorated."

Cover image: An Errant Knight / An Errant Knight

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What is the christmas elf