Our Kindness Elves - How we got started

Our Kindness Elves 

We bought our elves from etsy.com (link directly to them).  They have others, but these looked so adorable and fit our budget, only $12!  I found the idea of the Kindness Elf when searching for nice Elf on the shelf idea.  We do own an Elf on the Shelf, but have never really done anything with it.  My husband and I discussed that we wanted to reinforce the good our children do and reinforce kind acts rather than having a naughty elf in our house.  Our kids are toddlers, so I know going into this that they may not even understand much this year.  I am not against Elf on the Shelf for everyone. In fact, I have friends whose elf does wonderfully nice things too.  For us, we wanted something different. 

There are other blogs and websites devoted to Kindness Elves.  A quick search and you'll find them.  However, there is not as much out there as there is for the Elf on the Shelf.  My conviction for Kindness Elves was further solidified today when I was at a local store and there was the adoption center and merchandise galore for the Elf on the Shelf.  I didn't want my kids going to a store and seeing their elves.  

I wanted to take pictures of our elves every day, but with the daily business of life, I forgot a day a here and there.  Also note that our elves do not do something special every day.  Some nights they just move around the house to a new location for the kids to find in the morning.  This brings me to how it works.  The elves of course can only move around at night when everyone is sleeping.  They report back to Santa each night and tell him about all the good the kids do each day, no matter how small that kindness or positive behavior may be.  Sometimes the elves do small fun things like decorate, leave a nice note, or ask the kids to spread kindness in a specific way.  As my kids grow, the kindness acts will get easier to carry-out.   The elves can come with names, or have your children name them.  Regardless, on the first morning, the elves should come with a note (see below).  

Day 1:  The Reveal (or so I hoped...)

I was so excited for the reveal of the Elves.  We chose the Monday after Thanksgiving.  Mostly because we were really busy over the weekend and our elves arrived that Friday.  We had just decorated our tree and hung up our new Mickey Mouse shaped wreath.  (We are a Disney family).  I thought that kids would notice the elves right away since they bugged me all weekend to hang up the wreath.  Well, I was wrong!  I checked in with my husband all day, "did the kids find the elves?"  I am a teacher and my husband works from home and cares for our kids. I came home and proceeded to keep quiet about their reveal. I had piece of paper hanging off the wreath and it was lit all day! Granted the kids had no idea that they elves were even going to become a daily part of their routine now.  Long story short, the kids never noticed the elves!  After they went to bed, I took a picture of the elves and decided to print it and include it with a note on our kindness elf day 2.  Needless to say, I was moving around 2 elves without names and unsure of where to put them so the kids would notice!  I did feel a tad bit defeated, but Day 2 seemed promising.

Day 1 Letter from the Elves 

I use A780-Deco Font since it is fun and whimsical.  I borrowed much of the wording from other Kindness Elve websites with notes from the elves ideas.

"Hello insert children's name(s)!

Merry Christmas!  Santa sent us from the North Pole to be your family elves.  We are not your regular elves for children who need help being good.  We are special KINDNESS ELVES because Santa knows you are always trying to be good. We are here to help spread Christmas cheer and love...  and we know  you both can help us.

Each night when you sleep we will try to think you ways we all can be kind.  Sometimes we'll be silly and sometimes sweet.   You'll have to find us each morning (because we freeze when daytime comes).  Please do not touch us or pick us up.  If you do, we'll lose our Christmas magic and get lost and confused. 

To spread Kindness today, please give us each a name.  After you name use, please have your Mom or Dad write our names here:

Boy Elf:______________________

Girl Elf:_____________________ 

We can't wait to report to Santa all the good you have done this Christmas Season!  Thanks for your kindness! 

Love, The Kindness Elves from the North Pole"

To continue reading see "Our Kindness Elves Day 2" blog.

This blog is an independent account of our Kindness Elves only.  This is not an endorsed site for any other websites mentioned.