Some of the top events Scout Elves are invited to are milestones such as birthdays, big holidays or other days that are special to your family. If you're celebrating something special, Santa always tries his very hardest to grant your Scout Elf permission to join you if they're not too busy at the North Pole!
Fill out the invitation below with your name, your elf's name, and information about your birthday. Add color and decoration to your invitation to make it extra special! When you are finished, mail your invitation to your elf at the North Pole! They will be SO excited to come and see you on your special day!
Elf cannot not be touched. Elves have magic to return to the North Pole. If an Elf is touched, they loose this magic and often sit for 24-48 hours until they can generate more magic to return home.
By age eight, kids begin to acknowledge the unlikeliness of one man travelling the world in a single night. The good news? If you started the tradition of Elf on the Shelf in your household, you can likely send the elf into early retirement around your child's eighth Christmas.
Some make their first appearance on Thanksgiving night, and others wait until December. Most of them will arrive during the official Scout Elf Return Week though, which is November 23 through December 2.
Elves can make an entrance by having them ride in on balloons or land on your Christmas tree. Attach balloons to a little bucket and place the elf inside. Or make a paper airplane that says, "We've landed."
Children are not allowed to touch them.
Elves are very fragile, and if they are touched by human children they lose their magic and ability to communicate with Santa.
"There is no such thing as being too old to believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy," Kelman tells Yahoo Life. "Letting kids figure it out on their own is preferable to parents breaking the news to them.
Santa advises that no family member touch their Elf on the Shelf, but he does describe a few rare instances when an adult may use tongs or potholders to help an elf in an urgent situation. Parents: read on to learn about special, few and far between cases where emergency help will be required.
Elf Traits
An elf typically claims adulthood and an adult name around the age of 100 and can live to be 750 years old. Alignment: Elves love freedom, variety, and self- expression, so they lean strongly toward the gentler aspects of chaos.
On the night before the birthday the child sets out the elf's special birthday outfit. Santa blows his magic birthday dust on the elf so he can attend and show up the next morning. Since Elves are so tiny, they can't bring a gift so they do a North Pole tradition.
Fun Ways for Elf on the Shelf to Go Home
Candy note: If there's enough wrapped Christmas candy in the house, the elf can spell out a fun yet edible farewell message on the kitchen table. It could simply say "goodbye" or "farewell." A trendy elf might opt for "elf out" or "laters."
Elves need to wait until everyone is asleep before they can move around. If there was too much activity around the house last night, perhaps your elf only had time to get to the North Pole and back, but not enough time to find a new position. Make sure you get to bed early tonight to help them out!
All Scout Elves are different, so the date they come back can vary -some return at the end of November and others may wait until the second week of December. So don't worry if they haven't arrived exactly when you expected them to!
40 Reasons your Elf on the Shelf didn't move: Someone got out of bed (if Elf hears movement he won't move for risk of being seen) It's too warm in your house compared to the North Pole, he's forgotten what to do! Elf would rather not report bad behavior, he saw what you did yesterday, you have one day to correct it.
If your elf didn't move, they may be trying to communicate an important message to you! If your elf is accidentally touched, they may have just enough energy to get to the North Pole but not enough magic to create a whole new scene in your home.
“Are Mom and Dad really Santa?” We know that you want to know the answer and we had to give it careful thought to know just what to say. The answer is no. We are not Santa. There is no one, single Santa.
The Elf Must Not Be Touched
Considered the most important rule, the Scout Elf must never be touched (of course, apart from when the parents move them around) as that will cause them to lose their magical powers. In some cases, they could also disappear when touched, such as when a dog might get a hold of them.
"It's not an overnight shift in thinking," says Laura Lamminen, Ph. D., a pediatric psychologist at Children's Health℠, "and there's no set age where children should know the truth about Santa Claus." Dr. Lamminen says each family and each child within that family will be ready to talk about Santa at different ages.
Most Americans (67%) stopped expecting Santa to shimmy down their chimney by the time they entered seventh grade. Half (49%) of Americans say they stopped believing in Santa before the age of 10 – with a quarter (23%) reporting that they lost sight of him between the ages of seven (10%) and eight (13%).
While there is no perfect age to have this conversation, parents often start noticing their children becoming skeptical around eight, but this can vary. However, it may be beneficial to initiate the conversation before middle school. At this point, most of their peers will know the truth about Santa.
Elf on a Shelf Rules
Christmas magic is very fragile and if a scout elf is touched, it may lose that magic and be unable to fly back to the North Pole. A scout elf cannot speak or move while anyone in the house is awake! A scout elf's job is to watch and listen.
There are tons of fun, easy, and festive Elf on the Shelf ideas for two elves to test out this holiday season. They're so cute, you might just consider adding a third.
Do I need one Elf per child or one per household? The choice is yours. We have included two Nice List Certificates and two Letters to Santa in each kit, as these items are personal. All the other items can be shared as a family.