For as long as I can remember I’ve loved Christmas – the decorations, the songs, the food. That didn’t change when we had children. In fact, if anything, it increased my love of Christmas and creativity as we now see it through the eyes of the children – the excitement, the look on their faces, the squeals when they see more and more decorations being put up in shops, streets etc.

In the last few years we’ve made reindeer food which the kids scatter on the garden path (try cleaning that up at 11pm on Christmas Eve!), introduced more advent calendars than we probably should have, and made Christmas tree decorations that wouldn’t have made their way onto the tree a few years back.

This year brings the introduction of An Elf for Christmas. The Elf, which comes as a boy or girl, is a magical elf sent from Santa to help promote good behaviour. Elf comes with its own reward kit which has a collection of different items to use over the course of the visit. It includes

• a letter from Santa explaining why Elf has arrive
• a reward chart and stickers
• mini report cards which provide feedback on behaviour (we’ve used the ‘Oh no!’ card once so far!)
• certificates for good behaviour
• a ‘House Elf Living Here’ sign
• a Thank You card from Elf when the visit ends (they head back to Santa on Christmas Eve).

The kit is designed for families with two children but additional reward kits and items can be purchased from Elf for Christmas website. Distribution is from the UK and, in 2016, is now available in some stores in Australia. The packaging is festive and all the items are made from good stock (no flimsy paper). The elf is soft, beautifully made and festive in its traditional elf clothes. You just want to give it a cuddle! The elf has velcro on its hands which gets a bit tick from me because it means they can get up to much more mischief.

Elf usually arrives on 1 December, however for my review I introduced him a few days earlier to see the kid’s reactions. Our boy elf arrived one morning with a letter from Santa attached – and the boys were very enthusiastic to have him here. We’ve named him Leroy and have had some fun on trying to find where he is each morning and what note he may have with him! Leroy has used the ‘Oh no’ card once – after reading it my youngest asked me to ‘put it in the bin so we don’t get it again’ (!).

I love the idea of how the kit aims to help promote good behaviour. It will be interesting to see how we go through the month of December and if I need to remind the kids that Leroy is watching and reporting back to Santa! So far, Leroy is a welcome addition and can’t wait to get up to more mischief…

 

Disclosure: I was sent the product above in exchange for an honest review. All words and images are my own.