The Elf on the Shelf

Last night was our first advent activity for the year...so exciting!! The advent calendar was a lot of fun last year, but I am expecting this year to be even better since Owen is a little bit older and is totally grasping onto the idea of Christmas. He is so excited about what our train (advent calendar) will have in store for him!! Even Spencer gets a little giddy about pulling out the little slip of paper behind the door and eating the chocolate.

Day 1: A magical Elf has come to live with us until Christmas!!! Owen went on a treasure hunt and found this book. We read the book to him and then we helped him search our house to find where the Elf was hiding.

There he is!!!

If you are not familiar with the "Elf on the Shelf" he is one of Santa's "scout elf's" who shows up right after Thanksgiving to see if children are behaving and then reports back to Santa each night after children are in bed. Then the next morning the Elf returns from the North Pole and finds a new spot to sit and observe the children. The first thing you have to do when the Elf shows up for the first time is give him a name. Owen, with the help of Spencer, named our Elf Buddy.

I first discovered "Elf on the Shelf" last Christmas when I saw it on Spencer's cousin's blog and just loved the idea!! (Thanks Andrea!!) Owen loved reading the book (we read it about 7 times) and then this morning when he woke up the first thing he asked me was ,"Where is Buddy Elf?" Buddy is currently perched on top of our television and has already made an impact on Owen's behavior...love it!! Hopefully this good behavior will last until Christmas!!

If you have any fun ideas for advent activities please share, I still have several days to fill.