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Day One

5 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS KINDNESS

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DAY ONE

KINDNESS ELVES AND ADVENT CALENDARS

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Bec xxx

I’m not sure Elf on A Shelf needs any explanation, but I’ll give one anywhere. Your elf (male or female) turns up on December 1st with the sole purpose of keeping an eye on your kids each day and reporting back to Santa each night. The idea is that every morning your Elf is found in a different location or in a funny situation to amuse your kids.  A warning to parents: Elf on The Shelf is not for the feint-hearted and there are many nights you’ll wake up at 1am thinking “I haven’t moved the elf!”.  Proceed with caution.

The Kindness Elves are what some would call the antidote to Elf on The Shelf. These elves are the brainchild of Anna - a mother of four and teacher from the UK who runs the Imagination Tree website. Anna’s elves live to spread joy throughout the world so each day (or every few days or once a week!)  they leave a kindness challenge for the kids to do during the lead up to Christmas. You can buy Anna’s official elves or – frankly -  just convert any toy (or Elf on The Shelf) into a kindness elf.  Either way the idea is to get the kids doing acts of kindness.  (And I think “Give mum a shoulder massage’ is a totally legit kindness challenge so get creative!)

Create an Advent Calendar

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You can’t walk through a supermarket in December without running into a plethora of chocolate-filled advent calendars featuring everyone from Dora The Explorer and Darth Vader to Barbie and Bob the Builder.  Take it up a notch (and up a price range) and you’ve got your Lego advent calendars, your Kiki-K stationary advent calendars and there are even tea advent calendars.  The fun of opening a little window or pocket to find a treat every morning is wonderful fun to children (and, err, adults).

If you’re looking for something with a little more meaning you can buy your own material or wooden advent calendar and fill it with your own surprises. One year in return for the chocolate, my children had to post back into the pocket a good deed they had completed that day. 

advent calendar hanging on the wall. child opens present. Christmas kids fun. diy.

Go online and you’ll find dozens of free printable Random Acts of Kindness advent calendar cards which you could pop inside each day to give your children a good deed to complete. Ideas include making all the beds in the house, phoning grandma for a chat or writing a Christmas card for a neighbour.

Then there’s Camp Quality who sell a beautiful 25 Acts of Kid-ness Christmas Advent Cards and Calendars. 

You can create a Reverse Advent Calendar where each day you put an item into a box to donate to a charity a few days before Christmas.