Elf Mail: Days 1 and 2

Day 1

Elf Mail took off quickly in this house. My girls absolutely love getting mail, and the fact that it's from a Christmas elf is just the cherry on top of the sundae. Right after they got their first letter, Penelope was excited to send something back. She wrote a letter something like this:

Holly,

Do you live at the North Pole with Santa? Do you make toys and wrap them in paper?

-Penny.

Now, this is really interesting to me because the first letter didn't really mention the nativity story at all. The letter was a friendly introduction from Holly, and of course, a reminder to be on their best behavior. I encourage Penelope to write a letter back, so I can see what she really heard in the letter from Holly. It helps me understand how her mind is working, and how she is understanding the story. That way I can make adjustments in my Holly's writing if need be.

Day 2 

We thought we lost the first letter Holly wrote, but my husband found it this morning under the couch. I started putting them in a large orange envelope to help keep me sane. Holly replied to Penelope's letter and I realized that I was going to need to find a way to keep the letters linked together, so that Penelope didn't forget what we were talking about from the day before. So this is what the second letter said:

Penelope, 

Yes I do live at the North Pole with Santa and all the other elves! It's really cold, but we keep warm by drinking hot cocoa while we make toys. Do you know what my favorite part about Christmas is?! Celebrating the birth of our dear savior --Jesus! He was born as a baby a long, long time ago! I can't wait to tell you more, but for now I have to go feed the reindeer! Bye! 

Stay Jolly. Love,

Holly

You see, I learned real quick that I need to keep these letters simple. Penelope has a habit of sticking to one topic and repeating it no matter how hard you try to stray away. So in this case when we wrote Holly back, she told her that Jesus was also her favorite part of Christmas. The one thing she got out of this letter was that he was a baby a long time ago. If you are doing this for older kids, I think bigger chunks of the story will work in one letter. But for my girl, we're probably taking tiny, elf steps. 

Holly's letter for tomorrow will say: 

Penelope (and Vivian), 

Now what was I saying? Oh right! A long time ago (key words from the last letter) there was a lady named Mary. Mary was going to be married to a man named Joesph. Mary loved God. One day an angel, named Gabriel, came to Mary. Gabriel said "Mary do not be afraid. God loves you very much! You are going to have a baby named Jesus!" Mary was so happy, she cried happy tears! Even though Mary and Joesph were confused, they trusted God. When you are confused you can always trust and pray to God! I can't wait to tell you what happens next! Be on the look out for my next letter!

Stay Jolly. Love,

Holly 

If you need ideas on how to break your letters down, I find it's best to keep things simple. Here is a super condensed version I found on Pinterest:

You can break it into a few sentences. You can simply write out a few verses, or you can write about each character, and their importance in the nativity story. No matter how you decide to write your letters, keep them straight and to the point. Especially for kids 5 and under, only make one or two personal comments like "Brr. It sure is cold here today!" Chances are they will remember the very last sentence the clearest. So end strong.

Excited to see what unfolds tomorrow! 

Ashley  

Elf Mail: Bringing the Nativity Story to the North Pole

Sorry if my blog has seemed abandoned lately, we've been super busy this year!

               So, I was walking through my local Dollar Tree yesterday when I saw a bunch of little Christmas themed mailboxes lined on the top shelf. I thought they were adorable, so naturally I put one in my cart.

Now, let me interrupt myself in order to apologize to all retail workers out there. I've worked in retail and I know how irritating this is, but I can’t quit this awful habit: I’m a cart-filler. You know, that person who puts everything in their cart as they are walking through the store, then notices they have way too much stuff….then you see them standing in a random isle weeding through their basket, sticking things that are not of priority on a random shelf...I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. I really try not to do it.  If it makes you feel better, I have never stuck a frozen food item next to boxed mac and cheese.

Anyway, back to my story. As I was strolling through the Dollar Tree, I stumbled on some plush elves sitting on an end cap. And a light bulb went off above my head…and I was so excited about it I could have jumped through the roof. Elf on the Shelf is pretty huge. I mean, there is a BIG chance that if you have kids, you participate in Elf on the Shelf. If not, you are probably like me. And if you are like me, you could possibly want to jump through the roof over this idea, too!

My grand idea was: Elf Mail. Instead of thinking of crazy scenarios to put my little plush elf in, I was going to take a much more simple approach…tiny letters dropped off every night. These letters are written by “Christmas Elves” who love to tell the Christmas Story. You see, I rack my brain so much about how to tell the Nativity story to my kids. They are 4 and 2 and they listen like they are 4 and 2. But, whenever Santa or the North Pole is mentioned, they go flying into a room and are planted on their bottoms, all ears ready to hear what I have to say. I guess this is a natural reaction…there is just something about that magic that make kids crave it. So, as a mother I will use that to my advantage to tell these kids why we celebrate Christmas.

So this is where we introduce Holly, our $1.00 Christmas elf. (Sorry for the quality of the photo.) She is the girls newest pin pal, due to good behavior. Today was their first letter from Holly. She simply introduced herself on night one. Holly will be breaking the nativity story up into several letters, along with the history of the candy cane (complete with mini candy canes) and the importance of gift giving. I’m thinking small doodles will be some filler days to bring us all the way to Christmas Eve. Then, on Christmas Eve morning our Holly is going to drop off a package with Christmas jammies and a Christmas book inside. I’m also considering a Happy Birthday Balloon for Jesus, since my 4 year old keeps talking about it.  

What you'll need:
-1 mailbox (found at Dollar Store)
-1 elf (optional. we took a picture of the elf putting the letter into the mailbox and the kids loved it.)

-A small notepad 

-Scrapbook paper for tiny envelopes.There is a simple tutorial on how to make them: here. Just shrink the square down so it will fit inside your mail box. 

-The nativity story. My favorite children's version is in the Jesus Story Book bible. You can even find the animated story on Youtube. It's titled "He's Here" and "Light of the Whole World",,,,You can also find cute stories on Pinterest. 

all in all, the picture above was all I needed. 

Ideas to write about: 

1. Elf introductions, including names and jobs they may have. 

2. Why they are writing to the kids. My reason was a simple one liner: "I am a Christmas Elf who loves to write about, well, Christmas!"
3. The nativity story. (this is probably going to be broken down into about 5-6 at least 6 letters.)

4. Singing Angels/Christmas Carols

5. Shepherds/Candy Canes

6. Jesus' Birthday/Giving Gifts 

7. The Christmas Star

8. Three Wise Men/Receiving Gifts

9. Replies to your kids questions. Penelope wrote Holly a letter immediately after she received her first one. 

10. Fun Christmas doodles. 

You know your kids and what you want to highlight this Christmas, so be creative! If you decided to do something like this, I would love to hear your ideas as well! Merry Christmas!!!