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
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
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