Kindness Elves 2014: Day 1

Today marked the first day of our visit from the Kindness Elves, and so far so good! (Although I hadn't appreciated how much of a watertight story I'd need to have rehearsed!)

The children woke up a little later than normal, although Erin was up first (as is usual in our household!) and had already found the elves hiding in the Christmas tree along with the letter from Santa.

We went down to breakfast and I read them the letter from Santa (find it here on Kindness Elves Part 2) which explained who the elves were, why they were here and what to expect. The best bit of today was when Erin came into the kitchen exclaiming "The elves got in the tree by MAGIC! Santa put them there with MAGIC!" - the glint of excitement in her eyes made it almost exhilarating to watch! The girls then went to have a look (Lara hadn't done so so far) and I read out the first day's card describing what the elves would like us to do to help other people. They had a go with their little sleeping bags too!

I explained that we would go to one of the local charity shops, but that we needed to find some things that we could donate (and what that meant). Erin was all for it, and we got a bag together and made our way into town. One thing I hadn't accounted for was how much stuff we would bring back from the charity shop (!!!!) but I told them that the money we gave the lady for the "new" things would also go to help people in need. Erin seemed quite pleased with this.

The aim was to put the elves to bed in their little sleeping bags under the tree, mostly so I could find them in the evening to set up for the next day - this was fine for their daytime sleep (the elves'!) but bedtime was a little trickier. Erin was adamant that her elf would sleep in bed with her, and the compromise was on her bedside table - although I did say that the Christmas tree would remind them of their home in the North Pole so he may sneak back into the lounge whilst she was asleep!!!

On the whole, it's been a great day so far, and I'm looking forward to Day 2 tomorrow. We definitely couldn't have managed more in terms of the level of understanding. The activities we've got will be about right for under 4's but I'm hoping it will become clearer the more we do!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's activity!

Click here for Day 2!