The Kindness Elves
EDIT: I love our Elves so much that I’ve become an affiliate and the links in this post have been updated to my affiliate links.Â
The Kindness Elves are coming back to our house for a visit and I’ll be honest, I’m slightly anxious about it. I did it a little bit last year but honestly, it was completely half assed. Luckily, Big Nugget wasn’t really old enough to remember but this year, the pressure is on and I’m hoping I’m prepared.
Why Kindness Elves
I’ve seen all the Elf on the Shelf posts and articles and pictures and videos online. While I’m all for anything that adds to the magic of the season, there was a lot about it that made me feel uncomfortable.
Listen, if this works for you and your family then I’m all for it. For you. This is a no judgement zone, just sharing my feelings and what works for us.
The premise of behave or your won’t get any presents never sat well with me. Even with Santa. What do you do after the holidays then when they are expected to be rewarded for how they are supposed to behave? It just wouldn’t work for our daughter. Plus, the big brother aspect of the Elf super creeped me out too.
Then I found The Kindness Elves. They were created by a mom who had the same reservations about the Elf as I did but she added a genius spin to it. These elves come to visit not to watch and make sure you aren’t a horrible child but to help kids and their families spread kindness to others during the holiday season. It was a perfect way to still have an elf but keep the spirit of the season as the focus.
My Plan
Last year we did a few kindness activities, we loved doing Kindness Bag and you can read about them here. We made cookies for my Dr’s office, I was in there weekly getting shots during my pregnancy, purged toys and donated them to our local women’s shelter and adopted a couple kids off our church’s angel tree. This year, I wanted to be a little more organized and luckily, The Kindness Elves had my back.
They have a darling book that explains the Elves with a great story and beautiful illustrations. They also have an accessory pack that includes preprinted notes with ideas on them, a tiny bundle of post cards, keepsake book to record all of your acts of kindness, stickers and a tiny jar of glitter for the Elves. I’m all about things that make our lives easier as parents and this saved me from so much stress. Plus it’s super adorable.
Kindness Acts
Here is the rundown of kindness suggestions that I’m going to use this year. I chose ones that were age appropriate for my almost 4 year old and that fit in our life.
- Write a letter to a relative who lives far away and mail it to them.
- Make someone laugh today.
- Choose at least 5 toys you no longer play with and donate them.
- Wrap a new toy or book and donate it to the toy drive.
- Draw a special picture and give it to a friend, relative or neighbor.
- Look out for a lonely child at the playground and invite them to join your game.
- Make a blessing bag for the homeless – we already got a head start on this one with our kindness bags, read about them here.
- Plant some seeds to grow in the spring.
- Hide a happy rock for someone to find.
- Bring some cookies to the local fire or police station to say thank you for their hard work.
- Donate some food to the local food bank.
The possibilities are really endless but I wanted to pick out a handful of tasks that seemed attainable and wasn’t over scheduling us in a month that is already packed. This project is supposed to create teaching moments for the kids, not overly stress out the parents. Then again, I guess that is what Christmas is all about when you are a parent right?
Make sure to follow me on Instagram, @nuggetlands, I’ll keep everyone updated on what our Kindness Elves are up to!
I LOVE this idea! I haven’t done Elf on the Shelf because the idea behind it never sat well with me either. I could definitely use the kindness elves.
And it’s really fun too – for both our daughter and for us. Gives you all the feels seeing them do something generous (and enjoy it).
My son is at an age now where he can actually appreciate these. Thank you for sharing!
You are welcome! Enjoy all the special moments.
I like the idea of helping each other rather than judging , comparing or other wasteful energy.
Kindness Elves, fantastic idea!!
Great ideas ! I like the toy drive and donation ones because it instills the value of giving.
Thank you! I tell her all the time you get more joy in giving….it helps her understand through actions.