I was lucky enough to be invited along to the Thorntons Cheeky Elf academy last week for a lesson in how to keep the magic of christmas alive with the help of their new Cheeky Elf.
I didn’t know what to expect before I arrived at the Elf Academy and I was more than presently surprised when I arrived at the super christmassy venue that had been covered in candy canes and pretty decorations and was filled with super friendly elves that I joined once I had doned my elf hat and christmas jumper!
I know all to well that the magic of christmas is something special, something that should be treasured and sadly something that can be short lived once the realisation that Father Christmas is a fictional character comes to fruition.
I’m not saying that christmas isn’t just as magical without the believing – I’m 38 and still get more excited about it then the children, but that pure unadulterated innocence is something special and something I always try to keep alive for as long as I can.
We are now a camp of three non-believers and two belivers with one of those already asking a few questions, so I’m on a mission to keep the magic there for as long as possible and the Elf Academy was a perfect way to pick up some great tips from Santa’s elves themselves.
We were taught 10 tricks in total, some of which I already implement at home and a few new ones I will certainly be trying this year.
It was a really hands on workshop and we moved from station to station trying out all the tricks. We learned how to age a letter from Santa and create curvy script to look authentic, we created Santa’s footprints with the help of a stencil and fake snow, we make pretty sigh bells to jingle once the children are all in bed and with the help of some coconut shells we make the noise of the reindeers hooves which I though was a brilliant idea.
We also perfected our Santa voices using the area deep in our bellies to get a low and realistic voice…I’m not to sure how convincing mine was!
For me aside from the magic of this time of year, being able to use it to measure their behaviour perfect and we were given the tip of creating our own ‘naughty and nice’ lists the we can tick for good or bad behaviour. This one is definitely something I will be using.
If you need a hand with keeping an eye on the little ones behaviour then this is where Thornton’s Cheeky Elf can lend a hand. He can be place all over the home to keep an eye on what the children are up to and report back to Santa with the news…good or bad! And once Christmas Day is over the chocolate treat can be enjoyed by all.
I’m not really a fan of the ‘elf on the shelf’ craze so this is going to be the perfect alternate for us that tastes a lot better and requires a lot let work.
I would love to know what traditions you have as a family to keep that magic alive and if you need some help then take a look at all the Elf Academy Tips right ‘HERE’.
*collaborated post