The Elf on the Shelf Gift Set is a cute rhyming storybook with an accompanying Santa’s elf. The elf is a scout for Santa Claus, and every night he returns to the North Pole to report on who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. When the kids wake up, he’s hiding in a new place each morning. The book has been around for a few years, but I recently learned of it and bought the set based on positive reviews on Amazon.

One parent said, “After hearing from friends and reading reviews how great this was, we bit the bullet and got it. I cannot say enough about how cute this was for our two boys (age 6 and 3). They bolted downstairs every morning to find the elf, and the oldest cried when he touched it accidentally because he thought it would lose its magic. The story and elf was the sweetest thing. Note, however, that parents have to remember to move the elf around every night, or come up with creative excuses for why the elf decided to come back from the North Pole into the same spot! .”

Yes, indeed, if you buy the Elf on the Shelf gift set, be prepared to come up with a new hiding spot every night!! This has been my biggest challenge, as the holidays are a busy time already, and remembering to move the elf every night can be difficult if you don’t make a habit of it. But it’s definitely worth it if you want to bring a little Christmas magic into your house.

More on the Elf on the Shelf Gift Set and Other Elf Toys and Books.

SantaSpeaking.com is a site that offers personalized phone calls from Santa, but they also have some free fun features for kids. If you’re looking for some simple online Christmas fun for preschool or early elementary school students who are just learning to use the mouse, try the free elf game for young kids. Kids simply need to drag and drop items of clothing on to Twinkle the Elf to help him get ready for Christmas. When they drag Twinkle’s hat, scarf, sweater, pants and other clothes on the right place, the clothes stay on the elf and an electronic chime sounds to let the kids know they did it right. If they try to drag, say, Twinkle’s pants to his head, the clothes simply won’t stick and the kids will have to try again.

For a slightly more advanced drag-and-drop game, your kids can help the elf fill Santa’s sleigh. For this game, kids need to drag the numbered toys and objects to the matching number on Santa’s sleigh. Each item plays a sound when placed in its proper place.

Both games are easy fun that can help kids get excited about Christmas while learning some simple computer mouse skills.

The site also has some other fun features, such as Christmas jokes, a Q&A with Santa Claus, Christmas music, free emails to Santa, a reindeer cam and a Naughty and Nice “test.” The site navigation isn’t great between pages, but if you click the Home button, you’ll be able to get to all the fun stuff, as well as learn more about the phone calls from Santa.

Have fun!

JibJab burst into Internet stardom with “This Land,” the 2004 political parody video featuring animated versions of John Kerry and George Bush singing and dancing while insulting one another, so it may not be the first place you’d think to look for funny Christmas videos. But JibJab now offers a wide selection of funny videos, including a few holiday-themed ones.

One silly Christmas video sure to please most kids, particularly elementary age ones, is the Farting Elves. This humorous video features Santa’s elves (along with Mrs. Claus and Santa Claus, too) farting to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas.  Who knew elves had such a strange musical talent? I thought they only knew how to build toys. But after watching this video, you may never see elves the same way.

Now I know you’re thinking that a farting Christmas song is childish bathroom humor that probably wouldn’t be entertaining for most civilized adults. And you could be right. But there are either a lot of children on YouTube or some adults have enjoyed this video, too, as more than 250,000 people have watched the JibJab Farting Elves on YouTube. So go on, check it out. Don’t worry – we won’t tell.