What the arrival letter should establish
Three things, in this order: who the elf is and why it is here, what the children must not do, and what happens each night. The rules are the part children take most seriously, so keep them short and make them ones you can actually enforce.
The standard three rules are do not touch the elf, do not expect it to talk while anyone is watching, and it goes back to the North Pole each night to report. You can edit all three, and there is a fourth optional line for a house-specific rule.
Naming the elf
Either name it in the letter or ask the children to name it. Asking is better. A child who chooses the name is invested in the whole thing immediately, and the letter has a line for them to write their choice and leave it out that night.
If you do name it, avoid anything you will struggle to say every day for a month. Families regularly regret a joke name by the twelfth of December.
Printing and presentation
Print on 100gsm if you have it, fold it in three, and leave it somewhere that takes a moment to find rather than on the kitchen table. The small delay in finding it is what makes the arrival feel like an event.
There is a smaller half-page version if your elf is physically small and a full sheet would look odd next to it.
Questions
- What should an elf arrival letter say?
- Who the elf is and why it has come, the rules the children must follow, and what happens each night. Keep the rules to three or four and make them ones you can enforce.
- Should I name the elf or let the children?
- Let the children. The letter includes a line for them to write a name and leave it out that night, and a child who chose the name takes the whole tradition more seriously.
- Can I change the rules on the letter?
- Yes. All three standard rules are editable, and there is a spare line for a rule specific to your house.
- Is there a shorter version?
- Yes, a half-page version, which looks better alongside a small elf than a full sheet of A4 does.