A New Christmas Game: Elves Delivering Gifts to the North Pole

When I taught school I delighted in creating 

Christmas-themed games to break the monotony

of academia.  Now that I'm retired, I still seek out

ways to add spice to holiday babysitting days.

VOILA!   A new game, tentatively called

"Elves Delivering Gifts to the North Pole."

A shorter name is inevitable, but I haven't

started working on it yet.

Here's how the game is played.  I load two 

sleds with Christmas balls (found in a dumpster

last year).  Any unbreakable ornament or small

toy could be substituted, but these are ideal.

Then the children (2 in this case) take turns

following a path of orange cones all over the

property until they come to the "North Pole."

At the "North Pole" destination the children

stand behind a marker and attempt to toss

all of their "gifts" into Santa's toy box.

We didn't make this competitive, but you

certainly could by seeing which child "delivers"

all his or her toys first.

The following two videos trace the path of

our route to the North Pole.  We'll play the

game again each week until Christmas, but

I'll design a new route with a different 

destination each time.

Doesn't look much like the North Pole, does it?

We just need a child-like imagination.

On a chilly afternoon Bri and Hunter embark

on their important journey.  They followed

directions perfectly and had a blast.

Let's see how their aim is.

Good thing these gifts are unbreakable, as I said.

Bri wondered if this was the North Pole.

Nope, false alarm.  This is one of our

property cornerstones!  But there is  a pole!

Good thinking, Bri.

The next day, Evan and Claire took on the

role of elves and tackled the same task.

Can you tell it was 10 degrees warmer?  

The children enjoyed imagining that we were

in the land of ice and snow, and it was exciting

when we unexpectedly came upon the next cone.

I think you'll be quite impressed with the

marksmanship of Elf Claire and Elf Evan.

They might do better than Fed Ex, UPS or USPS.

Evan wondered if the canoe might give us

an easier way home.

But alas, we had to retrace our steps

and collect the cones.  Grandpa will

spend some time creating a new path

and polar adventure for this week.

You'll know where to direct the search

party if we're not back for dinner!