25 Childrens Gift Ideas shown by Kevin the Carrot

So, as pretty much everyone knows whether parent or not Elf on the Shelf is part of some families traditions where a crazy Elf makes mischief!

 

What is Elf on the Shelf?

The original Elf on the Shelf is based on a book of the same name, written by Carole Aebersold and Chandra Bell and is designed to improve kids’ behaviour by encouraging them to stay on Santa’s “nice list”.

Santa’s elves are said to have been dispatched from the North Pole to every home at the start of December to watch over children in the house.

Any undesirable behaviour is reported back to the Big Man himself, who alters his naughty/nice list accordingly. (Judgemental or what!)

Over the years, the book has grown in popularity both in the US and the UK. Meanwhile, retailers have turned the traditions in a merchandise opportunity because of course! Parents want the new thing out and retailers want the cash!

Parents can now buy their own Elf on the Shelf from retailers across the UK such as Amazon for £22.95. You can even buy Elf Convertible cars for £10! There’s so much stuff out there from the Elves on the shelf beds to Elves on the Shelves books and they go for various prices based on the retailers. 

There are also different varieties of these Elves in different styles such as teddy form but whichever or whatever Elf you have or don’t have it’s out there!

 

How does it work?

The idea is simple – parents/guardians put the Elf on a shelf in early December and inform their children that ‘it’ (whatever gender – does it have a gender?) will always be watching and judging them for signs of bad behaviour.

When a family adopts a scout elf and gives it a name, the Elf receives their Christmas magic and can fly to the North Pole each night to tell Santa Claus about all of the day’s adventures.

They are supposed to move the little toy around the house to create the illusion that said Elf is popping up in different locations and always reporting back to Father Christmas

This special tradition has captured the hearts of children all over the world who have embraced the magic of adopting their very own Elf.

BUT

I have never done this Elf on the Shelf tradition because:

1) Effort

2) Affording all the various bits it apparently requires.

3) Effort. Have I already said that? Well. I’ll add that again because… Effort.

I have seen online a lot of people insulting people who do this ‘tradition’ as people showing off and making others feel inferior, personally, people should be able to do what they want and if they want to share their stories why can’t they!?

As the title suggests this blog post is about something else! I have decided this year to do something different as despite never done the Elf on the Shelf I think it’s a cute idea to bring Christmas magic alive, on the other hand, I didn’t want to buy all the bits and I also feel I don’t really want a creepy Elf messing my house up so I’ve decided to use the ever popular Aldi Carrots and make them come to life instead. 

 

BUT…

 

Welcome – #TheChristmasCarrot.

 

 

Let’s face it, having random stuffed teddies can literally serve zero purpose even to your children.

 

 

About Kevin the Carrot

The Aldi Kevin Carrot are also a popular Christmas item from 2016 and my mum bought several of these bad boys last year. People literally queue up in a bid to buy these plush toy and the other members of his family. 

With Kevin and Katie plush toys being resold for about a grand on eBay last year, many are crazed to acquire the coveted toys before they sell out. The small Kevin the Carrot plush toy is available for £3.99 and there is now a large Kevin the Carrot plush toy for £19.99, plush carrot kids for £2.99 each, Katie the Carrot for £3.99 and Pascal the Parsnip for £3.99, all of which has also sold out online.

Having quickly sold out of the range of plush vegetable-inspired toys, Aldi auctioned 10 limited-edition toys on eBay  Thursday 6 December at 5pm.

The money that’s raised from that auction is going to be donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. Which on the label of all the carrots it says “Aldi are donating £15,000 to Teenage Cancer Trust from the sales of our Christmas Carrot plush toys.” Details here.

Aldi this year are now selling parsnips! There’s even Kevin and Katie books and no doubt next year there will be accessories.

I decided to use what I already had and make the Carrots do (kind of) what the Elves do! Mine leave poems and gifts!

 

Some of the items below have been kindly gifted by various companies to review which I have done vlogs on and will of course be adding reviews to the blog after my blog hiatus (laptop broke/general life) and alot are items I’ve bought for my children for a change this year.

 

Day 1.

 

“Kevin, Katie and the kids are full of festive cheer, and wanted to count down with you this special time of the year.”

 

 

 

Day 2.

 

“I hope you have a happy day, 
It’s Christmas soon,
It’s on its way. 
The tree is up,
Say HURRAY!”

 

 

 

Day 3.

 

“Hey, I’m Katie Carrot and I bring a festive table for you to sit and eat,
As on its way soon are lots of festive treats!”

 

 

 

Day 4.

 

“This is a Christmas loo, 
Make sure you wipe after you poo!”

 

 

 

 

Day 5.

 

“Please make sure you don’t get chilly,
You may get cold and freeze of your willy!”

 

 

 

Day 6.

 

“You’ve been sent a lovely gift, 
Which you can create and play,
As Christmas month is all about love and giving as it’s jingle all the way!”

Kindly gifted from DKL Toys. My Youtube review is online!

 

 

 

Day 7.

 

“We Elves try to stick to the four main food groups:
Candy,
Candy canes,
Candy corns & Syrup.”

 

 

 

 

Day 8.

 

“Here are some Christmas cards for you to share,
To spread some love into next year!”

 

 

 

 

Day 9.

 

“Lovely fruit is good for you full of such good stuff,
You just can’t get enough!
But us Kiddy carrots do love treats like these chocolate lollies!
But you must be good boys and girls
Because if you don’t you can’t get spoilt, oh Golly!!”

 

 

 

 

Day 10.

 

“You have been sent a very special Christmas light,
To brighten up the darkness throughout the night!”

It’s gifted from cheekyrascals.co.uk who do a tonne of amazing brands and it’s called an Aloka SleepyLight. They have loads of variety but it’s Christmas so has to be a Christmas tree! The Youtube review is here!

 

 

 

 

Day 11.

 

“We’ve found your chocolate money,
They are now in our tummy!”

 

 

 

 

Day 12.

 

“Yay, you’re home let’s have some fun!
Let’s eat the cookies when they’re done,
And snuggle up in these new mermaid sheets
And pretend we have tails for feet!”

 

Day 13.

 

“Oh wow, look at this!
Something the eye cannot miss!
Mummy has bought matching sets 
For all of you to wear.
Now all we need to do is your hair!”

Day 14.

 

 

“One of the greatest gifts people can receive apart from shelter and love,
Is the gift of being fed.
Alot of children in the world go hungry to bed.
Appreciate the richness of your life.
So so so many suffer hunger and strife.
The world is full of sadness,
But you’ll always have a home here amongst the madness.” 

 

 

 

Day 15.

 

“Look at these things from Safety 1st,
There’s a smart potty, 
An inflatable spout
And even a frog thermometer,
Because safety is important you don’t want to be getting too hotty!”

Gifted to review by Safety 1st.

 

 

 

Day 16.

 

“Check out these super fantastic paint sticks!
No need for water or brushes,
No need to rush or shush!
There’s big and small,
Draw what you want
It’s free for all!”

Gifted from Littlebrian.com and they do awesome paint sticks without the mess can’t wait to use them! For the kids. Of course!

 

 

 

Day 17.

 

“You have some Christmas letters,
One,
Two, 
Three,
Open them up,
Have a read,
What do you see?”

These letters are from NSPCC which is a charity to help fight child abuse, you donate money for a letter off Santa and the money fights the cause.

“1 in 5 children in the UK have suffered abuse or neglect¹. That’s why, across the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, we’re working to protect children today and prevent abuse from happening tomorrow.

But we can’t reach every child without your help.

Our ‘Every Day’ campaign shows the amazing difference we can make together –  real stories told by real NSPCC practitioners and volunteers about the children and families they’ve worked with and the life-changing impact they’ve seen.”

 

 

 

Day 18.

 

“Lets have a lovely bath with some Mini-U bath bombs!
There’s even some fizzy plops!
Do they go pop, fing, bang, pops!?
There is also some lovely Willow by the Sea,
To relax, soothe and let your mind be free.”

Gifted by two separate companies which I’ve mentioned alot over on my Instagram stories. Previous Youtube on Mini-U review is on my Youtube and blog post.

 

 

 

 

Day 19.

 

“So, this is a gift for baby Winnie,
As she is small,
She is mini.
Little spoon and fork,
From Grabease!”

Terrible rhyme but had little time (da dum tshh!) Grabease do great items for children and this was kindly gifted.

 

 

 

 

Day 19 for the older two!

“Oh wow, look at this box!
Let’s unseal the locks!
The box has stickers that says sugar sensible, super food and out with the junk!
What’s inside this Treat Trunk?!?”

Kindly gifted from Treat Trunk can’t wait to open it later!

 

 

 

Day 20

 

“We have something lovely to drink!
Something very tasty, oh I do think!”

 

 

 

 

Day 21

 

“Now this is a super cool new friend!
A new gadget I do recommend!
You can use an App to bring him to life,
He’s rife with character and brain.
A clever little buddy he will remain.”

 

 

 

Day 22

 

Festive Bear wants to read some stories of tales of Christmas time,
Of tales of where the star does shine.
Cosy up with cuddles and sweet dreams,
Where hope does gleam.

 

 

 

Day 23

“Lets bake some cookies and leave doors for the Elves,
As Christmas is near so enjoy yourselves.
Make a magic wish
Be grateful and happy
Because this festive time is about spending time with family,
Like mummy, siblings, nanas and grandpappies.”

 

 

Day 24

“Oh my gosh today is Christmas Eve,
It’s time for us to leave!
We hope you’ve enjoyed December.
Soon it’s a new year so just remember,

 You are loved,
You are wanted, you are beloved,
Also listen to mummy and go to bed because if you don’t you’ll lose your head!!!

 

 

DAY 25

Christmas Day!

Enjoy the holidays!

 

 

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