How The Elf Letters work

1. Start with Year One
Download the digital PDF and print the 25 letters at home.

2. Alfie arrives on December 1st
Leave the first letter somewhere easy to discover. After that, hide a new letter each day until Christmas Day.

3. The story unfolds
Some letters tell a story. Others bring a clue, prank, activity or little mystery.

4. Add as much, or as little, as you like
Every set includes Tips & Tricks with simple ideas for making Alfie’s visit feel real. Many use things you already have at home, and you can always adapt or skip an idea.

5. No elf doll is required
Alfie is invisible. Children build their own picture of him through the stories, clues and traces he leaves behind.

What actually happens in the letters?

Every December with Alfie is a little different.

Children might send their Christmas wish list to Santa through Freezer Post and discover that Freezeleezers are living in the freezer, or compete in the wonderfully serious Skromta Games.

They may hear about a baking competition in Gingerbread Land, learn strange dances such as the Fire Dance or the Wooden-Clog Stomp, go on treasure hunts, help with Christmas cleaning, or discover that Alfie has made a rather questionable dinner or some very unusual sandwiches.

Alfie might have a luxurious spa evening, fall hopelessly in love with Miss Trubbalunta, or tell the children what happens in Sweden on St. Lucia Day.

But most of all, the letters gradually reveal more about Alfie himself - his life, his habits, his traditions, the places he visits and the wonderfully peculiar friends who are part of his world.

Some days are silly.
Some are mysterious.
Some are cosy.
Some are completely ridiculous.

And together, they become one continuing Christmas adventure.

Made to grow with your child

The first adventure is suitable from around age 3. As the years continue, the letters gradually contain more text, richer vocabulary and a bigger story world.

One child or several?

The letters are written to work for both one child and siblings.

Wherever Christmas finds you

The adventures are designed for families in both warm and cold climates.

Ready to begin? Start with Year One

The creator of The Elf Letters

Malin have always loved stories, imagination and creating little adventures.

In 2018, she wrote the first Elf Letters for her own two boys in Sweden. Instead of filling December with small Advent gifts, she wanted to give them something they could experience together - a story that continued day after day.

That first December became the beginning of Alfie’s world.

Over the years, new letters, characters, mysteries and traditions followed, and The Elf Letters have now been enjoyed by many thousands of families across the Nordic countries.

If you would like to visit the original Swedish site, you can find it at nissebrev.se.