Santa's Elves

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Santa's Elves;

Way far away at the north pole
where Santa Clause lives with his elves,
the weather is very cold, and the days are very short.
The sun doesn't come up until late in the morning
and sets early in the afternoon,
leaving the world dark and cold.

Sometimes it is really hard for the little elves to
get up and get going when it is still cold and dark
but they know that they need to
go to work each day in order to make all the toys
needed by boys and girls around the world for Christmas.

Santa does all he can to make mornings pleasant for the little elves.
He strings brightly colored lights all over their tiny houses and along the paths through the long tunnels of snow which connect their houses to their work shop. They have tunnels through the snow to block the cold winds and cold temperatures. The elves can feel warmer and feel safe
as they go to work every day.

The elves all have warm clothes to wear: shirts and sweaters and heavy soft coats they can wear over all their warm clothes. On top of their warm socks they put on shoes and then heavy, heavy boots, which make them waddle around on their way to work. They can all feel safe and protected from the blizzard blowing many inches of snow.
If they could
watch the blizzard they might
see the white snow whirling around in the wind
and feel it turning and twisting as it
crashes against the outside of the tunnels and houses.
The lights help the elves wake up early and
feel cheerful and excited about their days work.

After they have a nice healthy breakfast
they set off to the work shop singing with excitement,
wondering what things they will learn to do in the workshop today.

Each year they learn new skills, and get to try new things.
They practice each new skill putting them together,
coming up with new and interesting discoveries.
They know learning can be very exciting for all of them.
Santa is pleased at their discoveries and inventions because he knows that they are creative thoughtful about the children the toys are for.

The kindergarden elves, the youngest ones that get to go to work at the shop, don't work the whole day. Mostly they just watch the bigger elves do things, learning about shapes and colors and the way things work. As they grow they might like to feel the new toys come from the noisy saw room. Buzz and the bigger elves who run the saws cut out many interesting shapes of trucks, animals and blocks to build with. The clunk and thud of wooden pieces on the conveyer belt tell the elves the pieces are moving along to the next station to be where more work will be done.
The youngest elves like to use sand paper on the new wooden cut outs. They can
feel the roughness of the sandpaper in their hands
against their fingers as they rub the newly cut wood until it is smooth.
They smell the aroma of the newly cut wood parading from the saw on the conveyer belt. Each small elf might choose a new piece to sand smooth. At first the pieces may have slivers or rough edges. The elves sand and sand until the wood feels just as smooth and soft as velvet or rose petals.
They watch the older elves mix the paint from four paint pots, red, yellow, blue and white, making all the different colors. They are amazed that all colors come from just those three colors, and the white makes the shades lighter and brighter. The painters have worked a long time to know just how much of each color to use. They can mix any color. They make so many colors to use making the toys beautiful and colorful.
Smaller elves begin to experiment with paint. First they make mistakes, but they already know that is OK. They ask for help and they listen for advice and directions. They spend time watching how it is done and thinking about what they see. And when they begin to paint, they don't expect to be perfect. They know painting takes a lot of practice to get the colors and the lines just right. They know even their first attempts are important. Santa thinks their work is valuable. If they make mistakes they know they can fix them or that someone else can help fix the mistakes. Elves know the only way to learn new things is by trying and being able to be comfortable doing it poorly at first. They learn to be patient with themselves to correct mistakes. They know they can practice correct skills as they become better and better.
Not all the elves do all the jobs. They might try each job for a while to decide if that is something they like to do or think they will be able to bet very good at. Different elves have different talents, different skills and like different things.
As they get older they start to specialize, choosing the skills they enjoy doing the most. They know they have tried out many jobs and can choose which ones they will enjoy and learn to do well.
At the end of the work day, the elves return to Santa's house to visit and enjoy games. They tell stories of the things they learned from each other and the new skills they practiced. Santa is proud and happy for each of them as they develop their own special talents and abilities and become part of his great team making special gifts and toys for special boys and girls all over the world.