who invented elf on the shelf

Well, the story of Elf on the Shelf is actually a fairly recent one! It was created in 2005 by Carol Aebersold and her two daughters, Chanda Bell and Christa Pitts. The idea for Elf on the Shelf came about after the family read a children's book about an elf who watches over children and reports back to Santa. The family thought it would be fun to have a physical elf doll that could move around and watch over their children, so they created their own version of the Elf on the Shelf.