This Mom Modifies Elf On The Shelf Dolls So Kids With Disabilities Feel Seen

All kids love characters that look like them and have experiences they can relate to. When you have a disability, it’s harder to find children’s books, toys and dolls that tell your story.

In her spare time, a mom from the U.K. is fixing that: Clare Tawell, a medical radiation technologist, modifies Elf on the Shelf dolls, so they have facial or limb differences or medical equipment, such as insulin pumps or hearing aids, that make them more relatable to kids with a range of disabilities and medical diagnoses.

She gets really specific for each Elf on the Shelf, for example recreating the exact location and type of cleft lip or palate, or the specific type of feeding tube a child uses.

One happy customer wrote on Tawell’s Etsy page, “The kids loved that there was a new elf with a tube like their sister. Thank you for an amazing idea!”