Step aside, Elf on the Shelf [1]. That red-suited doll — who, just around the holidays, magically pops up in different places around the house, proving that he's keeping a watchful eye on boys and girls before reporting back to Santa — might be shelved for good after your kids discover the year-round magic behind the Lil Fairy Door [2].

"It's a tiny little door that you put on the wall, and once it's attached, the fairies might use it to come out at night and leave little notes and presents for well-behaved children," said Sally Copus, the toy's Australia-based creator and designer.

No taller than an iPhone, the $36 door doesn't actually open ("only the fairies can open the door, and it may scare them away if the door is not treated with care," the site instructs), but what it does do is inspire creativity and imaginative play in children. Not only that, but Copus — a mother of two fairy-loving girls — has seen the simple door help with some of childhood's most difficult stages, from potty training to starting school to moving to a new home. "Parents who are separated and even children who've lost their parents," she said, "are having all of these amazing behavioral results from just a tiny door."

Sure, it also takes a little pixie dust, a few trinkets, and some letters exchanged in the miniature fairy mailbox, but at least parents won't be up into the wee hours of the night trying to come up with a new, creative spot [3] to set some elf.