December is fast approaching and you want to do some kind of classroom elf activities, but you're not sure what to do. If that sounds like you keep reading because I have your solution!
I'm gonna be honest. I tried doing a classroom elf on the shelf one year and it was a nightmare. I spent hours on Pinterest searching for ideas for our elf and a small fortune on little scenes to set up for our classroom elf on the shelf. Each evening after school was over, I had to remember to move our elf and set up some new crazy display. Then the next day the students would come into class and I had to be on guard that they didn't touch the elf or the dreaded “loss of magic” would occur. And of course there was always the question “Are elves real?” It was just too much!
I knew there had to be a better way and so I came up with a new idea for our classroom elf activities that was much less time-consuming and more fun for the students. Take a look at how you can keep your students engaged and learning while adding a little holiday magic to your classroom!
Setting The Stage For Your Classroom Elf Activities
Santa is busy at the North Pole and needs some help! Imagine the excitement your students will feel when they find out they'll be applying for the job of a North Pole elf! We begin this fun lesson with one of my favorite Christmas stories Jolly Old Santa Claus.
I love this book because the illustrations are truly magical and show the kids just what it looks like at the North Pole. It shows all the elves in action doing their various jobs and it's the perfect companion to our writing activities.
After reading the book, we made a list of some of the different jobs that elves do at the North Pole. We used the interactive writing technique, where students share the pen with the teacher, writing the words, as the rest of the class helped them sound out tricky words.
Independent Writing Activities
Next, I told the students that Santa had put an ad in the North Pole Gazette looking for some help in his workshop. I told them this was their chance to apply to be one of Santa's elves!
The students filled out this free Official Elf Application to be one of Santa's North Pole elves. They had to answer questions like “Do you like cookies?” and “Will you feed the reindeer?”. The application even included a section where students used persuasive writing to tell Santa why he should pick them for the job.
Classroom Elf Activities – A Day In The Life Of An Elf
The next day, I told the students that they would have a chance to try out some of the jobs of a North Pole elf. We got started with our classroom elf activities as they visited 8 different stations that had been set up around the room.
Each station was a different job that Santa's elves would do at the North Pole. The students had a log that they checked off as they traveled from station to station.
Station #1 – The Elves Make Cookies
At this station, students decorated real Christmas cookies with frosting and sprinkles. They also made a simple cookie craft where they cut out a cookie and decorated it with paper frosting and marker sprinkles.
Station #2 – The Elves Feed The Reindeer
At this station, students made magic reindeer food. They colored a Magic Reindeer Food topper and then mixed together the ingredients of oatmeal, birdseed, and “magic reindeer dust” (glitter!). They each got to take home a bag of reindeer food to sprinkle on their lawn on Christmas eve.
Station #3 – The Elves Trim The Trees
Next in our classroom elf activities, the students visited station 3 where our little elves got to decorate some Christmas trees with this cute Christmas tree craft.
Station #4 – The Elves Make Clothing
We all know that Santa's elves have to sew and make their own clothing, so at this station the students made a cute elf hat that even included some special elf ears! We attached them to sentence strip headbands and the kids looked adorable as they traveled from station to station in their official elf hats doing our classroom elf activities.
Station #5 – The Elves Help Santa Check His List
One of the most important jobs at the North Pole is helping Santa make his naughty and nice list! At this station, the kids played this game called Who's Naughty or Nice? where they had to read cards and decide if the action on the card was naughty or nice.
Station #6 – The Elves Have Snowball Fights
All work and no play is no fun for the elves, right? They have to have some fun too and of course, at the North Pole, one of the best things to do is have a snowball fight! At this station, I taped together 10 styrofoam cups and the students had fun throwing snowballs (giant marshmallows) into the snow fort of their opponent.
Each time they landed in a cup, they had to find the matching doubles fact to their answer and put a mini marshmallow on their opponent's snow fort. The first person to fill the fort with marshmallows knocked their opponent's fort down and won the game! They LOVED this!
Station #7 – The Elves Make Christmas Cards
Finally, our little elves made the cutest thumbprint Christmas cards to give to their family. They could choose from a string of lights or some mini reindeer on their thumbprint cards. So cute!
These classroom elf activities for kids truly made a memorable and magical day for my students. They loved all the hands-on activities and thought it was so fun to try out different elf jobs!
If you want to avoid all the fuss of a classroom elf on the shelf, but still want to make some holiday memories with your class try these fun stations! Head over here to take a closer look.
Are you looking for more ideas to add some fun to your learning this holiday season? Hop over here to see all of our Gingerbread activities, including how we adopt gingerbread babies for the day! Your kids will love this!
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