- Tuesday 26 November 2019
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Although the Elf on the Shelf tradition began in America, its explosion of popularity in the last decade has brought it to Australian shores. But should this friendly elf visit your classroom to celebrate the approaching holidays?
For those unfamiliar with the Elf on the Shelf tradition, the concept was created by an American family in 2005 and presented with a picture book and elf doll. The doll is brought into the household on 1 December. Children are told that the doll watches them during the day and returns to Santa Claus each night to report on who’s being naughty and nice. To show the elf’s movement, parents re-position the elf each night and surprise children the next morning with a variety of creative set-ups. The purpose behind the doll is to encourage children to behave well during the Christmas season. If they start to act up, a gentle reminder that the elf is watching can help children reconsider their actions.
The idea of constant monitoring and bribing good behaviour are just some of the reasons why some parents have criticised the concept, but this hasn’t stopped the tradition’s growing popularity or quashed the argument of ‘it’s fun’. Indeed, some teachers are bringing an elf into the classroom. There are arguments for and against this, and each should be considered before the commitment is made. However, if you want to try it out this year, we’ve compiled some ideas to help you out.
Firstly, three things to note:
1. You do not need to buy an official Elf on the Shelf doll to partake in these activities. A Christmas ornament or soft toy can be equally engaging for students.
2. While the traditional Elf on the Shelf warns against naughty behavior, we instead suggest a ‘kindness elf’ approach, in which the elf encourages your class to be kind and spread Christmas cheer, rather than criticising bad behavior.
3. Although the Elf on the Shelf traditionally appears from 1–25 December, your elf can appear for as many days as you feel prepared to handle it.
With that covered, here’s the fun stuff!
The first day
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Elf arrival
Surprise your students with their new classroom companion! Have your elf announce its presence in the morning with a letter on the whiteboard or smartboard. If you’d like to make a reading exercise out of this, you can instead present students with copies of the letter and ask them to read through it themselves. We’ve included a basic example letter below, but feel free to alter it or write your own.
Dear ____
Nice to meet you all! Sorry to drop in unannounced to your classroom, but a Christmas elf has a job to do! That’s right, I’m a Christmas elf. I work for Santa Claus. He told me that your classroom could use a little bit of Christmas cheer. It’s my job to help you out with that.
Every night, I use my magic to head back to the North Pole to ask Santa for new advice on how to brighten up your classroom. It takes a lot of magic to get from Australia all the way there! Sometimes human interference can cause my magic to disappear, so please don’t touch me.
From today until the end of the school year, I hope all of you will be kind to each other and the world around you. That’s the best way to prepare for Christmas! If you’re all kind to each other, I’ll make sure to tell Santa how good you’ve been.
Yours sincerely
Elf
Elf naming vote
Your classroom’s new companion will need a name. If you haven’t got an idea of your own, it might be fun to leave it to the class. Have students write or offer suggestions and choose through a majority vote.
Moving the elf around
With your elf settled in, here are some ideas for repositioning it every day.
Elf messages
A small whiteboard can be a great way for the elf to communicate a daily message about kindness or what they were doing last night. A piece of paper will also work.
Student elf stories
How did the elf get here? What might its journey be like between Australia and the North Pole? The elf is a creature of few words, so invite students to write their own stories about the elf. Alternatively, they might like to draw a picture of the elf travelling.
Elf’s pick
One morning, have your elf pick out a book. Read and discuss the book with your students on the elf’s behalf. For thematic purposes, it should of course be a Christmas book!
Maths conundrum
Start the day with a set of Christmas-themed math sums on your whiteboard and sum, with your elf thinking hard about them. For example, ‘If I have three gingerbread men and Santa has five gingerbread men, and Rudolph eats two of them, how many do we have altogether?’ Ask students if they can help the elf figure out the answers.
Candy cane hunt
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For a less educational activity, have your elf surprise everyone by saying they’ve hidden candy canes all around the classroom. Have students cooperate to gather the candy canes and then share them with each other.
Warm fuzzies
Have the elf hold a collection of sticky notes for the class, with one saying how they love to tell people why they’re special. For some fun, the elf can even address a warm fuzzy to you. Ask students to follow in the elf’s footsteps and write some letters of gratitude to people they love.
Classroom chores
A good elf knows to keep the classroom neat and tidy, but it can be hard when you’re so small. Position your elf in the middle of a classroom chore—perhaps cleaning the whiteboard or pushing a desk into place. Advise students to help the elf out and clean the classroom together. This might be a particularly good idea on the penultimate day of school.
Saying farewell
An elf’s goodbye
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As the school year ends, so does the elf’s job. On the last day of school (or earlier, if you feel that day is already too packed), write a letter from your elf thanking students for their time together, asking everyone to be kind not only during the Christmas season but always, and wishing them a Merry Christmas. Here’s a sample:
Dear _____
Thank you for your time with me! I’ve had so much fun being in your classroom. You were all such wonderful students, and I know you’re going to have a wonderful Christmas. Just remember to be kind, not only today or during Christmas, but always.
Have a Merry Christmas!
Your friend
Elf
Looking for more Christmas ideas? Check out our fantastic range of Christmas resources!