Elf on the Shelf Ideas for the Classroom

If you have a classroom elf, it can be hard to come up with Elf on the Shelf style ideas every day along with all the other things you have to do in the crazy runup to the holidays.

My daughter had one in a couple of her elementary classrooms, and the teachers had the after-school staff move them at the end of the day once the kids were gone. Brilliant!

If you’re doing it yourself — or even if you’re doing it at home — let this post of Elf on the Shelf ideas for the classroom make things a little easier for you.

First off, K Teacher Tiff wants to remind you that doing the elf thing doesn’t have to be hard. Especially with little kids, you don’t have to do big, dramatic scenes, you don’t have to use the name-brand elf, and you can find lots of inspiration online. Which is what we’re here for. She also has an elf journal on Teachers Pay Teachers you can give to kids so they can track the elf’s movements.

For some of that inspiration, Saddle Up for Second Grade has 15 Elf on the Shelf ideas for the classroom, which includes some classics like taping it to the clock or wrapping it in a roll of paper towels on a cold day.

Simply Kinder has a couple of posts with Elf on the Shelf ideas. If you have centers in your classroom (or your house!) there are lots of easy things you can do like have the elf reading a book or doing math. The second post linked here shows some fun accessories she bought her elf, which can give you some ideas for other scenes and things you might craft for your elf. (The candy cane grappling hook is adorable, but you could make something similar with pipe cleaners, for example.)

Chaylor and Mads has a printable introduction letter you can download to share with your class on the first day. That post also has a list of potential names if your class has trouble coming up with one, and ideas for things the elf can do in your classroom.

Sweet for Kindergarten has more cute ideas, including having the elf hanging from a paper chain from the ceiling! And if you need even more ideas, Ms Rachel Vincent has 20 on her blog. I love the idea of having all the elves from different classrooms team up to cause chaos one day (but kids might get emotional trying to ensure “their” elf gets back to the right place, so make sure you know which one is yours!).

Elf on the Shelf Kit for making the 24 days a little easier with props and suggestions.

Next Plan Idea:

End of the School Year Classroom Activities

Holidays are a great time to pull in some themed STEM projects. Even kids who aren’t usually into science can get excited about making a reindeer fly or making a Christmas tree out of 3D shapes. Check out these fun Christmas STEM activities to try in your classroom or at home.

Speaking of making reindeer fly, there are lots of different takes on this engineering challenge. In the instructions from The Educator’s Spin on it, kids make a reindeer from recycled materials, then use a string to make it “fly.” You can also do this with a balloon, like in this version from Team Cartwright.

And that Christmas tree project? That one is from Steamsational, and it calls for making a bunch of 3D triangles you then assemble into a tree. The post includes all the tips you’ll need and a printable template for making the triangles.

Another cute idea from Steamsational is making Santa’s sleigh out of an egg carton. Give kids design challenges such as that Santa must stay in the sleigh, it should be able to move and pull weight. It’s so fun to see what kids come up with.

Science Sparks has a printable book full of Christmas-themed experiments with templates kids can cut out and use to make spinning sleighs, shadow puppets, a paper tube to test how much weight it can hold and more. These activities are really low prep beyond the printing, so they’re great when you need to fill a little time at home or at school.

If you have Legos and jingle bells you can make a simple engineering challenge by having kids build mazes that the bells can roll through. Get the details from Innovation Kids Lab. (And check out this fun book of Lego Christmas ornaments!)

Of course you can also put a Christmas spin on classic STEM activities, like making a baking soda volcano in a plastic or glass ball ornament (Little Bins for Little Hands), red and green magic milk (Fun Learning for Kids), Borax crystal ornaments (Go Science Kids) and more!

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

Leave a ReplyCancel reply