Elf on the Shelf Learning Activities

December 9, 2024 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

It seems like a lot of elementary classrooms have an Elf on the Shelf, but even if you don’t, talking and writing about elves can be a lot of fun this time of year.

Primary Theme Park has a set of free printable pages where students can write about what they would do if they were an elf (as well as drawing what they would look like). There are also pages for drawing and writing about how Santa got his elves and a dairy of an elf, which is great for older kids, too.

A Grace Filled Classroom has another take on the “if I were an elf” writing prompt that makes it a little craftier, as well as other writing prompts and ideas you can use in the classroom. Another one I love here is having a daily journal that kids pass around, with each child taking a turn writing about what the elf did that day.

Monday Mandala has a fun set of Elf on the Shelf coloring pages that you can use in the art area or have kids write a story based on what they see in the picture. I love this one of the elves playing Twister!

PJs and Paint has a whole page of printable “build your own” templates, including one for an elf. You can search for elf on the page and it will come right up for you; the printables are free so grab some more while you’re there for easy winter activities.

Simply STEAM has some writing prompt ideas you can use with older kids to get them thinking about what elves do. The bonus of these is they are no prep — just ask the kids to write for a while and see what happens. Or you can combine it with the blank elf journaling page from The Moffatt Girls, where kids can write the question at the top then answer it on the lines.

If you need more ideas for incorporating the elf into learning activities in the classroom, check out this post from Rainbow Sky Creations, which has writing, math, reading and STEM challenges that involve the elf.

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Easy Lacing Cards to Make for Kids

Lacing is a great fine motor activity, and most kids go through a phase where they enjoy working with lacing cards. It helps promote focus and is a great quiet activity for kids to do in the car or to fill time in the classroom. And of course knowing how to lace is the beginning of knowing how to sew, which is great for all kids to learn (more on teaching kids to sew here).

There are lots of ways to make your own lacing cards. This one is just a pin but it’s easy to make lacing cards with any shape a child is into using cardboard and a nail to poke the holes. This could be fun for letter and number recognition or spelling the child’s name. Or try this version from Hey Azka, which uses a hole punch to make bigger holes so you can lace with shoe laces.

You can also just do lacing cards with paper, but it’s a great idea to print them on card stock and/or laminate them to make them sturdier for little hands. Homeschool Share has a set of alphabet lacing cards, which are free with email signup. Deceptively Educational has a set of number lacing cards with numbers 0 to 10.

Picklebums has some basic shape lacing cards, too.

Living Life and Learning has a bunch of cute printable lacing cards, including back to school designs, shoes kids can lace and learn to tie and ocean themed lacing cards. She also has tips for making your own lacing cards.

A Rose Tinted World made their lacing cards with craft foam, which makes them a little more durable than paper and you can cut it more easily than cardboard. They used a die cutting machine but you can also cut shapes by hand.

I also love the cat and mouse cards from Seam Whisperer. They also have some spring themed designs. So cute!

If you want to make lacing cards that are more open ended, check out this tutorial form Pretty Life Girls to make lacing cards that are more like geo boards. Theirs are made with wood but you can also do this with cardboard, craft foam or card stock.

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