Elf on the Shelf

This was my second year to use an Elf on the Shelf in the classroom. It is great to help tame the kiddos who are getting so anxious for Christmas and all the holiday festivities in December.

I have seen many teachers who "request" an elf from Santa and have it "sent" to them. I like to have my elf just show up one day with his book and act like I am learning about him at the same time my students are.

The first day he showed up in our tree along with his book. We read all about him and the rules that go along with him. One of the rules is that you have to name him... so we finally settled on "Prince". We had some interesting names to choose from...

The second day Prince found a new spot on the pumpkin we had in our room from one of our field trips. One of the kiddos "accidentally" knocked him over. Oh. My. the DRAMA that comes with touching the elf! He stayed knocked over because no ones is supposed to touch him. When we left for lunch, the secretary put him back on the pumpkin where he was before. The look on the children's faces when they saw that he had moved was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. They were so glad he did not lose his magic. =)

We watched An Elf's Story to help reinforce the idea that we do NOT touch the elf. It totally worked. Definitely a must have if you use the elf in your classroom.

Here is some more of the mischief our little elf got into...

 Toward the end of his trip, he brought a friend from the North Pole to visit our room!

(These letters to Santa are from Macy's.)

Some days it can be SO hard to think of an idea for the elf, especially on those crazy days. How do you use Elf on the Shelf in your classroom? Click here to see my other Elf on the Shelf posts.