Teaching with Mel D

Elf on the Shelf Classroom Ideas!

I have been counting down the days until “THE ELF” arrives in our classroom. I almost whipped him out the day before Thanksgiving break…..oh.my.word. they were A.W.F.U.L! This years little nuggets are going to be sooooooo much fun to mess with!!!! 
Last year I would plot the second I arrived at school, when they went to special, & then write ideas down after they left. I was entirely into it…in an OCD kinda way. This is the part that makes me sad about not having kids of my own :o( I get so into stuff like this but at least I have 24 kiddos to mess with starting December 1st..if I can hold out that long. 
The parents really enjoyed hearing the stories they would come home with daily. I blogged about it on my classroom blog just so they could see “Elfie” in action. Most of my students ended up with an elf of their own at home. 
The first thing I did was wrap up the package it came in…book & all with a letter. I put it in the freezer so it was ice cold when the principal delivered it from the North Pole….they are so gullible. Of course, I was the BIGGEST drama queen when it arrived. If you have been a follower for a while, you remember I had some really naughty kids last year. The Elf on the Shelf was a perfect addition in December right before I was ready to lose.my.mind with them. Now onto the pictures………….

I seriously crack myself up. I have no idea where I come up with this stuff but it’s so much fun & I am providing such great memories for these kids…at the same time it’s my magical December classroom management trick. 

Here is our frozen box from the North Pole!

Next we have to vote on a name. Leonardo DaVinci….lol.

 Here is a student writing a letter to Santa that Elfie will deliver. I made all sorts of Elf on the Shelf activities for FREE here! Follow me while you are there.

This is how I incorporated the skirt. Even Elfie has to accessorize. He turned into “Elfina” for a day! 

 Look at that little notepad & pencil! Guess who made that???? The hubs!

 You can see just how little this is! I am obsessed with anything miniature!

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, I made it out of clay….and when…..I’m stuck. I did have the Dreidel song playing on the smartboard. You can find anything on YouTube!

 Elfina with a note that says “I’m watching you!”
 Elfina needs a nap after all the chaos going on in the classroom!
 Elfina having a snowball fight with The Grinch!

 Elfie and penguin chillaxin under the tree having a tea party. 


This was hysterical! I saw I had a message while they were in Gym…perfecto!

Hanging upside down on one of our pop-poms. I had a miniature notepad & a pencil made out of a toothpick with him.

Hey, first grader! What is the learning objective???? You better know it so the teacher doesn’t get written up! I’m sorry but my students can’t even say the word OBJECTIVE! 

This is my whole class bucket filler bucket. I like to call the styrofoam peanuts “nuggets” because…well I love that word!

Elfie is hanging from the classroom beads…ha!

He was found playing around with the warm fuzzies quite a bit! He would take & give them too!

Elfie decided to hangout on the boggle board…tee hee!

Zip-lining across the classroom!

I have this easy button from Staples on my computer tower. After they pass an AR test they get to press the button….they love this! I put books all over the floor & signed in AR & was in the middle of a test when they walked in.

Elfie got into the boy indoor recess shelf. He had a dino fight with the creepy little man. Notice the familiar spectators??

Now he got into the girl indoor recess shelf & took a ride in the Barbie car.

He was found behind the lava lamp…it took them forever to find him! I wrote a note that said “Just chillaxin. Peace Out, Elfie.”

Elfie filled a bucket!

This was fun! I had a busy body that is right next to this computer & she is the first one who spotted it!

Elfie was hanging onto the Grinch’s back…they were on a scooter!!!! I told them he was trying to stop the Grinch from riding to the North Pole & telling on them.

I had the “Mexican Hat Dance” playing on the smartboard for this one….lol.

Elfie was multitasking in the Barbie kitchen. I left a note that he was trying to impress his new girlfriend & whipping up an elftastic meal.


This happened after a doozy of a morning….I think there might’ve been a full moon out…ha!

It took them forever to find him in the crate seat! I told them well he must still be at the North Pole reporting to Santa….hmmm he must have a lot to tell him!
Elfie picked “Read to Self” for Daily 5!
Sitting on the reading buddy shelf!

 Reading the famous “Interrupting Chicken” to Pete the Cat & SkippyJonJones. I told the kids they must have been being chickens like they are…lol. A little girl said “I hope they turned in a fuzzy for being a chicken!”

Elfie was found playing my addition fact Candy Land game! 
 You know how this is! We all have nasty little nose pickers! 
Thank you Teacher Wife for the perfect sign!


 This is our community crayon bin. I took the crayons out of the tub he is in & threw them everywhere!

 Elfie decided to change the lunch menu!

The students found their jobs & pictures all turned upside down! Boy, did they giggle! 

Elfie wearing the bucket filler necklace!
This note, a sombrero & a maraca was attached to the smartboard while Feliz Navidad was playing. We are getting closer to break now……sigh. 
 
This is my teammate, she is H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S! YES, she is dressed up as an elf! I actually taped her but I didn’t want her to kill me if I put that on here. We wrote each student’s name on the scroll & she said something to each one of them. For example, “Ellie, girl…. you need to stop talking!”, “Sam, keep taking those AR tests”, “Brayden, do you want coal… boy?”
I have never laughed so hard! It was the best part of this whole Elf on the Shelf fun! The expression on the kids face was priceless!
The following is the Elf on the Shelf Common Core Literacy & Math Unit! I am super jazzed about this unit! 
In this unit there are 5 Literacy & 5 Math centers! Check it out by clicking on any picture. 

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am looking foward to our elfcapades when I return! I hope I gave you some elftastic ideas to use in your classroom! 

This is the Bentley & Java photo that was entered into our dog photo contest at school They better win!


Stay tuned for more Elf on the Shelf ideas! Don’t forget to shop on Cyber Monday at TPT! EVERYTHING in my store will be 28% off!!!!

Photobucket

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. I LOVE this post, I want to be in your class! I'm super excited to break out our Elf on the Shelf on Monday! This will be my first year! You are too fun with putting it in the freezer… I might just have to do it! Now where to get a mini notepad and pencil???!! Your packet is in my TpT cart waiting patiently until first thing Monday morning and thanks for the cute freebie to hold me over:) Can't wait to hear about the mischief your Elfie gets into this year!
    The Connected Teacher

  5. Hi – It’s good to read such interesting stuff on the Internet as I have been able to discover here. I agree with much of what is written here and I’ll be coming back to this website again. Thanks again for posting such great reading material!!
    blog posting

  9. love your ideas 🙂 I just bought my Elf. I'm looking forward to taking her out on Friday…or earlier depends on the kiddos 🙂

  12. This looks like so much fun, and we might just try it this year! Just have to say, the only part of the post that was off-putting was the "Girl Shelf" and "Boy Shelf" – can't there just be an indoor recess shelf?

  13. This is my first year of teaching 1st grade and I am not quite sure how the elf on the shelf works. Could you be more specific as to what you write in your initial letter when he arrives? Does he get into mischief and is that why he knocks the books off, etc? I have purchased the book and elf, but the book is geared to a family, have I made the right purchase?

Get Free Resources!