2013 December

Elf on the Shelf: We’re 1/2 Way There!

Anyone else regretting pulling your elf out of the attic on December 1st this year? I think writing this blog is definitely holding me accountable for actually moving my elf, but lemme tell ya, it’s hard work to think of new ideas at 11pm when my husband and I jump up and realize we haven’t moved “Captain.” Kinda wish that sneaky elf actually did have magical powers so we can be lazy and say, “No, no, Captain… you need to add more marshmallows to your snow scene!” or “C’mon… couldn’t you have brought REAL snow from the North Pole? Ya gotta make them BELIEVE!”

However, adding Bible verses and a lesson behind the elf’s shenanigans has made this an amazing experience for me and the kids. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t always sit still and listen to the Bible verse when I’m reading it, or immediately make the connection between the scene and the verse without me having to explain it 10 different ways.

But you know what? Every day I am feeding the kids the Truth (yes, through an imaginary, magical elf, ironically)! And they hear… oh, they hear… and they see… and when they hear and they see, they imitate. So as annoying as this little elf has been and as my husband and I simultaneously yell, “NOT IT!” each night, every morning the kids are jumping up and down, asking me to grab my Bible so we can finish hearing our elf’s message to us.

And each morning our message begins like this… “I am holding the Bible, and these words in the Bible are the Truth, and so let’s hear about that truth…”

So I have been seeing some pretty amazing elf shenanigans on Facebook and asked you to share! So to all of you who shared, thank you! And here they are below, in no particular order…

1. “Pabon” (meaning “No good” in Cajun French) grabbed Ken’s tux and asked if he could be a groomsman in big Sissy’s wedding!

2. “Elfie” is quite the romantic, taking Barbie out on a date for some sweets… candelabra and all!

3. “Boudin the Elf” fell off the shelf! Get well soon, Boudin!

4. This elf is “Happy! Happy! Happy!” QUACK!

5. “Emma the Elf” stole Ava’s potty candy!

6. It’ll be hard to make it back to the North Pole tonight unless “Elfie Lou Lou” finds the key real soon!

7. A bubble bath and catching up on celebrity gossip? Yes, please!

8. Here’s one Elf that gets jealous of other mythical creatures… he’s donning fairy wings, a tutu, tiara and surprised a toothless Cohen with some extra money in the morning!

9. Presenting… “Elfie Lou Lou” on the flying trapeze!

10. “Houston, we have an Elf.” “Eli” has just landed in Colton’s home from the North Pole!

11. The Pre-K-2nd graders on bus #42 were amazed to find a new passenger hanging from the emergency exit! They were even more surprised to each receive letters from Santa Clause, hand-delivered from “Snowflake the Elf!”

12. “Elfie” and “Elfette” are quite the artists! And what neat handwriting they have!

13. The Little Gym of Lafayette’s “Tumblina” made her appearance by slinky jumping her way into gymnastics classes!

14. With a little elf magic (and a lot of sugar), “Elfie” can turn peppermints into candy canes over night!

15. Cereal and milk, curled up in a blanket, watching Frosty on the flat screen… this.is.the.life.

Keep sharing your Elf on the Shelf ideas on Facebook!!!

Oh, and P.S. Here are some other great resources for Elf ideas!

Crayon Marks and Tiger Stripes

Follow Elf on the Shelf on Facebook!

Efficient Life Skills: 75 Elf on the Shelf Ideas

So, set your alarms for about 30 minutes to an hour after the kids go to bed and pull up one of these sites if you are stuck with ideas!

December 12, 2013 by Casey | 1 Comment

Guiding Santa’s Sleigh {Creative Writing}

I was reading this book:

Who Will Guide My Sleigh Tonight?

and I’m in the 24 days of Christmas Printables mode.

So, I decided to give make a template for it… meanwhile I have “Run, Run, Rudolph” stuck in my head and I don’t know any of the other lyrics.

This template can be used however you would like. You can white-out my writing prompt if you come up with a better idea for it (and if you do, please share it).

But, I am using it as a creative writing (or drawing) template to do after reading the adorable book “Who will guide my sleigh tonight?”

Click HERE if ya want it!

December 12, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

What Does Not Belong?

Recently, at a birthday party, Sean Patrick was given a little activity book of hidden pictures as a party favor. We had a great time working on this little booklet together and we ended up talking about the bigger pictures on each page as well as the hidden images.

So, I wanted to make a “bigger picture” that led to even better discussions.

This can set up great conversation for discussing the nativity setting (where the birth of Jesus took place). The “characters” (who was at the birth of Jesus) including who is not pictured. And much more. Leave a comment if you do this so I can learn from what came out of your conversations.

You can also talk about what was not there – a car is “silly” to be in the picture because when Jesus was a baby people went from place to place by walking. They didn’t have cars.

People wore sandals not tennis shoes. I’m trying to give you ideas here discussing the hidden images as prompts but I’m kind of running out haha.

The Wise Men brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, not pencils and paintbrushes.

Visual discrimination is a great skill for kids to learn. They have to concentrate, focus, and isolate objects which is easy for us, but difficult for kids who are still learning what the objects are called.

You don’t have to print this… you can pull it up on your computer and you can search for the hidden images on the screen and click “edit” on the PDF and put a circle image around it when they find each picture.

Click HERE to get it!

December 11, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

Elf on the Shelf Art

Casey is subbing for her son’s class next week and was brainstorming an activity to do with the students. Casey is so good at coming with Elf on the Shelf ideas that I thought it would be cute if she did an Elf on the Shelf Art and Writing activity with his class.

My former co-worker had her students make an elf using construction paper and measure their elves using paper strips of cube towers.

elf art

elf measure

So, I thought it would be helpful to come up with a template.
I made a single page elf template:

An elf template for coloring an elf on the shelf in detail.

And I also made multiple pages of shapes for tracing and cutting out the template to make a large construction paper elf.
I also added a writing page so that older kids could give their elf a story.

When I sell activities like this on TeachersPayTeachers I also make them available for members. My membership is currently at an all time low price but will go up.

Click HERE to get the templates. They are included in my membership (which is just $5 a year) OR you can purchase them for just $1.50 in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

“Like” and keep up with our album: 24 Days of Christmas Printables! I post freebies every few days!

December 10, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

Candy Cane Pattern Starters

I like using seasonal and fun things like candy canes to teach about things that I want Sean Patrick to learn or to practice.

Sean Patrick is familiar with patterns and he likes to finger-paint a lot, but he still needs a lot of practice so we are still working with AB patterns.

So, we are going to finish these patterns by taking turns.

For the first candy cane I will paint one color and he will paint the next.

Then, we will switch for the second candy cane. He will paint with the color I used the first time, and then I will paint with the other color.

Finally, I am going to ask him if he wants to make up another pattern on a blank template.

Here is a short video of us painting our second template – it is spur of the moment iPhone videoing so you get to see the real-life clip of our flighty pattern painting moment.

Click HERE to get the templates. They are included in my membership (which is just $5 a year) OR you can purchase them for just $1 in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.