Search Results elf on the shelf

Elf on the Shelf Ideas: 4 More Sleeps!

If this is your first top visiting our Elf on the Shelf ideas, please go check out our first and second Elf posts and our Make-Your-Own-Elf printable!

ELF ON THE SHELF IDEAS

ELF ON THE SHELF IDEAS: WE’RE 1/2 WAY THERE!

ELF ON THE SHELF ART

FOUR more sleeps until our elves all go back to the North Pole and Santa comes to deliver goodies for our little ones! Whoa! Santa’s elves better have some coffee on hand to make it through the next few nights. Thank you so much to all of you who have followed our elf Captain’s journey on Facebook – and a special THANKS to those of you who shared your elf’s journey with The Mommy Teacher! Next Christmas, we will have compiled nearly 70 elf ideas thanks to you guys!

For those of you not on Facebook, here are the latest elf adventures from Captain starting with December 13th…

And from our friends in Facebook land… 15 more ideas to add from our last post…

16. All of “Emma the Elf’s” friends were attentive listeners while she read Twas the Night Before Christmas.

17. Elves love Zydeco music! Bring on the washboards and the accordions!

18. Poker anyone? “Elfie” sees your goldfish and raises you two more!

19. My, my. What a pretty little elf!

20. An elf-sized fire. Don’t burn the house down!

21. Since it’s in the 70s in Louisiana, “Pabon the Elf” brought some insta-snow from the North Pole!”

22. “Eating 3+ servings of fruit each day makes you healthy and strong! Here is your first serving to get you started!”

23. “Pabon” mustache you a question!

24. Brrr! Your milk needed some Christmas cheer!

25. “Share with your friends.” Such a giving little elf!

26. “Periwinkle the Elf” is staying in shape while indulging in all of her Christmas goodies!

27. “Sally the Elf” is on a roll!

28. “We elves like to stick to the 4 major food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup!” ~Buddy the Elf from the movie Elf.

29. Quite possibly my favorite elf idea ever from “Boudin the Elf”…

“My kiddos are secret Christmas agents! They have accepted a special mission from Boudin. He left each of them $ but they are not to keep the money for themselves, they have to come up with a way to spread God’s love. They have to think of a way to use the money to bring happiness to others. Boudin explained this mission is based on Matthew 22:36-40. The greatest two commandments.”

30. And one last adventure from “Boudin,” one of my favorite elves…

“This morning we woke up to find Boudin with a few ingredients and directions left out for us. He said he really misses the snow and since it doesn’t snow in Louisiana like it does in the North Pole he wanted us to try and make our own snow. The kiddos all worked together to mix up the ingredients, it was a success!”

Follow our Facebook album to see Captain’s last few adventures of 2013! Merry Christmas!!!

December 20, 2013 by Casey | 0 comments

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

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

Elf on the Shelf Ideas!

It took my family a while to get into the hype of Elf on the Shelf. I thought, “Oh, no. Yet another Christmas gimmick.” But you know what? After receiving our elf, Captain, in the mail from ~~my aunt~~ erm… Santa, he immediately became a fixture in our house during Christmas time. The kids LOVE Captain!

I thought for sure my super-literal and practical-brained child would just laugh the whole thing off, but he seriously bought into it last year. Not just that, we (unintentionally) used our Elf on the Shelf as a learning tool for correcting Captain’s naughty behavior. Each morning we would wake up, see Captain’s mischief, and talk to him about his behavior… we also asked him to apologize.

Our elf sure did get in a lot of trouble… and we had so much fun plotting his next move! But, I gotta say, it did get a little tricky trying to come up with so many things for him to do! And we didn’t even start on December 1st! So this year, we are going to make a list, and check it twice, of what Captain will be doing each day. To help you out, I am going to share Captain’s antics from last year with you… enjoy! Oh, and each morning, the kids discovered a handwritten note from our elf (Mommy got really good at writing left-handed) 😉

20 Days til Christmas – The Rescue Bots were not pleased with our new house guest. They captured him inside a mason jar while Captain was writing a note to our kids.

19 Days til Christmas – After this, the boys made Captain and the toys call a truce. They have been friends ever since.

18 Days til Christmas – Mischievous Captain climbed down a rope that hung from the curtains to reach the pictures.

17 Days til Christmas – Captain rode the sailboat back to the North Pole that night.

16 Days til Christmas – The boys forgot to clean up their popcorn mess, so Captain took full advantage!

15 Days til Christmas – Our stuffed friends had a snowball fight with Captain! Marshmallows everywhere!

14 Days til Christmas – Captain the Elf spent the night playing on Mommy’s computer. Santa also sent the kids a personal video message too!

13 Days til Christmas – “Oh Captain! No, we are NOT allowed to play with toilet paper.”

12 Days til Christmas – before our gymnastics class…

11 Days til Christmas – “Captain didn’t put the cap back on the toothpaste…”

10 Days til Christmas – how ’bout a little education thrown in there?

9 Days til Christmas – This wasn’t the best idea because I couldn’t put the baby in her swing all day long (did I mention that if anyone touches the elf, he loses his magic???).

8 Days til Christmas – because the kids kept pressing the button on the guitar ornament. They didn’t touch it again after this.

7 Days til Christmas – following a trip to the zoo!

6 Days til Christmas – and day 437 of potty training.

5 Days til Christmas – The day of James’ Christmas play at school… riding the stocking holders.

4 Days til Christmas – with all of our Christmas cards that we received.

3 Days til Christmas – testing out the snicker doodles before we leave them out for Santa.

2 Days til Christmas – decorated the stars on top of the kids’ Christmas trees. We tied this one into reading Matthew 2:9-11 out of the Bible.

1 Day til Christmas – SANTAAAAAA! Captain the Elf headed back to the North Pole til next December.

Please share your Elf on the Shelf ideas with us on Facebook @themommyteacher!

November 29, 2013 by Casey | 0 comments

An Elf Alternative

I have noticed that Elf lovers and Elf haters BOTH have something in common… they are happy with their own way of doing things.
Casey has great Elf ideas (that even incorporate Bible verses), and Krista is an example of someone who all of you Elf-Haters could relate to. I am not Pro Elf or Anti Elf.

I think I might even fit into a whole new category.

I’m just kind of an observer of all things elf. So, when I saw these elves, I bought them but I didn’t have any intention of doing the Elf on the Shelf thing.

Stuffed Elves

I actually had a few different ideas in mind:

1) To give them as gifts this year to friends, each holding Personalized Chocolate Bar with caricatures of our family dressed as elves. (I was really proud when I came up with this gift idea!)

Elf Gift

2) To tell our kids that Santa sent us elf toys to take with us each time we go to do something special for Christmas (like picking out a Christmas tree, caroling, taking pictures with Santa, or going to parties). If I forget to take them, we will just tell our elves all about them when we get home. Each child gets their own elf and it is simply a plush toy – no magic involved.

3) To decorate with the little cuties.

Decorating with Elves

4) To make boring spots of our house fun and festive…. like the microwave. I love that their hands velcro together.

plush elves

There isn’t going to be much more to it than that for me, but this was exactly the elf I had been looking for if I was ever going to consider including Elves in our holiday traditions or household.

But maybe you do want this to be your Elf on the Shelf and in that case, CLICK HERE and go buy them. 🙂

December 8, 2014 by Jessica | 0 comments

Searching for "elf on the shelf"