Now You See Them; Now You Don’t
The Elf on A Shelf is a children’s picture book written by an American mother and daughter Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell, and illustrated by Coë Steinwart.
The book was self-published in 2005 and comes with a small elf. It's written in rhyme with watercolor illustrations.
The gist of the story is that Santa knows who is naughty and nice by what his elves report back to him.
These elves start their journey on Thanksgiving and then return to the North Pole Christmas Eve.
While everyone is sleeping, the elves fly back and forth to the North Pole reporting to Santa.
Upon returning, they pick a new place to hide. By choosing a new hiding spot, the members of the family play an on-going game of hide and seek.
The Elf on the Shelf explains that elves get their magic by being given a name. In the back of each book, families have an opportunity to write their elf's name and the date that they were adopted.
Once the elf is named, the "scout" elf receives its special Christmas magic. Now they can fly to and from the North Pole!
However, the magic might go if touched, so the rule for The Elf on the Shelf states: "There's only one rule that you have to follow so I will come back and be here tomorrow: Please do not touch me. My magic might go, and Santa won't hear all I've seen or I know."
Although families aren't supposed to touch their elf, it's certainly OK to talk to them as much as they want.
As with most self-published books, Elf on a Shelf was rejected numerous times by a variety of publishers. Too bad for them, as it was a number one best seller for Barnes and Noble and sold over 1.5 million copies by the end of 2010!
In the hope that students will settle down, stay on task, and be better behaved during the hectic month of December, teachers have now gotten on board and purchased an elf for their classrooms.
They read the story to the children and the good behavior modification begins! After all, Santa now has a spy in the room, and the teacher has a helper that is watching and reporting back to Santa!
Because of the book’s popularity, elf activities were being requested, so I decided to design several ELF things to do after you read the Elf On A Shelf book, or when your students spy their elf for the day.
Click on the link to view/download The Christmas Elf, which is a spatial direction booklet, that also has several “craftivities” included, like the stocking with a photo of a real elf tucked inside.
Simply take a picture of each of your students wearing a Santa hat, you can purchase one at The Dollar store. Students trim and glue to the back of their stocking.
The Elves and the Shoemaker is also a nice fairy tale to read at this time as well. It makes a terrific compare and contrast activity.
I also made the booklet Little Elf What Do You See? This is a rhyming booklet that incorporates the 5 senses.
Students trace and write the main word and then cut and glue the matching picture.
Here’s hoping great behavior results from an elf or two visiting your classroom! Remember Santa’s making a list and checking it twice!
Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN anything you think might be helpful to someone.
“Spice up your teaching by bringing a little excitement into the classroom!”
