Elf in the CLASSROOM! Jesus Style! 

Hello wonderful teachers, friends, neighbors, bloggers! I am back and ready for some fun! I'm sure you've all heard of "Elf on the Shelf" but have you heard about the newest craze sweeping schools across the country? Elf in the Classroom! AND even more specifically, Elf in the Classroom, Jesus Style!!! I know many of you bloggers and teachers are in private schools, like myself, and are always looking for new and fun ways to incorporate Jesus' teachings into your other subjects. I wanted to give new life to the Christmas story for my students, and help them look at the different parts of the most well known story from the Bible with "new" eyes. That's when Elf in the Classroom, Jesus style was born! I know there are a few of you out there doing this same thing, and what an awesome way to share the message of Jesus' birth!

How do I introduce Elf in the Classroom, Jesus style?

Elfie came to our class in a most surprising way. On the 2nd of December (I was SICK on the 1st and SO very sad about missing day 1 of Elf!!) when the kids arrived to school there was a fancy box with a letter labeled "To: Kindergarteners" sitting on my teacher chair. I hid Elfie in one of my classroom decorations and HOPED no one would spot him! As many of you already know, Kinders are quite observant! Luckilly, no one spotted him until it was iPad time (of course!). Once he was spotted, we decided that the special package and letter were probably something to do with the elf. I read the letter to the class, which contained an explanation of the elf and his visit, as well as what he was going to DO while visiting. Here's what the letter said!

Dear Kindergarten,

Are you excited for Christmas? I am too! Can you guess what my favorite part about this time of year is? I LOVE telling others the story about Jesus' birthday! I love Jesus just like you. I have sent my special Elf to help you remember the most important part of Christmas, sharing Jesus' love. He likes making people smile, so he might be a little silly during his visit. Because he is your visitor he asked me to let you all name him. What name will you choose? Elfie, Buddy, or Scooter? I hope you enjoy his visit and I hope you all remember that Jesus loves you very much! Tell someone else you know that Jesus loves them too! :) 

From, HO HO HO

PS: Don't touch the Elf! He might get scared!!!

After reading the letter I introduced our Adventures of the Elf on the Shelf books to the class. In these books the students will be drawing/writing about the Elf's adventures each day. Here's Elfie from Day 1! His full name is Elfie Buddy Scooter, we couldn't choose just one.

Day 2 we found Elfie taking a snooze in the Kleenex! He shared another box with us so we weren't out tissues for the day. This made for a nice day of "teachable moments" where we talked about sharing, and the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000!

Day 3 we found Elfie propped up on top of our interactive whiteboard. Uh Oh! Some kiddies scared Elfie by getting a little too close for comfort!

Day 4 Elfie was a nice little Elf and brought us some Veggie Tales Christmas movies for our movie day! What a treat that we ALSO got some popcorn to enjoy with our movie!

Day 5 Elfie was dressed as a Shepherd, wanting to join us in sharing the story of Jesus with everyone! Check out the cuteness!

Day 6 (which is TOMORROW) the kiddies are going to find Elfie zip lining across the ceiling using a CANDY CANE! (uncontrollable giggles will occur, I'm sure) 

Check back for more ideas coming soon, as well as check out xo_teach on instagram each day for all the antics! Use #elfontheshelfjesusstyle so we can all see your cute elves! 

Thanks, pals! XOXO