THE NORTH POLE – Teachers have Christmas wishes, too. And this year, Santa granted their wishes for even more educational activities by adding a schoolhouse to the online winter wonderland at www.elfontheshelf.com.
The North Pole’s new virtual schoolhouse is a special treat for Santa’s faithful friends who spend their days teaching. Now, children will be able to watch elves learn their lessons and also find activities created especially for them. Lesson plans for each grade level (K-5) have a clear teaching objective and provide the tools to reiterate the objective, making it easy for teachers to integrate learning with a holiday twist into their classrooms. (Remember, The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition® was written by two former teachers, Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell.) Classrooms will also be able to register their elves online and receive a special note from Santa.
“It just made sense to add a schoolhouse to the site,” Bell explains. “So many schools, teachers, librarians and principals are using The Elf on the Shelf as part of their curriculums, and Santa wanted to provide them with the tools they needed to make the job easier. Plus, elves have to learn a lot — how to identify naughty and nice behavior, how to fly and how to make the perfect Christmas cookie, to name just a few.”
Sample learning activities include:
Math Games. Students open their own hot chocolate stand at the North Pole. Recipe in hand, they have to buy the marshmallows, chocolate, milk, sugar and vanilla needed to create and sell their product. They choose how much they will charge and the game then lets them know how much they are selling and if they are losing or making money.
Language Skills. The schoolhouse provides a virtual journal where students can post entries each morning. They write stories about where they found their elf, enjoy making up mad libs and create funny stories about their elf.
Music Area. For use by music teachers, this area of the schoolhouse allows children to choose instruments from around the world. The computer will then mix the sounds to compose a song.
Produced by Atlanta’s Cre8ive Websites (www.cre8ivewebsites.com)
About The Elf on the Shelf : A Christmas Tradition
The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition was written by Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell, both former teachers. Illustrated by award-winning illustrator Coë Steinwart, the book answers the age-old question, “How does Santa really know who’s been naughty or nice?” The Elf on the Shelf is based on an old tradition Aebersold began with her children when they were young.
Here's how it works: Sometime during the holiday season, Santa sends a scout elf to each home to watch over the children's behavior. The elf gets its Christmas magic when the family gives it a name of its own. Each night, after the children are safely tucked into bed, the elf flies to the North Pole where it reports to Santa who has been nice or naughty that day. Before the children awaken, the elf has returned to their home but is observing them from a new post in the house. The children race out of bed to discover the elf's new location. There is one important rule: children should not touch the elf or it might lose its magic and jeopardize any good reports the elf may have planned to give to Santa.
For $29.95, this hardbound book is creatively packaged and comes with its own pixie-elf seated on a shelf in an attractive keepsake box. Children can register their elf’s name at
www.elfontheshelf.com and receive a special letter from Santa Claus. In addition to the awardwinning, interactive North Pole Web site, the company offers The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Activity Book™. The activity book helps keep little hands and minds busy with games, puzzles, crafts, a sing-a-long music CD, coloring pages and more. This year, the company introduced two new products: Plushee Pals™, plush versions of their REAL scout elf counterparts, made of the softest material Santa’s toymakers could find, and the very first piece from the Claus Couture Collection™, an ice-white, pleated skirt embroidered with holly berry red snowflakes.
To find an “elf adoption center” near you, purchase online or learn more, visit
www.elfontheshelf.com.
