140+ Elf on the Shelf Ideas For Your Classroom

The holidays present a magical time of year for classrooms to engage students with joyful learning activities. An Elf on the Shelf is the perfect way to add festive excitement while creatively reinforcing academic skills and concepts. Having an elf appear overnight to leave behind math games, science experiments, reading activities, and everything in between inspires wonder and curiosity in children. You may also like our free Christmas word wall vocabulary display

The eager anticipation of what their elf will deliver next makes them active participants, motivated to learn through holiday-themed play. These friendly elves give teachers a whimsical way to review skills and information. Students get exposure to curriculum standards like reading comprehension, phonics, counting, measurement, and more without even realising it because they’re having so much fun! In this post, we’ll explore over 140 ways to integrate your elf into amusing yet educational scenes and activities that make the most of classroom learning during the holidays. You can also read pour free You Might Be an Elf Sensory Story. Get ready for the magic!

Educational Elf on The Shelf Ideas

Here are 200 fun and educationally beneficial Elf on the Shelf ideas for the classroom:

1. Read a morning message to the class as the elf.
2. Draw sight words in frosting on cupcakes left for the class.
3. Leave math problems written in flour on the counter.
4. Shape pancakes into letter or number shapes for breakfast or Snack Time.
5. Leave sticky notes with compliments around the classroom.
6. Hide letters around the room for students to find and spell words.
7. Leave maps and clues leading to a geography treasure hunt.
8. Scribble alphabet letters or math problems in squirt cream.
9. Make footprint counting path with paint.
10. Sprinkle glitter spelling out student names.
11. Dump out letters for children to put back in ABC order.
12. Create silly scarves, hats, and costumes out of craft supplies.
13. Make paper bag puppets for a puppet show.
14. Put on a show with toys and figurines for storytelling.
15. Make shapes out of play dough for shape identification.
16. Leave behind a maze made out of blocks.
17. Create a reading nook with the elf as stuffed animal guest.
18. MakeMeasuring worm with length labels on Unifix cubes.
19. Draw clocks with hands pointing to different times.
20. Build a LEGO community helper matching activity.
21. Create a snow globe sensory bin with winter animals.
22. Make a felt board with cut-out felt letters, shapes, etc.
23. Leave binoculars to go on a letter or shape hunt.
24. Leave magnifying glasses for observing nature items.
25. Create a scavenger hunt with science tools.
26. Make play dough creations with googly eyes.
27. Draw a diagram labelling Christmas Trees.
28. Create a weather chart tracking data over time.
29. Make paw print shapes with paint for animal prints.
30. Write riddles describing shapes.
31. Create a reading den with a stuffed animal and books.
32. Make a sight words ring toss or bean bag game.
33. Build LEGO stacks to demonstrate tens and ones.
34. Create a counting puzzle with cut up index cards.
35. Draw a number line up to 100.
36. Leave behind a sorting activity with buttons or shapes.
37. Create pumpkin magnitudes with small, medium, large.
38. Make pipe cleaner letters for letter recognition.
39. Shape sticks and pretzels into letters and numbers.
40. Squirt shaving cream on desks to practice writing sight words or spelling names.
41. Create an addition/subtraction story problem with LEGO.
42. Make letter matching or short vowel games with cereal.
43. Cut out paper snowflakes (Free Template) with sight words on them.
44. Shape rice cereal treats into letters and numbers.
45. Create word family and rhyming puzzles.
46. Label parts of a penguin, snowman, or tree diagram.
47. Write sight words in glue and leave glitter to sprinkle over.
48. Create a reading center with mini books and pointers.
49. Make a trail mix sorting graphing activity.
50. Leave art supplies and templates for winter scenes.
51. Tape together paper tubes for marble runs experiment.
52. Create constellation maps with holes punched light box.
53. Engineer LEGO houses, ramps, and tracks.
54. Make salt tracing trays with holiday stencils.
55. Tape yarn mazes around classroom objects.
56. Stack cups into 3D shapes and build pyramids.
57. Sculpt play dough into holiday figures.
58. Engineer mini marble roller coasters from cardboard tubes.
59. Create basic circuits with play dough and foil.
60. Make a sensory bin with buried alphabet letters.
61. Set up dominoes for chain reaction science.
62. Create a pattern block mural on the classroom window.
63. Make cotton ball snowman counting activity.
64. Leave nursery rhyme puzzles behind.
65. Shape pipe cleaners into 2D and 3D shapes.
66. Decorate tree cut-outs with facts about evergreen trees.
67. Create shadow matching puppets and light source.
68. Make transient art on classroom windows with markers.
69. Engineer a pulley system to move objects across the room.
70. Create colonial crafts like cornhusk dolls, candles, or quilting.
71. Make Native American model dwellings out of clay or cardboard.
72. Shape construction paper into 3D geometric solids.
73. Create pioneer themed small world play bins.
74. Dress up as characters from history for role playing key events.
75. Make paper bag pony express puppets.
76. Construct covered wagons out of boxes and straws.
77. Create Abe Lincoln puppets with paper bag hats.
78. Build LEGO log cabins and Lincoln Memorial models.
79. Make Silhouette puzzles out of paper by tracing shadows.
80. Recreate the solar system with foam ball models.
81. Make constellation viewers out of toilet paper tubes.
82. Create gravity painting by swinging buckets of paint on strings.
83. Make bubble prints by stamping with bubble wands.
84. Have a snowball fight with rolled up white socks.
85. Set up an ice melting race with rock salt and objects.
86. Create fizzy eruptions with baking soda and vinegar, well the Elf is collecting the ingredients.
87. Engineer marble roller coasters from cardboard and masking tape.
88. Create coding maps with arrows made of blocks.
89. Make a LEGO robot, plane, or car engineered from instructions.
90. Create mosaic stained glass winter ornaments from tissue paper.
91. Make gingerbread play dough decorating stations with cookie cutters.
92. Create Rudolph footprints paths around the room with red paint.
93. Engineer a pulley system to deliver candy canes.
94. Make snow globes from jar lids filled with glitter and figurines.
95. Create math story problems based on classroom book characters.
96. Write secret messages in invisible ink made from baking soda.
97. Shape gingerbread dough into 3D geometric solids.
98. The Elf Makes skittles rainbow science experiment reacting with warm water.
99. The elf is creating a snowflake calming jar made from glitter and oil in a jar.
100. Make cotton ball snowmen sorting by size activity.
101. Create snowflake match stick symmetry designs.
102. Make glittery frozen scenes inside ziplock bags.
103. Create painted bubble wrap snowflake stamp prints.
104. Make a snowflake size ordering activity with paper cutouts.
105. Shape pepper flakes into letters and spell names.
106. Create shaving cream Arctic sensory bins with animal figurines.
107. Make math story problems with mini erasers.
108. Create a winter animal tracks sensory bin with flour footprints.
109. Make constellation flashlights by punching star maps into foil plates.
110. Construct Graham cracker houses and decorate like gingerbread homes.
111. Create cotton ball snowflake designs on black paper.
112. The Elf on the shelf is building mini igloos out of Ice cubes.
113. Create snowy owl habitats from marshmallows and coconut.
114. Make fingerprint polar bear art.
115. Shape rice crispy treats into polar animal shapes.
116. Construct penguin feeding platforms from cardboard boxes.
117. Create animal tracking games with footprint stencils.
118. Make polar animal sock puppets.
119. Shape play dough into Arctic animals, leave enough playdough for the children to join in.
120. Create magic milk winter science experiments.
121. Draw chalk outlines of children who got frozen by the elf.
122. Make frozen animal and Arctic habitat dioramas.
123. Create northern lights with flashlights and glitter water or a glo-stick
124. Make constellation viewers from toilet paper tubes.
125. Create tin foil star constellation imprints.
126. Draw Earth’s tilt diagram demonstrating seasons change.
127. Make dream catchers with string, beads, and feathers.
128. Create beaded snowflake ornaments from pipe cleaners.
129. Make shadow drawings by tracing projected images.
130. The Elf has started creating handprint wreaths with painted fingers and ornaments.
131. Construct gingerbread houses out of crackers or biscuits (because its cheaper).
132. The Elf is melting snowmen – Make melted snowman science experiments.
133. Create elf face print art using white tempera paint.
134. Make Christmas tangrams with stocking and tree shapes.
135. Create mini scenes with elf and classroom toys.
136. Construct a mini sleigh from boxes and milk cartons for stuffed animals. Write about the adventure they are going on.
137. Shape pretzels into reindeer, wreaths, and trees.
138. Make footprint candy cane math counting paths.
139. Create mini North Pole landscapes with yesterday’s work.
140. Construct LEGO gingerbread houses.
141. Make snowman themed size ordering rulers.
142. Create elf puppets from clothespins or popsicle