Greetings on this day of gratitude, my friends!
Know that I am writing this post between a bites of pumpkin pie! You are allowed to enjoy dessert as a meal while on holiday break, you know! May you count the many blessings in your life on this day of giving thanks!
As I was perusing Pinterest yesterday for holiday activity and lesson ideas, I came upon this post from Erica Bohrer over at Erica's Ed-Ventures that struck a strong chord. Her idea of introducing "Classroom Kindness Elves" instead of the ever-popular Elf on the Shelf is a good one, for many reasons. Mainly though, it promotes not only the importance of compassion, tolerance, empathy, and caring, but teaches students the value of doing good deeds for others.
Anna from over at The Imagination Tree, is the original creator of the Kindness Elves concept. She is a parent who wanted an alternative to Elf on the Shelf for her family, a daily visitor who was more helpful than mischievous.....more nice than naughty. Her elves are modeled after tomten, which were gnomes or trolls often featured in Scandinavian folklore. Tomten were seen as caretakers of Swedish households, little elf-like creatures who--when treated with respect--did favors and small chores for farmers during the winter solstice and around Christmas-time.
Now, if you've been following my Facebook, Instagram, and blog posts over at Stories and Songs in Second this year, you know that my lively bunch of 27 students has had many behavioral ups-and-downs since we started our learning journey in August. We are still struggling to stay on track with respectful words and actions even after 66 days of school, and so I am planning to introduce my own pair of Kindness Elves to Room #2 when we get back from Thanksgiving break!
Please understand that I respect and admire all those brave souls who indulge their students in daily Elf on the Shelf antics, but after complaints from parents four years ago about students suffering from nightmares, not to mention a huge disruption to learning (and a high volume of screeching) when our elf was found twirling at high speed from the ceiling fan after we returned from an afternoon recess, I "retired" Edward to the North Pole for good! My students now just enjoy the website whenever we have indoor recess and that is enough!
When I started shopping for my Kindness Elves on The Imagination Tree Facebook page, I sadly discovered that they are completely sold out of the sets pictured above. But never fear! You can still find 25 great "good deeds" suggestions for your students {HERE}, and I was able to find these treasures on Amazon! I expect delivery by next Tuesday, Dec. 1st, along with this beautiful picture book written by Astrid Lindgren, the author of Pippi Longstocking!
I was so excited to order my Kindness Elves, that I went out to my neighborhood Dollar Tree yesterday and found small baskets and other festive accessories that would make their arrival fun and a little bit magical! Be sure to follow me on Instagram for updates next week!
I also created this set of posters and desk tags so that one boy and one girl in your class can take turns daily being the class "tomtens!" The stuffed elves can perch on their desks with the tag once you've named them, and the pair of students can then take the lead in doing the daily good deed(s) the group has been assigned! I even included some friendly letter templates the children can use to write letters to the elves if desired!
You'll find the link to this exclusive freebie {HERE}. The posters can be printed half-page size to save ink! I just could not resist using the lovely, Nordic hand-knitted textured and colored papers from Scrapster by Melissa Held Designs and Little Stuff as the backgrounds!
This FREE pack of daily notes and reminders from Jen at Teaching in the Tongass will also hopefully help guide my students as they participate in various "random acts of kindness" around our school, our community, and at home throughout the winter months.
You can even create notes or letters of your own using this FREE clip art set!
Thank you in advance for leaving thoughtful feedback on both resources!
WRITING TASK CARDS AND TEMPLATES!
TWO FREEBIES!
Be sure to check out my Pinterest board for other ideas on how Kindness Elves can make your classroom a caring and joyful place this winter!
As always, thanks for allowing me to share my ideas and classroom creativity with you!
Warm Regards,
I like the idea of kindness elves rather than elf on the shelf. It's a great idea for older students who may have outgrown the shelf game. :) Thanks for sharing!
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