We have an Elf on the Shelf in our house. He is Mr. Elf. He comes after Thanksgiving to visit until Christmas Eve. When he arrives, he has some kind of family gift, like matching pajamas that we can all wear for a holiday photo op. (Yes, the kids are more likely to wear the matching jammies if they come from Mr. Elf, not Mommy.)
On December 12, Mr. Elf also delivers the twelve days of Christmas gifts. 12 presents under the tree. (Spoiler alert: they are all books. Always. Every year.)
The 12 days of Christmas serve a few purposes. We get new books! We get excited about these new books and read them A LOT!
Also, the kids get practice opening gifts. They are still little and need some practice before actual Christmas or we might be unwrapping gifts for days. So, we practice and learn some techniques.
To summarize, Mr. Elf is just a fun visitor from the North Pole. Bringing some early gifts and hiding around the house. He is not watching for Santa - he is just a friend from the North Pole who needs to go back on Christmas Eve to help Santa.
In my classroom, I had an elf one year. Again, the elf delivered some new books to the room and caused some chaos. It was fun to find him each day and naming him was a little graphing lesson. He did not become part of my classroom management system - he was just for fun. *I should add that 100% of my students that year celebrated Christmas and believed in Santa. Also, we researched holidays around the world, so we were exposed to all kinds of winter celebrations, not just Christmas.
I think the elf on the shelf is fun! It absolutely should not become a management tool you whip out to scare kids into being good around the crazy holidays. So, when you are thinking about using an elf in your classroom or home, be really mindful about HOW you are introducing it and HOW you are using it.
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