Elf Craftivity Party!

Each year our kindergarten has a holiday sing and then a special event follows in each kindergarten classroom.  For years I did gingerbread houses, but the amount of waste was too much to handle- let alone the prep of all the little 'houses!'

Then I moved to a 'craft party' and last year a 'plate for Santa's cookies' designing party!

The cookie party was a ton of fun, so I was going to go with it again this year....until I found that the price of the plates had quadrupled in price!

I checked out Pinterest, and had found some cute ideas, but nothing that was really 'inspiring,' so as a last minute ditch effort, I ordered 2 craft kits from Oriental Trading during their Cyber Monday sales.

The night before our  party I opened the kits to prep them....

MISSING PIECES!!!!!

NOOOOO!!!!!

I had 20+ adults coming to my classroom in less than 15 hours!!!!!!

(NOTE TO SELF- do NOT wait until the night before next time!!!)

What am I going to do???!!!!

I had created a red Solo cup elf craft for my post on The Primary Pack, so I ran around the house and found all that I needed (and thankfully had!) and decided to have my kinders make that craft!

I got right to work to make everything I needed to transform our room into Santa's Elf Station!

I thank my lucky stars each day for my home laminator, but tonight I was definitely singing its praises (the cute images and borders I had previously purchased from from Creative Clips).  There would've been no way to get this all ready if I had to wait until I got to school to laminate and prep it all!

Afterall, we did have Holly Crazy Legs in our classroom and he would've loved a few elf friends- he must've know we would be up to some 'elf fun' in our room because he was hanging out that morning!

That morning I ran in and got to work getting it all set up!  I have to admit- it did come out really cute!!  At the time I didn't think I was going to get it all done in time- I had 45 minutes to get it all ready!!

So come on in and take a peek at our Santa Elf Shop!!!

First was to get the signs hanging to 'designate' each area!

Over each table I had a sign that said 'Elf Creation Station'

On each table were the cups, printables, instructions, glue, scissors, tape, crayons, paper strips, bells and ribbon!

Here is a close-up at the directions so that each family knew what to do and I didn't have to keep stopping the creative flow to direct everyone!  

Once they created their elf, they were to take it to the Elf Naming Station!

At the 'Naming Station' were naming dice, adoption certificates, and fun elf pencils (all I did was tape an elf head to a pipe cleaner and twist the pipe cleaner around the pencil!) 

After the elf was named, they got a pack of Magic Elf Dust!

The dust is a 'special' combination of red, green, gold and silver glitter!

Once the elf was named, and dust was in hand, it was time to visit the Sweets Station!

I was so lucky to have so many parents donate sweets to our party!

All I provided were the cups, plates, napkins, juice...and fun reindeer cupcakes!!!

There was so much left over we even had enough for our Polar Express Day later that week!

Before the party was over, I called each kid over to the 'Gift Giving Station!'

 I gave each one their holiday gift (you can read about it on this post) from me (and a little holiday kiss!) and then had them give their gift to their grown up!

Inside the reindeer bags (just trace their hands and staple to the folded top of a regular lunch bag!) are their gifts!

Their gifts are these adorable ornaments made from their handprints!  I have been making these for years!  I always like to give them out when the parents are there so that I know they make it home somewhat safely!  

Here are a few pictures from our party...I didn't get many as I put my phone down at one point and had NO idea where I had left it until I was cleaning up!!

Here is an elf after it got the same name as our class elf!

And I was told my 'sample elf' needed to be named too- and one of my kiddos volunteered to be the 'witness' in the naming process!

They all came out unique...and so cute!!!

You can find all the pieces to make the elf, as well as the adoption certificate and magic elf dust poem in this FREE download on TPT!

Coincidentally it was selected to be in TpT's 10 Free Downloads newsletter the week we made them!

If you want 'step by step' on how to make it, visit my post on The Primary Pack and also visit this post about elf visits!

I know there are a lot of pictures here, but you can pin this image:

It will remind you of all the fun and it will bring you right back to this post!

I know its a bit late for an Elf Craftivity party this year, but hope this helps inspire some elf fun for next year!

My kids truly had a blast...and each one left with his/her very own elf!

The next few days they told me stories about how their elf moved- I love that I have parents that played along too!

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Until next post,

Christmas Freebie Fun

If your to-do list is anything like mine you probably don't even have time to read this post!

But I am hoping that it will help you cross a few things off!

Here is a list of 9 Christmas freebies you can find in my TPT store!

First one up is my first Christmas freebie I ever posted!  I was SO excited to hit 100 TPT followers, I posted this to celebrate!

Students listen for numbers you call out.  They color that number and once all numbers are called, a holiday image appears!

Need a quick Christmas craft?  Check this one out!

It comes with a cute poem too, so you'll be all set to wrap it up as a parent gift too!

The next one was inspired by a free set of gingerbread clip art I downloaded from Pink Cat Studios!  As a 'pay it forward' I made this set: 

Students order gingerbread men from 1-10.  It comes in both color and blacklines and makes a really fun math center activity!  Glue it to a sentence strip and you have a festive holiday hat to display number learning!

This one is simply one of my favorites- it was inspired by my son!  He was watching me make a Christmas Alphabet train for my class and wanted one too!  At the time he wasn't quite ready for ABC matching, so I made him a color matching set...and here it is:

Students match colored objects to the train that has that color/color word on it.  I also have an add-on pack for additional colors!

Last year was the first year I submitted to the Holiday eBook and this was my highlighted freebie:

You can find the 2013 Holiday eBook here- it is filled with fun freebies and tips!  Head to page 26 to find my tips!

Last year I was in search of readers my kinders could read independently during Readers Workshop but found it very hard to find, so I started creating them on my own.  Once the holidays rolled around, I knew I needed to create some holiday versions too!  Here is a sample that contains one the books from my pack with 15 readers! 

No year is complete without some elf fun!  I have a bundle with a bunch of my elf fun and this is a sampler of what is included! 

Speaking of elves...my students always get SUPER SAD when it is time to say goodbye to the elf, so this year we will make an elf to take home!  This could also work well if you don't have an elf- OR if a child hears all the other kids talking about their home elf, but that student doesn't have one! 

You can find my entire 'how to' by going to this post on The Primary Pack!

I was thrilled to be selected for the 2014 Holiday eBook this year!  My featured freebie is this: 

I have my set all prepped for one of my math centers next week!  Be sure to look for me on page 27!

And if you are planning ahead and are in search of some winter treasures, find my winter freebies here!

Hopefully this helps you cross a few things off your list so that you can focus on what's really important...getting those cookies ready for Santa!!!

Until next post,

Gift Crafty for Gift Giving...and...It's Almost ELF Time!!!

I am so thankful for this weekend...it gave me time to....

prepare and finish Thanksgiving gifts for my sons' school friends!

I always like the boys to give their friends a little gift each holiday- not just Christmas.  I didn't want to overload them with candy after we just escaped the MOUNDS of Halloween candy, so I decided on play dough...ok...my original idea was those cute 'Turkey Toes' you see on Pinterest, but since I didn't plan far enough in advance and buy the harvest corn in August when it came out, there was NONE to be found!

These were actually VERY easy to make!

Step 1: Gather supplies!

I used the 'medium' size play doh containers.  I used Educlips Build -A-Turkey clip art to make the printable and some tape!

(Did you see the 'hyperlink' on printable?  YUP...I have it for you!!!)

Step 2: Make 2 tape rolls- one on lid and one on container 

Step 3: Stick the turkey body on the tape. 

Step 4: Center the feathers on the container 

Step 5: Secure each side of the feathers with a piece of tape! 

DONE!  See....so easy! 

 I saved the boxes the dough came in for 'safe travel!'

 They are packed in good and tight!

And about 1.5 hours later (start to finish including cutting) an entire 'flock' of 56 are ready to be delivered!

But my gifting didn't end there...I need to show the teachers, daycare providers and bus driver we are so THANKFUL for them too!  I found these packs of Starbucks Hot Cooca in Christmas Tree Shoppe for $1.29 each.  I whipped up a little tag and they are all set to go! 

I still had some 'spare time'...and you know who will be arriving soon.....

Our Elf!!!

Check out my guest post on The Primary Pack (it goes live at midnight 11/24) which details how to make this adorable Elf Craftivity 

You can download all the pieces to make him, along with an adoption certificate and Magic Elf Dust poem for FREE from my Teachers Pay Teachers store:

I LOVE having the elf do fun things around the house and leave things for the boys...and somewhere between doing laundry, dishes and cleaning this weekend, I thought of having the elf leave them 'Elf Hat Candy!'

Naturally I had to give it a try to see if my 'vision' would work...

So I gathered the supplies...

Hershey Kisses would be the 'hat' and they would be covered with some festive chocolate.  I thought the candy wafers would work as the base, but they were too small, so I improvised...see below!

Unwrap the kisses (you can also 'cheat' and purchase the candy cane Hershey Kisses- throw them in a bowl or on a plate and call then Elf hats- I won't tell that there was another, more time consuming, way!)

Melt the chocolate- if it is too thick, add a touch of vegetable oil to make it thinner!

 Press the kiss into the melted chocolate...

And to make them more festive, dip in sprinkles! 

Be creative..there is no wrong way to make an elf hat candy! 

 

Now to my improvise...I simply 'blobbed' chocolate onto waxed paper!  Add a few sprinkles if you want! 

Before the 'blobs' harden, drop the Hershey Kisses onto the blobs- WALAH!  You have a hat! 

You can add a 'blob' of chocolate to the top as a tip, but not necessary! 

If you are in a rush, slide the wax paper onto a tray and put it in the fridge or freezer to harden.  Otherwise you can leave them out to harden.  

Once hardened, it is time to have your elf serve up a sweet treat: 

And here is a close-up of one of the hats...HOW cute are they???!!! 

As for me....I must now go hide the evidence!  That pic of our elf Rudy was taken down in my basement on the sly...he doesn't make his appearance for another week.... he looked quite upset that I shoved him back in the box and covered him up with stockings and placemats!  SORRY RUDY!  I promise...it is almost time!!!!

Don't forget to download the elf craftivity!

I'd love to hear about some of your elf fun!!!

Until next post,