Get ready to Countdown to Christmas, but with a twist! Your students will be challenged to spread Kindness throughout your building from their very own Kindness Elf!
Why Countdown to Christmas?
Undoubtedly, this is a great way to keep your students engaged and excited for what is happening at school in the days leading up to break! Often the energy starts to go a bit bananas during this time. This idea will hone in that energy for good. Your students will love seeing what challenge the elf brings each day!
It should be noted that the goal of this activity is to create positive engagement during a time of year that can be challenging for students. Regardless of their home situation, every student will enjoy participating in this countdown. The countdown celebrates the nearness of Christmas and the Christmas season.
How does it Work?
In my class, the countdown begins 12 days prior to Winter Break. It consists of two main things:
1) Teacher Gifts: small, often free or inexpensive things for the class to look forward to daily
2) Kindness Challenges: brought to us by “Merry,” our “Kindness Elf!”
Merry is not like typical elves children may be used to. She does not do silly or crazy things, but instead brings us a note each day with a Kindness Challenge to complete! She helps us focus on the gift and joy of giving.
For example, for our first challenge, Merry invites the class to spread cheer by giving candy canes to another classroom. Your class will love getting the chance to spread cheer in this simple way! Merry is also very generous and gives a candy cane to each student in our class as well. 😉
Setting Up The Christmas Countdown
As mentioned, I begin this countdown 12 days prior to Christmas Break. You could absolutely tweak this to be as many or as few days as you wish. I personally choose 12 because of the 12 days of Christmas song. My students love to sing “On the first day of Christmas my Teacher gave to me….” before each gift is revealed.
On the first day of the countdown, the gift inside is the Kindness Elf. In her hands she holds a note explaining the first challenge for the class to complete.
My Kindness Elf is a plush elf that can be found at Target or on Amazon, linked below!
Need a Christmas Alternative?
In cases where a school or classroom has families who do not celebrate Christmas or feel comfortable doing Christmas themed activities, an alternate theme should be used.
With this in mind, I’m proud to offer you an alternative 12 Days of Winter themed product for those who need it!
Instead of an elf, a Winter Snowman delivers each Kindness Challenge!
The kindness challenges and gifts are nearly identical, with everything adapted to spread “Winter Cheer” within this theme. A cute plush snowman such as the samples below can be used to deliver each challenge.
Make it Easy on Yourself…
Finally, if you want to make your life easier-everything you need to set up each student gift and Kindness Challenge is included in The 12 Days of Christmas Countdown product!
Elf notes, festive countdown slides, and a layout of all the ideas I use are included. Click below to make implement this idea in a breeze! The near identical offer can be found above for those who need a Winter Themed alternative.
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Do you have any book recommendations for read alouds that go along with this awesome Holiday Kindness challenge?
Great article! I really appreciate the clear and detailed insights you’ve provided on this topic. It’s always refreshing to read content that breaks things down so well, making it easy for readers to grasp even complex ideas. I also found the practical tips you’ve shared to be very helpful. Looking forward to more informative posts like this! Keep up the good work!