Descriptive Elf Games
While the reindeer are busy playing their “reindeer games”, we are playing games with these cute little Christmas elves! There are so many different skills that can be targeted with these 12 elves including describing, comparing and contrasting, following directions, as well as asking and answering questions. Check out all of the different games and activities you can do with them. Even my middle school students are having fun playing “elf games”!
Describing, Comparing, and Contrasting:
Since clothing and gift colors are the only differences between the elves, it makes them easier to describe. Just pick an elf, start at his hat, and describe his outfit and present all the way down to his pointy shoes (e.g., red hat, green collar, blue present, white shirt). Then pick another elf, do the same, and then compare and contrast them. This is a great opportunity to introduce or review how to use a Venn Diagram.
Another describing activity involves one student describing an elf and the other students figuring out which elf it is. To play, place all of the elves face up on the table and have a student choose one without telling which one it is. The student then describes the elf one characteristic at a time (e.g., “My elf has a green hat.”). The other students turn over the cards that don’t fit the description. Eventually, the student’s elf will be the only one left face-up. If your students are able to describe multiple features at once, have them give three clues about their elves (e.g., “My elf has a white shirt, black shoes, and a blue present.”) and see if the other students can find it.
Find Your Elf:
This is a great game for following directions as students listen carefully so they can figure out which elf is theirs. Included in the printable materials are 20 descriptions for you to read to them. They listen to the description (e.g., Your elf has a red hat, a green shirt, and a blue present.) and then try to locate their elf. You can repeat the description as necessary, but try to have the students remember the clues the first time.
Guess the Secret Elf:
This game can be used as practice for asking and answering questions. Place all of the elves face-up on the table and secretly select an elf. Have all of the students except one put their heads down. Point to the secret elf so it can be seen by the student whose head is up. The other students then put their heads up and take turns asking questions about the secret elf such as, “Does he have a red hat?” or “What color hat does he have?”. The student who saw the secret elf answers the question, and the questioner turns over the ones that don’t belong, such as all of the elves with green hats, until only the secret elf remains.
The interactive game uses reasoning similar to a Guess Who game where students reveal the hints and cover up the owls that don’t fit the descriptions. Once there is only one owl left, they can reveal the secret owl to check their answer.
Interactive Material: This material includes an interactive version that can be used in teletherapy. This file can only be used in PowerPoint due to limitations in Google Slides. Make sure to use this file in slide show mode.
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This is such a cute activity and I like that there are different ways to use these. Thank you for creating this site. It’s been very helpful.