Elementary Matters: Elf Laws: A Social Studies Activity

I had my students do this "Elf Laws" activity, and I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or me!

Elf Laws: A Social Studies Civics Activity- Here's a fun activity to help get your children engaged in the process of law-making and thinking about what is really important!

The first part of the activity asks the children to put the Elf Laws in order with the most important law being #1 and the least important law being #10.

Once I convinced them that any answer was correct as long as they could defend it, the fun started. The children worked in pairs, making their decisions and defending their decisions. I enjoyed some delightful conversations!

I've developed the skill of pretending I'm working on something else while they work so I can hear those true conversations!

I'm sure you've done it...pretend you're organizing books for tomorrow and walk by slowly. These are precious moments!

Well, once they got their laws in order, the real fun started: writing about why they put the laws in the order they did. Some children had a little trouble starting, but I prompted them with questions like, "Why do you think cleaning up the workshop is so important?" or " Why is tooth brushing more important than singing carols?" or " Why don't you think wearing hats is an important rule?"

Their answers were priceless!

Here are some examples of how they defended their Elf Rules:

Elves need to show respect to other elves, just like we do.
It's not important to brush your teeth; that's what dentists are for!
Elves don't need to wear hats. They work indoors.
They need to clean up the workshop. What if Santa tripped over something? We want Santa safe.
Of course they need to care for the reindeer. Who else is going to do it?
Elves work very hard making all those toys. They need to get a break after Christmas. Just like us!

Aren't kids precious?

This is the perfect activity for this time of year. It keeps them engaged, and it's a valuable learning experience. For more activities like this, please see Science and Social Studies Printables for December. These will get you through those last few days.