“Good morning, boys and girls!” Mrs. Claus welcomes the students after they dial in for a visit.
All the students sit up straighter and wonder fills their faces!
It’s our annual Mrs. Claus week, and we have 54 classes talking to Mrs. Claus from her North Pole Studio (here in our office). Here’s how the 10-15 minute sessions go.
Chat with Mrs. Claus
After the classes dial in, Mrs. Claus chats with the students for a few minutes. For example, she might say:
- Is Emma there today? How’s your twin brother Ezra? Has he been good this year? It’s always funny when the child says “no” that their sibling hasn’t been good.
- Santa told me you had a snow day yesterday. Did you have a good day off?
- Santa told me that you have a Christmas program tonight. Are you going to sing nice and loud?
- Johnny, Santa told me you want a toy tractor. I saw a bunch of tractors down in the workshop with the elves.
Reading with Mrs. Claus
Then, Mrs. Claus reads a book to the students: How Santa Got His Job. There are several spots throughout the book where she asks the students prediction questions:
- Which animals at the zoo do you think Santa became friends with?
- What do you think Santa cried as he flew through the air?
- What do you think Santa saw when he went to the elves house?
- What do you think is the problem with the polar bears pulling the sleigh?
- What mistake are the reindeer making in this picture?
Asking Mrs. Claus Questions
After the story, Mrs. Claus takes a few questions from the students. Here’s a sampling:
- What are the elves names? Mrs. Claus names some of the students in the class. “Oh?! Are some of those your names too?” Students love it!
- What are Santa’s favorite cookies? Chocolate chip cookies! But he loves all types of cookies. Do you think you could write Santa a note to take some of your cookies home to me?
- How does Santa get in your house if you don’t have a chimney? With his magic Christmas key to unlock your door.
- What does Santa want for Christmas? He wants you all to be good so that he can give you presents. He loves to give you presents!
- Where is Santa? We want to see him? He’s down in the workshop getting the presents finished. We don’t have a camera down there because it’s top secret! Santa doesn’t want you to know what you’re going to get for Christmas!
- If Santa comes to my house, and I stay up all night, will he come to my house? No! Because if you were up he would talk to you. And if he talked to everyone, he’d never get done delivering all the presents!
Responses to answers are fun to hear:
- “That’s true.”
- “Oh, I knew that already!”
- “I KNEW it!”
- “Ohhhh! That makes sense.”
At the end, some classes sign to Mrs. Claus; sing a thank you song; or do a cheer for her. Classes are well prepared.
We’ve been doing these for four years now. It’s interesting that four years ago the North Pole temperature was -24F and -30F. This week it’s been -5F and -6F.
Other Mrs. Claus or Santa Videoconferences
Our Mrs. Claus sessions are only open to our schools; however, there are several content providers that offer a Mrs. Claus or Santa program.
- Alaskan Sled Dogs with Santa by Kigluait Educational Adventures
- Around the World with Santa by The Mariners’ Museum
- How Santa Came to America by the NY State Historical Association
- A Visit with Mrs. Claus by CESA 7
- Tea with Mrs. Claus by Muskingum ESC
I really like these programs – as they are an easy and fun introduction to videoconferencing and often hook teachers on videoconferencing. Then they are willing to try other curriculum-based video conferences as well.