Elephant Crafts and Activities for Kids
How to Make Crafts and Activities
Relating to Elephants
Elephant Bubble Bath Craft
What you will need: Empty plastic water bottles, printer paper, scissors, tape, bubble bath.
How to Make Elephant Bubble Bath:
1. Print out the elephant head Patterns and cut them out. (Problems Printing?)
2. Color them and then roll the trunk to make a tube shape and tape it together in the back as shown. Bring the two tabs together above the head and ears and tape them together as shown to make a loop.
3. Fold down the loop to the back of the head.
4. Fill an empty bottle with bubble bath. I used an Aquapod.
5. Place the loop over the cap of the bottle and fold down the head.
Take a bath and use your new elephant bubble bath. Pretend you are taking a bath with an elephant and he sprays you with water to rinse you off.
How to Print or Copy these Instructions.
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Folded Paper African Elephant Craft for Kids
What you will need: Card stock (Heavy paper), scissors, glue, and crayons or markers.
How to Make Folded Paper African Elephant:
1. You must be a member of Danielle's Place and The Resource Room to access the patterns for this craft. Click Here for the Pattern.
How to Print or Copy these Instructions.
©Copyright 2005, Digital by Design, Inc. - See Copyright Information
Egg
Carton Elephant Craft for Kids
 What
you will need: Egg cartons, markers, glue, and scissors.
How to Make Egg Carton Elephant:
1. Cut
a cup (the part that holds the egg) off the egg carton. To make
the legs cut a half circle shape out of the cup on the side that
was the outside edge of the carton.
(See picture).
2. To
make the head, trunk, and ears print out the Pattern and
cut it out. Place the pattern so that the trunk part covers
one of the long center cones and each ear is inside a connecting
cup. (See picture) Trace the pattern onto the carton and cut it
out. (Problems Printing?)
3. Color
the head and body if desired and add eyes.
4. Glue
the head to the body.
How to Print or Copy these Instructions.
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Tired
Elephant Paper Plate Craft for Kids
This
tired little elephant is made with five paper plates, four Dixie cups
and a toilet paper roll.
Go
to the Paper Plates Craft
Page for directions to this craft.
©Copyright 2008, Digital by Design, Inc. - See Copyright Information
TP
Roll Elephant Craft for Kids
What
you will need: TP roll, card stock,
glue or tape, crayons or markers, scissors.
How to Make Tp Roll Elephant:
1. Draw an elephant
body, face, and trunk as shown in the picture. Or print out the Elephant
Patterns for this craft (available to members
only) and cut them out. (Problems Printing?)
2. Color the
body, head and trunk. Glue the body onto a TP roll.
3. Fan fold the
elephant's trunk and then tape it onto the head.
4. Glue of tape
the head to the body.
How to Print or Copy these Instructions.
©Copyright 2004, Digital by Design, Inc. - See Copyright Information
Elephant Games
Pass the Peanut Relay Game - Tell the class that
they are going to pretend to be elephants. Give each child a sock
to put on his or her hand (this is their trunk). If you have a large
class break them in half or into teams. Give each team a peanut.
The first team to pass the peanut to all the team members and back
to the first player wins. If you have a small class just have
the children pass the peanut from person to person until it comes
back to the start. Use a timer to see how long it takes and then
do it a second time to see if they can beat their time.
Guess What is in the Box Game - Bring in a box full of
different objects. Have the children take turns being the elephant.
Children put socks on their hands and then reach into a box
and try to guess what they are feeling with their "trunk".
Elephant Walk - Did you know that elephants walk on their toes? The soles of their feet are made of thick elastic pads that flatten with each step. Because they are so big and weigh so much, this elastic pad gives them bounce in each step. Have the children walk on their toes. Then, try to do some pattern walking. Have everyone stand in a circle. Then, call out a pattern and have everyone walk that way around the circle. For example, step, slide, tiptoe, step, slide, tiptoe. Give each child the opportunity to take up the pattern.
How to Print or Copy these Instructions.
©Copyright 2006, Digital by Design, Inc. - See Copyright Information
No-Sew Sock Elephant Craft for Children
This little elephant was made with two children's sock and rubber bands. For directions to this craft go to the Sock Crafts for Kids
Page.
©Copyright 2009, Digital by Design, Inc. - See Copyright Information
Elephant Art
Elephants Can Paint Too! by Katya Arnold
Katya Arnold teaches children and elephants how to paint. In her book she explains how elephants are a lot like the children she teaches -- they even like cookies. They love to wrestle, climb on each other, and act silly. They scream and even cry when they are sad.
Just like children, each elephant is unique. They all have their own techniques when it comes to painting. Some elephants wrap their trunks around the brush to hold it, while others hold it inside their trunks. Some elephants drag the brush over the paper, while others dab. Some will paint for as long as an hour, while others are finished in just a few minutes. Most elephants don't paint real things, but they can be taught to paint trees and flowers. Many of the paintings are sold and the profits are used to help the elephants. Go to www.elephantart.com to watch videos of elephants painting and view their masterpieces. You can even buy one yourself!
Paint Like an Elephant - Tape a large paint brush to the top of your children's hands to give them a different feel for the brush. Encourage them to pretend they are elephants and use long flowing stroke and dabs of paint to make their pictures.
*One elephant painting sold for $39,000! |
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Elephant Recipes
1. Baked Elephant Ears
You will need: One stick of pie crust mix, medium mixing bowl,
measuring spoons, hot water, fork, wood board, all-purpose flour,
baking sheet, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, and a
shaker or spoon.
How to Make Elephant Recipes:
1. Have adult break the pie crust into little pieces in the bowl.
Add 3 tablespoons of hot water. Mix with fork till the dough sticks
together.
2. Sprinkle the wood board with flour. Pat your hands with flour.
Form the dough into a big ball on the board and divide into 4 parts.
Form each part into a ball. To make elephant ears, use your whole
hand to flatten each ball. Press hard so that the dough gets thinner.
It should be about 1/4 inch thick.
3. Place each piece of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. Mix
sugar and cinnamon. Place in shaker. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar
topping on your elephant ears. Be careful not to get the sugar on
the baking sheet. Have adult bake at 350: for 20 minutes or until
golden brown. Cool. (Sent in by Narita Roady)
2. Make Elephant Heads
What you will need: can biscuits (each child needs two biscuits)
- cinnamon sugar - 2 raisins - a craft stick and the foil or baking
paper same as above.
How to Make Elephant Heads:
Give each child two biscuits. Have them place one biscuit and flatten
just a little. Next with craft stick have them cut other biscuit
into 3 pieces with the middle piece being narrow (this is the trunk)
the 2 outside pieces are the ears.
Add to the biscuit - the 2 ears and put trunk in the middle. (Have
them press the edges down so they stick to the biscuit . Add raisin
for eyes. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake until golden brown.
The children love to eat them while still warm. (Sent in by Narita
Roady)
How to Print or Copy these Instructions.
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Elephant Math Games
1. Practice Counting - Pretend to be elephants by putting a sock on your hand. Place a bowl of peanuts on the table. Grab some peanuts with your "elephant trunk". Count how many you can pick up. If your child can already count well, use this game to practice your addition facts. Pick up two handfuls of peanuts count each handful and then add them together.
2. Review Addition Facts with Peanuts - Show your child a certain number of peanuts in your right hand. Have him count them. (Use peanuts in their shells) Use your left hand to take a certain amount of peanuts from your right hand. Keep the peanuts you have taken hidden in your left hand. Show your child how many peanuts are left in your right hand. Let him count them. Ask him how many peanuts are hidden in your left hand. Let him see the hidden peanuts and count them to see if he is correct. Put both your hands side by side and have him count all the peanuts together.
You can also write the math fact down after the child has counted the hidden peanuts in your hand. For example, start with four peanuts, have your child count them. Take away two peanuts and hide them in your other hand. Show your child that you have only two peanuts left in your hand. Let him count them. Then ask him how many peanuts you have in your other hand. He should say two. Open up your other hand and let him count them. Put your hands side by side and say, "Two plus two equals four" and then write the problem on a piece of paper.
Put all the peanuts back in your right hand and do the same thing but pick up a different amount of peanuts and hide them in your left hand. Add more peanuts once your child has mastered a certain number of peanuts to make it harder.
3. Graphing Animal Crackers - Depending on the age of your children, make up a grid pattern. Give them a handful of crackers or use the whole box. Show them how to make a graph of the animals showing how many of each animal they have. If you have older children, they can also graph the 1/2 and 1/4 animals that are broken.
4. How Many Peanuts? - (Estimating) Bring in a jar full of peanuts. Ask the children to estimate how many peanuts they think are in the jar. Count the peanuts together. Who was the closest? Then, gather several other containers of different sizes and ask the children to estimate how many peanuts will fit in each container.
5. Measuring - An adult African elephant’s trunk is about seven feet (two meters) long! Have your child decide what he thinks is about seven feet. Cut a piece of yarn or rope that long or draw a line about 7 feet on the sidewalk. Use a measuring tape to see how close your child got to seven feet.
How to Print or Copy these Instructions.
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Elephant Reading
Elephants: Elephant Magic for Kids (Animal Magic for Kids)
Did you know that an elephant can run up to 35 miles per hour, it walks on its tiptoes, its trunk has more than 150,000 muscles, and it has a great memory? You and your children can find out these and even more interesting facts about elephants in this book.
After reading all about elephants in this book, ask your children to see if they think they have great memories like the elephant. Challenge them to listen carefully and try to remember all the things the animals did to try to keep the elephant from sneezing in the following book. (You should be able to get these books at your local library.) |

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Read "Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!" by Patricia Thomas -
Have your children see if they can remember all the things the other animals did to try to keep the elephant from sneezing. |

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Read "Engelbert the Elephant" by Tom Paxton - In this story Engelbert the Elephant really stood out in the crowd. Your children will love the story and the wonderful illustrations by Steven Kellogg.
Is It Spelled With a "Ph" or an "F"? Have your child study the following words and write them on peanut shapes: Gopher, phase, phone, photo, nephew, dolphin, elephant, trophy, enough, foam, sheriff, effort, fudge, fume, focus, cuff, loaf. Mix up the peanuts and place them in a pile. Pick up the peanut on the top of the pile and read the word. Ask your child if it is spelled with an "f" or a "ph". If he says, "f", place it in an "f" pile. If he says, "ph", place it in a "ph" pile. When you have gone through all the peanuts turn over all the cards. See if any of the peanuts are in the wrong pile. Try again if your child missed some.
 Make Standout Elephant Displays That Compare the Two Types of Elephants - First read about the difference between Asian and African elephants. Print out two copies of the elephant display paper onto card stock. Fold the papers in half on the dotted lines. Cut two slits in the paper at the two dark lines. Unfold the paper and fold it in the opposite direction, but leave the middle part folded in the same direction. Push out the middle part and fold the paper down creasing the paper at the short dotted lines. Your paper should look like the diagram on the right.
Print out the elephant pictures and cut them out leaving a straight line at the bottom (See picture). Glue the elephants onto your display paper on the front of the rectangle that pops out. Have your child write the type of elephant on top of the paper and a description of that type on the lines below.
How to Print or Copy these Instructions.
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Elephant Songs
The Elephants Are Here!
(A movement song to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell")
(By Narita Roady)
The elephants are here! (Look excited)
The elephants are here!
Look at all the elephants! (Shade eyes as if looking)
The elephants are here!
They're exercising now. (March in place, keeping feet on floor, pumping arms)
They're exercising now.
Look at all the elephants!
They're exercising now.
(Have kids name various exercises and do them--tricky while singing!)
They're jumping up and down!
They're jumping up and down!
Look at all the elephants!
They're jumping up and down!
They're doing push ups now
They're touching all their toes
They're spinning 'round and 'round
Keep going until kids are EXHAUSTED
Sing the last verse slowly as sink to floor and lie down on backs
They're all exhausted now...
They're all exhausted now...
Look at all the elephants...
They're all exhausted now...
ZZZZZZZ (Lots of snoring) |
Did You Ever See an Elephant?
(Tune: Did You Ever See a Lassie?)
(Written by Narita Roady)
Did you ever see an elephant
An elephant, an elephant,
Did you ever see an elephant
Spray water with her trunk?
Spray water all over,
Spray water all over,
Did you ever see an elephant
Spray water with her trunk?
Did you ever see an elephant
An elephant, an elephant,
Did you ever see an elephant
Eat peanuts with her trunk?
Throw peanuts in her mouth,
Throw peanuts in her mouth,
Did you ever see an elephant
Eat peanuts with her trunk?
Did you ever see an elephant
An elephant, an elephant,
Did you ever see an elephant
Hug her baby with her trunk?
Wrap it this way and that way,
And this way and that way,
Did you ever see an elephant |
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