You Herd It Here First — These Elephant Crafts Are Fun For Kids Of All Ages

Do you need some fresh ideas for craft time at home? If so, we’ve got you covered. Below, we’re sharing a roundup of elephant crafts, perfect for kids of any age. Whether you’re a homeschooling family needing activities for an elephant unit study, or a parent trying to keep kids busy when they’re home for winter or summer break, these elephant-themed activities are a fun way to fill your time. After all, elephants are fascinating creatures! Did you know an elephant’s tusks are actually enlarged incisor teeth? What about the fact elephants have around 150,000 muscles in their trunk? Seriously, these giants of the animal kingdom are so cool.

If your kiddo is obsessed with elephants, well, tell them to join the club. But also, we recommend introducing them to any and every elephant-themed activity you can. In addition to these elephant crafts, we’ve got printable elephant coloring pages, elephant jokes, and a dynamic science experiment tutorial showing you and your kids how to make elephant toothpaste with a few simple household ingredients.

Keep reading for some quick and easy YouTube tutorials on elephant crafts that don’t require a million supplies or advanced art (or zoology) degree.

Easy and Fun Elephant Crafts for Kids

1. How to Draw An Elephant — Art for Kids Hub

Elephants are the world’s largest land animals. There are currently two species of elephant recognized in existence: African elephants and Asian elephants. Join Art for Kids Hub and learn how to draw this awe-inspiring creature.

2. How to Draw An Elephant for Preschoolers — Art for Kids Hub

Like the tutorial above, Art For Kids Hub walks you step-by-step through how to draw an elephant in the video embedded below. The difference? This one is geared towards younger kids, so be sure to share it with your preschoolers and kindergarteners. Fun fact: Elephants eat for up to 16 hours per day!

3. Moving Paper Elephant Toy for Kids — 123 Easy Paper Crafts DIY

We weren’t kidding when we said elephants are the world’s largest land animals. Did you know male African elephants can reach three meters tall and weigh between 4,000 and 7,500 kilograms? In other words, they can grow to nearly ten feet tall and weigh between 8,000 and 16,000 pounds — give or take. Wowza!

4. DIY Paper Roll Elephant — Easy Kids Crafts

Another interesting fact about elephants? They have elephant-sized appetites! That doesn’t surprise you, does it? We mentioned above that elephants eat for up to 16 hours per day. No, that wasn’t a typo. To maintain their larger-than-life size, they’ve gotta fuel those massive bodies. Elephants are herbivores that enjoy foods like bamboo, flowers, grasses, twigs, leaves, and herbs.

5. Easy Paper Bag Elephant Puppet — Fun Activities for Kids

Did you know that elephants can swim? In fact, they often use their trunks as snorkels when in the water. Pretty neat! Want to make your own elephant to play with at home? Try out this paper bag elephant puppet shown below. Pro tip: Paper elephants can’t swim, so don’t dunk ‘em in the tub.

6. How to Draw Dumbo the Elephant — Art for Kids Hub

Dumbo is the quintessential underdog — or under-elephant, as it were. Watching him succeed onscreen was like experiencing triumph ourselves. Haven’t introduced this classic movie to your kiddos? Check it (and the live-action version, too!) out on Disney+ for your next family movie night. Once you do, share this drawing tutorial with your kids and watch ‘em soar.

7. How to Make a Paper Plate Elephant — Fun Activities for Kids

So, yes, elephant tusks are actually teeth. These enlarged incisors typically appear when an elephant is around two years old and are used to feed and defend against predators. Unfortunately, hunters target elephants to sell their tusks for large sums of money because they’re made of ivory. Thankfully, there are countless organizations actively working to stop this atrocity.

8. Simple Paper Elephant Craft for Kids — Paper Magic

Wanna know an easy (and super cool) way to tell African and Asian elephants apart? African elephants actually have ears shaped like Africa. And Asian elephants have ears shaped like India. Crazy, but true!

9. How to Draw an Elephant: Easy — Draw So Cute

Speaking of how to tell African and Asian elephants apart, African elephants are known to be bigger while Asian elephants are a bit smaller. This is another easy way to tell the difference. Btw, if you enjoyed the drawing tutorials above, check out this one by Draw So Cute. The videos on this channel are easy to follow for kids — and grownups — of any age.

10. Easy Paper Plate Elephant — Easy Kids Crafts

Like humans, elephants value close-knit family relationships. In fact, they travel in herds. Well, to be more specific, female elephants travel in herds. Male elephants leave the group once they reach 12 to 15 years of age. After that, they travel alone or in herds with other male elephants. What an interesting dynamic!

11. Fun Elephant Toy With Moving Trunk — Paper Magic

Have you ever been told to grow thicker skin? Most of us have at some point. Cool fact: An elephant’s skin averages 2.5 centimeters thick. Its wrinkles and folds can hold up to 10 times more water than flat skin, helping cool the elephant down. To keep themselves clean and prevent sunburned skin, they give themselves regular dust and mud baths. Seems a little counterintuitive, but hey, whatever works!

12. How to Paint an Elephant — Drawing Fun for Kids

Did you know that elephants have a similar life expectancy as humans? Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. Paint a portrait of these wise and majestic creatures with the how-to video by Drawing Fun for Kids shown below.

13. Easy DIY Elephant Mask for Kids — Paper Magic

An elephant fetus takes around 22 months to develop in the womb and weighs between 200 to 300 pounds at birth. And we thought human pregnancy was long and hard! Elephants are born with fully developed brains, unlike human babies, meaning they can walk, eat on their own, and understand their role in the herd shortly after birth.

More Easy and Fun Elephant Crafts for Kids

1. Balloon Elephant

One of the reasons elephants are one of the best animals is because they make the funniest noises. Using a balloon, googly eyes, cardboard, and construction paper, you can bring that special sound home. Cut out two heart-shaped pieces of construction paper for the ears. Then place one piece on each side of the cardboard paper with the tips touching. Glue the balloon in the center of the cardboard and paste googly eyes on the balloon. Now, each time you want to hear your elephant blow a few breaths into the balloon and let it go.

2. CD Elephant

All those old CDs you no longer use can be turned into the perfect craft for your little one. Use the CD’s back as the face, and glue two googly eyes on it. Then crinkle up a strip of paper for the trunk and glue it above the CD hole. Then cut out two heart-shaped pieces of paper for the ears and paste them to each side of the CD. Once everything is dry, you’ll have your very own elephant face!

3. Handy Elephants

Elephants are large majestic creatures, but this craft doesn't require much magic. All you need are your hands, paint, and paper. Dip your hand into the paint and then press it onto a piece of construction paper. Make sure the palm of your hand is at the top and your fingers are angled toward the bottom. Then add a tail to the side of your palm where your pinky is and ears and eyes where your thumbprint is. And voila, you've made an elephant out of your hand print!