Celebrate the culture of India! These beautiful Indian elephants are made with our R15304 India Paper and gorgeous elephant templates below. This month we are paying homage to the bright spirit and colors of the India Festival in Toronto! You can view more information about this festival here. Search online for a multicultural event near you and visit with the whole class for a spectacular field day treat. This fun craft can be used to decorate your classroom wall.
Age: 4-8
Duration: 15 minutes
You’ll Need:
• Construction paper
• Pencil or marker
• Glitter glue/pens
• Scissors
• Glue
Talk to your students about different cultures around the world. Most likely, students will have plenty of information to add about their own cultures! Encourage students to share their experiences with the rest of the classroom. Today’s spotlight is on the Indian culture. Each student can research one or two fun facts about India, starting with a trip to the library or computer lab. Once students are done with their projects, they can write the fun fact on the back of their elephant cutout.
First lay out all the materials you’ll need. Grab the Elephant Template! Print it out onto regular 8.5 x 11″ paper or onto 8.5 x 11″ card sheets to use as stencils.
Exercise scissor skills! Simple sloping lines and curves are easy to cut around.
Place the elephant template onto a sheet of construction paper. Choose a color to best represent your unique elephant! Trace the outline of the template onto the construction paper with pencil.
Now grab one sheet of R15304 India Paper to make the jhool or embroidered saddle cloth! Trace a line along the elephant’s back onto the R15304 India Paper. Remove the elephant template and continue the lines down the sides to create a wavy-shaped box. Cut the saddle out along the drawn lines.
Paste the jhool onto the elephant’s back.
For the head cap, or the nettipattam, trace the top of the elephant’s head onto the decorative paper. Remove the elephant and enclose the drawing of the cap with a small curved line.
Glue the cap into place. You are almost finished! Outline the drawing of the elephant with a black marker.
Use the gel pens, glitter pens or glitter glue to add decorative borders to the elephant’s nettipattam and jhool! Here, I’ve drawn simple curved lines and used differently-colored pens to make dots along the curved lines. This makes it look more ornamental. Look at reference images online or in library books of Indian elephants for more ideas!
Here’s another look at the finished elephant! I added decorative jewels to the elephant’s feet and drew the body jewels differently.
You can cut out the elephant and paste it onto a scenic illustration!
Alternatively, make an elephant chain out of your students’ artwork! Cut out each of the elephants. For each elephant you cut out, cut out a small strip of paper from the decorative paper. Connect the elephants together side-by-side with the strips of paper using tape or sticky tack. The elephants will look as if they are all walking in single-file like real-life elephants!
Display your celebratory spirit with India Elephants! Send us photos of your work to us! Contact us through the contact form. We’d love to feature your work in one of our posts.
