These incredibly cute elephant crafts for kids are perfect for all kinds of occasions. From Elmer, Horton and Clay and paper, there’s an elephant craft you will fall in love with!

“Nature’s great masterpiece, an elephant; the only harmless great thing.” ~ John Donne

Do you like elephants? It’s amazing that despite being the largest mammals on land, elephants are considered cute, especially baby elephants!

Elephants are pretty awesome animals, and like John Donne said, they’re very gentle beings. An elephant can pick up everything from a coin to a tree with that trunk. They use their trunks to express love and to fight. Also, did you know that besides humans, elephants are the only animals to grieve for the dead?

Elephants are also an important part of Indian culture and history. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of ornately decorated elephants mounted by the kings of yore, and as part of the Republic Day parade in modern times.

They also feature predominantly in religious and cultural celebrations like Ganesh Chaturthi, Mysore Dasara or Thrissur Pooram. Jaipur also has an Elephant Festival every year that includes a parade of decked-out female elephants.

And it’s not just tradition, elephants are also an important part of modern popular culture. Here are some famous elephants you may know!

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Elephants in Popular Culture:

Colonel Hathi from The Jungle Book
Dumbo, the flying elephant from Disney
Manfred from the Ice Age movies
Horton from Dr. Seuss’ books
Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street
Babar from Jean de Brunhoff’s books
Elmer the Patchwork Elephant from David McKee’s books

So it’s only fair that we appreciate these amazing animals, especially since 12th August is World Elephant Day and 22nd September is Elephant Appreciation Day. We’ve got a whole bunch of elephant crafts for kids to make for these special days, but considering how cool these animals are, you don’t really need a special occasion to celebrate them!

25 Enormously Cute Elephant Crafts for Kids

1. E for Elephant Recycled CD Craft

Little one learning the alphabet? Chances are, they’re learning that E is for elephant, which means it’s time to make this bright and colorful Elephant craft with an old CD.

2. Madhubani Elephant Bookmark

These elephant crafts for kids are a great opportunity to learn about traditional Indian arts like Madhubani, as this beautiful elephant bookmark shows! It’s easy to make and makes an excellent gift for back-to-school.

3. Mysore Dasara Elephant Paper Craft

If you’re ever visiting the city of Mysore in South India, try to plan your trip during the Dasara festival, around mid-October, to experience some truly stunning sights. One of them includes the procession of decked-out elephants, which we’ve captured in this paper craft!

4. Horton Hears a Who Craft

Who doesn’t love Dr. Seuss? And if you’ve read his books, you’re sure to know Horton, the elephant in charge of the Whos. This toilet paper roll craft brings Horton to life, complete with flowers!

5. Heart Elephant Papercraft

Nothing like a loyal elephant to show your love on Valentine’s Day! This heart elephant craft can be used throughout the year, for that special someone in your life.

6. Handprint Elephant Craft for Kids

Looking for elephant crafts for kids under the age of 5? Handprint crafts are always a good idea, especially when they’re as cute as this elephant version!

7. Horton Hears a Who Paper Quilling Craft

Love Horton? Then you’ll enjoy trying something a little more challenging, like a paper quilling Horton craft! This one is great for beginners since Horton is made of paper; it’s just the flower that’s quilled.

8. Elephant Directed Drawing Tutorial Printable

We can’t have a list of elephant crafts for kids without teaching you how to draw an elephant! Well, here’s a step-by-step directed drawing tutorial that’s perfect even for absolute beginners.

9. Elephant Shapes Directed Drawing Tutorial

How do you draw an elephant? One shape at a time! Yes, you can turn any basic shape into an elephant, as this step-by-step guide shows!

10. Printable Elephant Paper Crown

Fancy turning into an elephant for a day? Well, this printable paper crown is all you need! Simply, download, print and follow the instructions to assemble the crown.

11. Printable Onam Elephant Craft

Onam is one of the most enthusiastically celebrated festivals in Kerala, where elephants are an important part of temple celebrations. This craft shows us how to make and decorate an elephant in true Kerala-style!

12. Newspaper Elephant Craft

This project from Buggy and Buddy uses an interesting technique with newspaper. The crumpled paper resembles wrinkled elephant skin, making this quite a realistic craft!

13. Balloon Elephant Craft

Glued To My Crafts has a genius idea of using a balloon to create the elephant’s trunk in this easy little project. This works well as a handmade greeting card or as gift tags too. Please be careful with balloons around very young children and babies.

14. Clothespin Elephant Craft

We can’t get over how gorgeous this little 3-D elephant model from The Pepa Workshop is! The clothespins double up as the elephant’s legs as well as the rider, who is incredibly detailed – just look at his turban!

15. Paper Plate Elephant Craft

Paper plate crafts are always popular, and this project from Crafty Morning turns paper plates into cute little elephants! We love how simple they are, along with the lovely colors.

16. Easy Origami Elephant Tutorial

Give your Origami skills an extra boost by learning to make this Origami elephant from Hodge Podge Craft. Get colorful patterned square paper and check out the detailed video tutorial to know exactly how to go about it.

17. DIY Elephant Pull Toy

Do you remember those old wooden pull toys kids used to drag around everywhere? They don’t make it like them anymore! Hello, Wonderful recreates that magic with this DIY pull toy – make them in different colors for an elephant parade.

18. Milk Jug Elephant Craft

Looking the way he does, Elmer the elephant offers plenty of scope to get creative, as Krokotak does with this milk jug elephant craft. It’s quite a clever idea, and using markers before painting makes the final result look neat.

19. Paper Plate Rocking Elephant Craft

It may be difficult to find a real elephant that rocks, but The Joy of Sharing has a pretty little elephant made from a paper plate that rocks to and fro!! Love how festive the elephant looks, like it’s all set to carry a Maharajah!

20. Cereal Box Elephant Craft

Recycled crafts are always welcome at our home, and this also applies to elephant crafts for kids! This cereal box elephant from I Heart Crafty Things is particularly fun! Cereal boxes are one of the most versatile things to reuse, and this elephant is a good example. Make a brighter one – pink or blue with googly eyes for a change.

21. DIY Felt Elephants

How adorable are these felt elephants from Lia Griffith? They’re perfect for a new baby’s nursery, or as stocking stuffers for the coming holidays. This sewing project is great for the older bunch, the teens and preteens.

22. Baby Elephant Button Craft

If you love crafting with buttons, you’ll love this little baby elephant from Busted Button! It’s just perfect for a baby’s nursery, and the couple version will make a great gift for Valentine’s Day.

23. Baby Elephant Ham and Cheese Bread

Our list of elephant crafts for kids also includes some cute elephant-themed food, like this one from Fun Family Crafts!! This is a great breakfast idea for weekends or holidays or even a birthday. Also works well for a jungle-themed kiddie party.

24. Printable Elephant Bookmarks

Pysselbolaget has some easy-to-make printable elephant bookmarks that you can just print out in bulk and hand out to all your friends. Can’t think of a better Back to School gift!

25. Elephant with Moving Trunk

Here’s a fun craft that’s also fun to play with! Check it out at 10 Minutes of Quality Time, and have fun with the elephant’s moving trunk – a craft like no other!

Pretty sure you’re wondering where to start with so many awesome elephant crafts for kids, right? These crafts are also perfect for learning about wild animals, mammals, Africa, India or the letter E. They’re also great as an accompaniment to books like Elmer, Horton Hears a Who or Babar. Like I said, there are so many reasons to make these cute elephant crafts for kids, and you don’t even need one!

If you enjoyed these elephant crafts for kids, you may also like these jungle animal-themed projects: