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My daughter loves Elephants. She loved them when she could barely pronounce them. Ele, Elu, Elefun, and finally Elepant.

Back in 2008 when she was just a year and a half, my parents took her to the Mysore Zoo. They know someone who works at the zoo’s in-house veterinary hospital and could get a free pass to see a newborn calf. Lil P talked about baby ele for days. Each time an elephant came on the TV, she would scream, giggle and shake her bum, the only way a toddler could and smile with glee.

Another year passed and we reached Dubare elephant camp in Coorg. The camp is a lovely place to take the kids. We can bathe the elephants, observe their habitats, what they are fed, take a ride and even play with the baby elephants. This was the first time LilP touched an elephant. Have you ever felt the skin of a baby elephant? Wrinkled soft folds, covered in parts by a thin layer of mud from its last visit to the waterhole and very bristly with sensitive skin. It’s like touching sandpaper but sandpaper that’s squishy on the inside. It’s a weird feeling and Lil P would touch the elephant, pull back, stare at her palm and then repeat the process again. It was amazing to watch all the sensory processing that was taking place. As a mother, I really enjoy letting Lil P explore her surroundings and make her own impressions. It’s so much better than sitting in a classroom and studying about elephants.

Fast forward to another few years and we ended up at Mysore. Now, Elephants are an integral part of the Mysore Dussehra Festival – the Jumbo Savari on the 10th Day of Dussehra The job begins on the eve of Jumbo Savari. Colour mixed with natural gum extracted from trees is used to paint the pachyderms. The decoration is magnificent and so elaborate that even the tails are beautifully painted. The first time Lil P saw them, she fell in love.

To celebrate Dussehra artsy craftsy style, we decided to make our own

Mysore Dasara Elephant Paper Craft

Materials –

• Blue, pink, orange construction paper in A4 sizes
• Scissors – fine tip
• Pencil
• Black marker
• Glue stick
• Lots of embellishments – Rhinestone stickers, Lace, Sparkly accessories

To make –

Draw an elephant shape on the blue construction paper using a pencil. Cut out the outline carefully using scissors

Using different colored papers & embellishments, decorate the Dussehra elephant to your heart’s desire.

We first made the decorative rug for the elephant’s back using Orange & pink construction paper. Then a Pink and Orange art work for the ears and the head. Stuck it in place using a glue stick.

We had these gorgeous transperant golden lace from Itsy Bitsy . Cut them up to form the golden trim of our elephant back and feet.

Using Rhinestone stickers we decorated the trunk, the ears, the feet and Lil P even added a necklace.

Finally using a marker we added hair to its tail & drew eyes. Oh! Isn’t he gorgeous. We later added a tusk using white paper. Sorry the images don’t have them.

Also see our Dussehra posts –

21 Navratri Dussehra Activities & Crafts for kids 

Dussehra crafts – to recreate ramayana – Artsy Craftsy Mom

Day 5 – Dasara Elephant Crafts – Artsy Craftsy Mom

You can make this out of thicker cardboard and use it a wall hanging or decorate your porch with a drawing like ours. What do you think? Doesn’t our Dussehra elephant look mighty grand? Is your Child elephant crazy too? Or some other animal perhaps?