This craft is part of my preschool lesson “E is for Elephant.” I surfed the internet and found a wonderful coloring page on Lines Across. It was color by numbers. I loved it but my preschoolers are only just learning to recognize numbers. It would have been frustrating rather than fun. So, I opted to use the page without numbers.

Elmer the Patchwork Elephant craft and gift ideas #ad

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A good friend of mine is a Kindergarten teacher. She shared that many preschoolers enter her class unable to use scissors. It takes weeks for her to catch them up to where they should be. Though my class only meets once a week (I teach homeschoolers), I made up my mind that they would leave with that skill under their belt.

So, nearly every time we are together we use SCISSORS! That is why I decided to cultivate paper cutting and gluing skills in this craft, instead of coloring it.

Well, to my surprise, E is for Elephant became an extra special day. Several of my students were absent, sorry to say. But the smallness of the group changed the dynamic dramatically.

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When we sat down to do this craft, this is what transpired: sweet chatter. With only 5 children present, all little girls, it was such a cozy group. My assistant, Katie, and I decided to join them in making this craft. After everyone got the hang of it, some adorable conversations took place. They shared about what they like, what they do, where they go, fun things that happened. Then Lili started singing a song “Yes, Jesus Loves Me” while she worked. She sang by herself for a few seconds and then we all joined in. It was a very special time.

Elmer Coloring Page

E is for Elephant Craft

You will need:

Elmer coloring page template (link above)

Construction Paper – many colors

Glue Sticks

Child-safe scissors

Holding large sheets of paper is difficult for little hands so I pre-cut the construction paper into more manageable strips. They, in turn, cut them into smaller pieces. Next, I had the children glue-stick the colors onto the various squares on Elmer’s body. It turned out so cute and every elephant was so different. That same day, we read an Elmer the Elephant book. Priceless!