Summer Reading Craft #1

summer-reading

This summer I’ll be doing crafts based on children’s books.  This week we read Elmer by David McKeeElmer is the story of a patchwork elephant who wants to look like everyone else, but soon realizes that it’s boring to blend in with the crowd.  At the end of the book the elephants have a parade, so the girls and I decided to make an elephant parade garland.

Click here to download the .pdf template if you’d like to make one too.

Simply print the template and cut out the elephants from card stock.  Let the children paint, collage, or color them.  Then string them together with twine.  A fun and easy project for a summer afternoon.  Stay tuned for more children’s book projects all summer long!

elmer

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elephant-garland2

28 Replies to “Summer Reading Craft #1”

  1. Oh my goodness – this is darling! Thanks so much for sharing the template. We are BIG Elmer fans in our house. 🙂

  2. Thanks for sharing! I am putting this to use right away. I think we will use some tissue paper, then some watercolor pencils (template printed on watercolor paper cut to size), and some with a patchwork design, collaged from different prints.

  3. Love this book and love the craft! I’m excited about the rest of the children’s book crafts. Thanks!

  4. I seriously love this idea so much – not just the elephants but the whole series! Thank you for doing this. I can’t wait to do them all with my kids this summer!

  5. This is such a nice idea to have a craft project based on a book !
    (I might be a little bit biased concerning this particular project because I really like Elmer 🙂 )
    I can’t wait to read about your next project !

  6. very cute! i actually bought the Elmer books for my son in French.

    Might have to make him some elephants to go with it

  7. What great inspiration for summer activities! I can’t wait to see what other book crafts you post.

  8. What a great idea. We have one more month to go here, before the kids are out for summer vacation. I will stay tuned for more book craft ideas. Thanks.

  9. I’m a teacher and I usually read Elmer’s aventures to my students and they love it. In the end I always make some mobile with it. Your garland is lovely.

  10. Oh, how fun! I’ve got to come back and visit to see what else you do. 🙂
    I wanted to tell you that I’m hosting an incredible giveaway for a $195 EZ View Desktop on my blog. Come on over and enter!

  11. Thank you so much! Please hurry and post your next children’s book craft. We are starving for more of your creative ideas!!!!

  12. Hi Ellen,
    Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful craft! My daughter and I were really inspired and she made her own little elephant today. You can see a picture of it on my blog. I have linked to this project so readers know where we got the wonderful idea from 🙂 Please stop by if you have time.
    Carly

  13. How beautiful! I just love these elephants. Thank you so much for sharing! I love the idea of a series of crafts based on picture books. I’m looking forward to seeing what else you do this summer.

  14. They are lovely! I’m a teacher and my students will love this garland! Thank you so much for sharing the template with us! Kind regards from Barcelona!

  15. This is so nice, thank you for sharing with us! I am planning my baby’s first birthday and it is an elephant theme, so this will go nicely with it!

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