I’ve had lots of fun sharing Elmer the Elephant crafts on the Crafts on Sea Facebook page this week and as it’s quite a new story to us I thought it might be nice to try an Elmer craft of our own with this cute suncatcher!
To make an Elmer Suncatcher you will need:
Coloured paper or card
A picture of Elmer to copy
Baking paper
Tissue paper in assorted colours
Googley eyes (my son is obsessed with them, I had no say in the matter)
Sticky back plastic. I bought some in a local shop for 99p that was advertised as being for covering school books
How to make it:
Firstly I traced a picture of Elmer from a book using the super old school method with a bit of baking paper and a pencil. You draw, turn it over and then place it on your coloured paper, tracing it again meaning that you get the outline on your coloured paper. I haven’t done that since school, go me.
Then I cut around the drawing leaving about a centimeter margin of paper to make an outline. I also cut out a curved line to make the shape of an ear.
My son and I then placed our Elmer shapes coloured side down on the sticky back plastic, adding the ear shape and an eye or two.
We then cut square shapes out of the tissue paper and put these over Elmers body. Place another sheet of sticky back plastic on top to seal it and you’re done!
I made a little loop of thread through the top of them so he could hang them in his window.
This was a really nice craft because we could sit and do one each. I’ve always been a bit hands off with kids art but I’ve noticed that in his playgroup they show what the finished article ‘should’ look like which I think is a good idea if you’re trying out a new idea. Of course this doesn’t mean that your child has to follow the rules and do what you tell them, that would be really boring anyway!
Perfect as Elmer is all about how it’s fun to be a bit different! If you like this you might also enjoy my round up of crafts and activities for reading Miffy at the Seaside.
Ness (@jibberjabberuk)
I do like a sun catcher. I still have my daughter’s Easter egg hanging up which she made at Brownies.
Gude @HodgePodgeCraft
Love this Kate! Elmer with googly eyes? UTTER GENIUS x
you baby me mummy
This is brilliant and so cute too x
Jen aka The Mad House
This is ace, pinning and sharing
Lucie Aiston
This is a great idea!! Love Elmer the Elephant!! So cute!
Hannah Staveley
Wow wow and wow just amazing could never do something like this .x
jenny
We love making our own suncatchers but we’ve never read an Elmer book!
Adele @ Circus Queen
I love this one! Now I just need to get some sticky backed plastic…
Kizzy
This looks so simple and yet so effective. Will be having a go later with the kids
Rachel
I love this idea, ive sent it to my sister-in-law as a project to do with my niece and nephew as I think they would love it x
Rachel @ Parenthood Highs and Lows
That looks fab. We love Elmer so that’s something for us to try on a rainy day!
Globalmouse
I love this! We are big Elmer fans in this house and read the stories regularly. This looks brilliant.
Joanna Sormunen
I remember we used to do crafts like this when I was in school but I have not seen anyone do these in Ecuador. I pinned your post and will be introducing this to the teachers here 🙂
Kate Williams
Thank you, that’s a lovely thing to say 😀 x
Zena's Suitcase
What a lovely idea. I’d enjoy making this, let alone the kids
Paul Wandason
Wonderful idea – these would look great on my daughters’ windows!
#LetKidsBeKids
Helen Dickinson
We adore Elmer in this house! Adore the sun catches, such a fun creative idea. Thank you for sharing.
Hellie's Corner
He’s so cute 🙂 #pintorial
Tarana
Looks cute! I agree that the fun is in letting kids have their way. Love the new look of your blog, by the way 🙂
Kate Williams
Thank you 🙂 Not ashamed to say I love it too!!
Caroline Hooper (My Family Ties)
It looks so lovely, and who doesn’t love Elmer! Love reading your blog x #tuesdaytutorials
Bek
Wow! These are wonderful! Elmer is a favourite in our house and this would be perfect for my daughter. Thank you for sharing.
Kate Williams
Thank you 😀
Karen Bell
aw, I love that. It looks great and fun to make, being reactive with the colours etc.
Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids
Jill
Oh wow! This is fantastic, my kids are going to love making an Elmer Elephant!
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
Liska @NewMumOnline
Oh he is very lovely indeed. I have never made a sun catcher, but it’s a lovely use of light and colour xx
Pim
Thank you for sharing this cool idea. I will let my students do it.