For students in early elementary school, do a simple drawing craft. Print a drawing of an elephant and allow students to color and name their elephant. On the board, label the functions and facts of each part of an elephant's body. For another simple craft, use a paper plate and have your students color it grey for the elephant's body. On another sheet of paper, have students color ears, a tail and trunk to cut and glue on their paper plate body.
Have the students color, cut and glue pieces of an elephant together. This craft will teach the students different textures. Provide items of differing texture such as samples of sandpaper, silk, and something fuzzy. Instruct students to match textures with parts of the elephant. Elephant skin is rough so glue sandpaper spots on the body. Place silky cloth on the inside of the ears and the fuzzy sample on the end of the tail.
Instruct children to experiment with creating a 3-dimensional elephant. Using an egg carton, cut one egg cup for the body. Cut the portion that closes over the eggs to form the sides for the legs. Glue the legs on the body. Using paper, cut the head, ears and tail and glue them on the body. This activity can also be done using a toilet paper roll for the body. To add more dimension to the trunk, cut a strip of paper, fold it into small squares, alternating the fold each time until the strip of paper is a square. Then allow the paper to unfold, leaving a crinkled look and glue it to the elephant's face.
Make your crafts count by creating them for multi-purpose use. If students are planning a puppet show to share animal facts, instruct students to create an elephant puppet out of a brown paper sack. They can cut the head, trunk and ears out of paper and glue them onto the bag. They can also cut and glue arms. Students can also create an elephant bubble bath container or elephant head water bottle lid. Using paper, cut out an elephant head and trunk. Use a large bending straw and cover it with paper and attach it to the head as the trunk. Cut a hole in the top of a water bottle lid, fasten the paper head around the lid and insert the straw in the hole.