Elmer

These patchwork elephants were one of the first crafts that I did with the Toddler Group. A box full of bits of coloured paper is always a hit, regardless of what we're actually aiming to achieve with it. Most of the children are far more interested in the sensory side of my activities than creating anything to take home and keep. I've even started encouraging them to bring the toy diggers over to the table to play with whatever we're using. This week we were gluing wool and fabric scraps to paper hearts for Valentine's day. Whilst they did make some beautiful hearts, the little ones had a hundred times more fun throwing the scraps at each other (and me) and hiding piles of them in their den (under my table) when we were supposed to be tidying up! Sometimes it's important to just have fun.

Back to Elmer; we're big fans in this house. From a crafting perspective he is a gift. Our first attempt at a paper patchwork creation inspired by the lovable character was this mask that we made back in April last year.

Another nice Elmer impression was created quite simply with a paint brush. Add a great big googly eye and an ear cut to stick out slightly and you have a lovely, colourful elephant with a big personality. This one hangs proudly in our conservatory along with a multitude of other projects.

My favourite patchwork elephant is the closest replica of Elmer himself. The process by which he is created has Jessica yelping with excitement. It's called tissue paper printing. We sprayed thick paper with water before laying squares of tissue paper on top, spraying with water again and leaving to dry. The tissue paper falls off when dry leaving the dye on the paper. We love it!