Turn learning about elephants into a fun, hands-on activity with this Safe Food for Elephants craft!
Children learn about different foods that elephants can eat while taking part in an interactive cut-and-feed activity. The food cards feature bananas, rice, wild grass, corn, mangoes and sugar cane—foods that connect nicely with elephants and their natural diet.
Build Your Elephant!
For an extra-special classroom activity, place the elephant craft onto a cardboard box. Cut an opening where the elephant’s mouth is, creating a fun feeding station!
Children can then:

1. Colour and prepare the elephant.
2. Set up the elephant on a cardboard box.
3. Cut out the food cards.
4. Choose a food card.
5. Say the food name.
6. Feed the elephant by putting the food through its mouth!
   This turns a simple worksheet into a 3D classroom game that children can physically interact with.
   Learning Through Play
   The activity provides opportunities to practice:
   • Food vocabulary
   • Animal vocabulary
   • Speaking and pronunciation
   • Following simple instructions
   • Fine-motor skills through cutting
   • Hand-eye coordination
   • Sorting and identifying foods
   • Imaginative and cooperative play
   You can make it even more fun by having children pretend to be the elephant keeper and asking:
   “What are you feeding the elephant?”
   “B���Բ��Բ���!”
   A Fun Classroom Display & Game
   Once you’ve made the cardboard-box elephant, it can become a reusable classroom prop. Children can take turns feeding the elephant, naming the foods as they go.
   It would work particularly well alongside an animals, zoo, jungle, nature or food unit.
   A simple printable becomes a big, interactive elephant feeding game—and honestly, the cardboard-box version is probably where the real fun begins!
   Credits & Copyright
   © 2026 Sonyja Murphy. All rights reserved.
   This educational resource was created by Sonyja Murphy.
   Illustrations in this resource were created with the assistance of AI (ChatGPT by OpenAI) and have been edited and arranged as part of this original educational work.