- Large sturdy paper plate
- cup for tracing a circle (ours was 3 1/4″ diameter)
- pencil
- craft knife (for adult use only)
- gray paint
- paint brush
- 2 sheets of gray cardstock paper
- small piece of pink paper
- scissors
- 2 large googly eyes
- adult-sized gray sock (I purchased a pair at the dollar store)
- glue gun (for adult use only)
Directions:
1. Use the pencil to trace the cup on the back side of the paper plate where you want the elephant trunk to be. Cut the circle out with the craft knife. Now paint the back side of the paper plate with the gray paint and let it dry completely.
2. While the paper plate is drying, cut elephant ears out of the two sheets of gray cardstock paper and set them aside. Also cut a small mouth out of your pink paper.
3. After the paper plate is done drying, it is time to glue the gray sock to the paper plate to make the trunk a puppet. I started by stretching out the top of the sock as much as I could to help it stay down better when gluing. Pull the sock through the top of the plate. Put a dab of hot glue on one section of the plate and fold the sock over and glue it down. Put a dab on the complete opposite end of the plate and fold the sock over and glue it down. (See #2 below). Now just glue small sections at a time all the way around the sock until it is all glued down around the plate.
4. Turn the paper plate over and glue on the ears, googly eyes, and mouth. You can use school glue for this part, or if you are really inpatient like us, you can throw some hot glue on the pieces so you don’t have to wait for it to dry. Now it’s time to play!
She had to use the tongs to pick up peanuts and put the correct amount in each cup. Great math and fine motor practice! Even my older boys like doing stuff like this for fun. (If you have peanut allergies in your home, you can use packing peanuts for this activity instead.)

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