Elmer has a family

Pathfinders class have been inspired by a series of children’s story books we have recently looked at. These are the Elmer books by author David McKee. We have enjoyed reading several of the series about ‘Elmer’ a patchwork elephant who stands out as being different from your average elephant. Each story highlights how Elmer’s unique qualities including his sense of humour help him and his community learn to accept and value Elmer for what he is! We found an image of this craft project on the internet and started collecting empty milk cartons to use for the Elephants. Everyone was keen to become involved and brought in cartons so it was decided through group discussions that we create a whole family for Elmer so he would not feel so alone. This is his family. On completion we have enjoyed dramatic play opportunities with our models and have created play scenes where we add other elephants, wood offcuts, trees, and rocks to create their natural home. This play promotes lots of interesting conversations about how we treat each other and that it is great to be different.