Learn how to draw an elephant easy enough for even younger elementary students to try out. This one is guaranteed to fill the paper.

Finished drawing of an Elephant, colored with crayons

Who says that animal drawings always have to show the entire body? Why not try a close up once in awhile? This tutorial focuses on just the front half of the elephant so students have more room to draw the tusks and trunk, along with all their famous wrinkles.

Also, if you’ve never tried my paper folding trick to give students quick drawing guides, this is the perfect project to give it a try. All they need to do is fold their paper in half both ways and make a crease, before starting their drawing. The neck lines up perfectly with the vertical center fold, and the bottom of the neck with the horizontal fold. When students have those landing points to start and stop their lines, there’s a lot less guesswork involved. Less guessing means more accurate lines the first time around, which will always help the confidence of any beginner artist.

Note: You can also tell anyone concerned about drawing on a “wrinkled” paper that the creases disappear after everything is colored in. All the more reason to color everything in carefully!

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Easy Elephant Coloring Page

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Materials for How to Draw an Easy Elephant

Pencil. The Ticonderoga brand are the most reliable, make nice dark lines when you need them, and are the easiest to erase. Buying the pre-sharpened ones will save busy teachers a lot of time.

Eraser. Large ones you can hold in your hand do a much better job than just the pencil tip erasers, especially when erasing leftover pencil lines after tracing.

Black Sharpie Marker. These fine point permanent marker pens make nice black outlines, have a good tip for coloring, and never bleed when they get wet. Use them with good ventilation and add extra paper underneath to protect your tables.

Prang Crayons. These are a bit softer than other crayons so they sometimes look like oil pastels. They also have a some nice brown shades that Crayola does not have unless you buy their larger boxes.

Crayola Crayons. The reliable brand that always works well. The 24 pack has some of my favorite golden orange and yellow colors that seem a bit richer and warmer than the ones Prang has.