Celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday with this fun Horton the Elephant craft using cotton balls and paint!
One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to sit on my dad’s lap as he read Dr. Seuss books. We had quite the collection! But it wasn’t until I had kids that I first met Horton the Elephant. Somewhere we picked up the DVD Horton Hears A Who and my kids love it. I’ll admit that Horton has become one of my favorite Dr. Seuss characters and I enjoy the movie just as much as they do.
In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday on March 2nd, gather the kids and paint a Horton masterpiece. Kids love absolutely anything to do with paint. And unlike this watercolor flower craft, they use acrylic paint for this one.
Take the Dr. Seuss Reading Challenge!
Horton the Elephant & His Clover Cotton Ball Painting
Horton Cotton Ball Painting Supplies:
- White and gray paper
- Craft paints in Pink, Yellow, Blue, Orange, Red, Black
- Paper straw or popsicle stick
- Glue
- Scissors
- Cotton Balls
Horton Cottonball Painting Directions:
Begin by making Horton. You can paint Horton onto the paper, but cutting him out of paper is more dimensional. Cut two ovals and an elephant trunk from the gray paper.
Glue one oval on the edge of the white paper, this is Horton’s head. Glue the trunk to his head and then glue the second oval slightly over the first. This is his ear. Glue a paper straw over his trunk.
I set the paint out on a paper plate for each kid – like a painter’s pallet. To make the clovers, dab cotton balls into paint and then onto the paper. The texture of the cotton ball will come through on the paper and make them look fluffy! I love lots of colors and the finished project with all the paint is beautiful.
Use the paint in other colors to create a colorful painting and clover field. Use black paint to paint stems on the clover and add stripes to the stems.
To frame the painting, just glue the painting onto construction paper. Display prominently for Dr. Seuss’s birthday month.
Love the Horton craft. a template for Horton would be a good idea!
This is one of the most seriously darling crafts I’ve seen in a long time! Thanks for bringing this by Throwback Thursday!
Mollie
This is interesting! Pls do Link UP at the Practical Mom Link Up! I’d love to see you there 🙂
Found your post on Snippets of Inspiration weekend wind-down party and loved the picture. Such a cute and simple arts & craft.
This is such a fun idea! I’ll have to make this with my nephews the next time they visit – they love Horton!
Super, super cute! And so clever!
This is so cute! I’ve always been a huge fan of the Horton Hears a Who story. This is a fun project to do after reading it!
This is sooo cute, like really, really cute!!!=) Pinning it! Thank you so much for putting smile on my face today with this adorable elephant!
Aw, thanks!!
This is so cute! I could see hanging it in the house, or even doing smaller versions to use as birthday cards. Gotta love Dr. Seuss!
Love this idea of extending the love of a book/story by creating art. Might be fun to coat the cotton balls and glue them on for a 3-D bas relief look : ) cheers.
Really adorable! Thanks for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!