Look at the pictures showing the elephants passing through the jungle. Can you copy their postures and expressions? How would they move, do you think? Have a go at walking like an elephant – don’t forget to swing your trunk! – then plod, stamp, clump and stomp your way around the room. Play elephant-follow-my-leader, copying the movements of the elephant at the front of the line. How many different ways of moving like an elephant can you find?

Find some music for your elephants to move to (The Elephant from The Carnival of the Animals by Saint Saens works well) and let the parade begin!

Copyright David McKee for Andersen Press

From Elmer’s patchwork to the richly-imagined foliage of McKee’s jungle backdrop, colour and pattern play an important role in this book. How many colours can you spot and name? Which patterns do you like best, and why? 

Would you like to have a patchwork coat like Elmer’s? Wear as many different colours as you can!

Why are Elmer and Wilbur the only patterned elephants, do you think? To find out more about Elmer’s patchwork colours read Elmer, Elmer Again, Elmer and Wilbur and Elmer’s Special Day. 

To take this further, try these multisensory colour and pattern activities

• Use a lightbox to explore colour mixing with translucent materials
• Make coloured playdough and slime. Use for sensory exploration, as a base for small world play and as a prompt for talking and writing (older children could test different recipes in search of the best dough or slime!)
• Investigate colour mixing by putting coloured ice cubes in glasses of warm water and watching as the colours blend
• Put blobs of coloured paint in ziplock plastic bags and squish to blend 
• Explore refraction, light, surface tension and rainbow patterns using bubble blower
• Make colourful butterfly prints inspired by Elmer and Butterfly
• Taste some colourful food
• Explore finger and body paint outdoors
• Use tessellating shapes to create patchwork designs
• Make patterned blocks and print your own patchwork patterns
• Have a go at traditional sewn patchwork techniques

Patterns from Elmer's Special Day                   Copyright David McKee for Andersen Press

The elephants love Elmer because of his differences, and not in spite of them       David McKee talking about the Elmer books

In this book Elmer seems happy and relaxed about his differences – his patchwork colours reflect nicely in the water and he doesn’t feel the need to rush and miss the wonders all around. But Elmer hasn’t always been like this! In the first book he spends all night worrying about being different and eventually decides to dye himself grey, like the other elephants – you can read about it in Elmer, and find out what happens next in Elmer Again. 

Are there times when you want to fit into a group, and times when you don’t? How does it feel to stand out from the crowd? How should the herd behave towards elephants who are different? How can individuals resist pressure to think and behave like other people? Should we always resist that pressure? Why/why not?

Elmer’s patchwork is multicoloured, Wilbur’s is black and white and Aunt Zelda’s is blue and purple  (and diamond-shaped!) What would your colours look like? Draw a picture of yourself in your patchwork elephant skin. Why have you chosen these colours? What do they say about you?

"Elmer is really about accepting who you are, about celebrating difference. We are all different, with so many differences – difference of colour, of accents, but also of size, shape and how we dress. The differences are what make the world so rich. It’s strange because we humans seem to like differences in other things – in dogs and trees and flowers – but we don’t accept it in people. If people aren’t like us we don’t accept them. Elmer tried to be like the other elephants but in the end he has to be himself.” David McKee commenting on a gallery of Elmer artwork in the Guardian: find it here Celebrating Difference

What do the pictures tell us about Elmer’s jungle storyworld? How many different locations and plants can you spot? Draw a sketchmap to show the setting for Elmer’s Walk and mark the key events.

What do you know about jungles and rainforests? What can you find out? Is Elmer’s jungle a real place, do you think? Why/why not?

To create your own Elmer-inspired jungle playscape, provide card, tissue paper, recycled containers and colouring materials so that children can make McKee-style trees, plants and other props. Place alongside rocks and sand in a container, together with real and artificial plants and other materials to create a jungle scene. Supply small-world jungle animals for children to explore and animate. Encourage them to create characters, dialogues, adventures and storylines and record via photographs and audio files. Use to inspire writing and bookmaking.

For older children

Read Elmer’s Walk alongside Elmer’s other adventures and compare the settings - some of the main locations are listed below. Draw a map of Elmer’s jungle storyworld, marking the vegetation shown in the books, the geographical features and the locations of key events. 

Pretend you’re scientists visiting Elmer’s jungle. Make sketches of the plants and trees, and write notes about these strange new specimens. How many different types of plants can you find? Give them names and invent more species. 

Geographical features and locations in Elmer's storyworld include

Red Rock Pass – Elmer and the Race, Elmer and the Hippos

Waterfall – Elmer and Aunt Zelda, Elmer’s Walk, Elmer and the Rainbow

Path across white cliff to cave – Elmer and Butterfly

White cliffs – Elmer, Rose and Super El, Elmer and Butterfly, Elmer’s Walk

Stepping stones – Elmer and Grandpa Eldo

Lake – Elmer and Rose

River – Elmer and the Hippos, Elmer’s Walk, Elmer and the Rainbow, Elmer Again, Elmer and Snake, Elmer and the Whales

Caves – Elmer and Big Bird, Elmer and the Rainbow, Elmer and Butterfly

Red rocks – Elmer’s Walk, Elmer and Super El, Elmer and the Hippos, Elmer and the Tune

Night sky –Elmer’s Walk, Elmer and the Lost Teddy

Scrub – Elmer and the Tune

Bamboo thicket – Elmer and the Tune, Elmer on Stilts

Aerial view – Elmer and the Wind, Elmer and Big Bird

Underwater – Elmer and the Tune

The deep-dark monkey forest – Elmer and the Tune, Elmer and the Monster 

Going up the mountain and emerging from pinetrees into snow – Elmer’s Christmas, Elmer and the Snow

Mapping the course of the river to the sea (including the Red Gorge and the rapids) – Elmer and the Whales

And for jungle trees, plants and flowers – all the books!

Elmer and Lion at the red rocks in Elmer and Super El               Copyright David McKee for Andersen Press

Paint wall hangings and friezes with McKee-inspired trees and plants. Hang netting from the ceiling and attach creepers and flowers made from rolled newspapers, fabric offcuts and tissue paper. Add extra touches of your own (a butterfly mobile, a green carpet, a ‘river’ made from scrunched fabric and mirror card…) together with comfortable patchwork cushions or beanbags. And don’t forget a library of Elmer books! 

Elmer is an optimist, someone who likes to connect with friends and make life better for those around him. Which life-enhancing books would you choose to put in a ‘Feelgood Library’ for Elmer? Make booklists and collect titles to add to your reading corner.

Copyright David McKee for Andersen Press

When Elmer’s busy or needs some thinking space, he goes for a walk. But even when he’s thinking, he’s never too busy to notice the wonders of the natural world….

“We don’t have time, Elmer, we’re hurrying somewhere…” 

Talk about being busy  - what does it mean and how does it make you feel? Who’s busy in this book, and what do they miss as a result? Talk about mindfulness and try some observation and focus games.

What does this book tell us about Elmer? For example, he takes time to appreciate the simple things in life, he wants to share his enjoyment with everyone, he is persistent...

‘Do an Elmer’ and go for a walk along a route you know well, taking time to notice things you’ve never noticed before. Use all your senses to engage with them - be curious, ask questions and let your imaginations work overtime! Bring friends and family on your walk, and record your adventures using voice memos, videos and photography so that you can share the fun and build on it.

Or visit somewhere new, like a park or woodland, and explore this environment by taking special notice of what your senses are telling you. How do different locations smell and sound? Use blindfold games to explore your sense of touch and encourage children to notice colours, patterns and details as well as overall impressions. Can you taste anything? What do you notice about the wind and weather, the position of the sun and the level of natural light? Discuss, draw, collect and record, then make a display about what you’ve done.

You don’t have to walk to be mindful - how about watching the night arrive, like Elmer and Wilbur at the end of this book?

Elmer notices a log shaped like a crocodile               Copyright David McKee for Andersen Press