Inspired by Elephant and Piggie Book Series

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When my son used to go to school, he came home and told me that his school would have a school event. I don’t remember many details, but the event was a celebration of books and reading. Also, it was for encouraging students to discover the joy of reading. He told me students could wear or bring something related to their favorite book. Back then, he LOVED Elephant and Piggie by Mo Willems and read them every day.

My son: “Mommy, they said that I can be like a character from my favorite book!”

Me: “Cool! Which character you want to be?”

My son: “Gerald! Elephant Gerald!”

Me: “That’s fun!! When is this event happening?”

My son: “Tomorrow!”

Me: “Noooooooo!!!”

He might have forgotten to tell me about it… So I needed to gather anything we had at home and get this costume done by the next day! Must do this quick!

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What We Used

• Elephant Gerald’s costume
  • 3 gray socks (Washed. Of course.)
  • Joke glasses toy (What is this?)
  • Grey hoodie jacket
  • Sawing needle and threads (Grey thread might work the best, but white or black threads are fine) 

• Speech Bubble Banner
  • Cardboard
  • Printed “Banana!” line in speech bubble
  • Heavy-duty packaging tape
  • Scissors or utility knife
  • 2 straws

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How We Did (Elephant Gerald’s Costume)

First, I grabbed my three grey socks. One is for the elephant trunk, and the others are for ears. 

1. I folded the top of 2 socks.
2. I sewed each of them to each side of my son’s grey hoodies like ears when he put his hood on.
3. I sewed one sock to the joke glasses’ center to make it look like Gerald’s trunk. 

I could have used tape to attach those socks, but my son was very active, so I sewed them to make them more secure.

How We Did (Speech Bubble Banner)

I love Elephant and Piggie book’s speech bubbles, so I made a banner with my son’s favorite line from the book. “BANANA!” (haha!)

1. I designed the speech bubble with the line “BANANA!” from the book.
2. I printed it out.
3. I glued the printed paper on the cardboard and cut it out.
4. This process is optional. We had rainy weather that week, so I put the heavy-duty packaging tape on the banner so that the printer ink wouldn’t smudge by the rain! Quick waterproof!
5. I attached 2 straws on the back of the banner with packaging tape.

It came out good for just an hour DIY costume project.

If you would like to make a speech bubble banner, I made the free printable PDF. The speech bubble is blank so that you can add your favorite line from Elephant and Piggie books!

Happy learning!