Easy origami elephant tutorial

I made this easy origami elephant* for a friend’s birthday card (and glued it down flat), but they will stand alone as 3D animals, so you could use different size squares and make a whole family of them!

To make an easy origami elephant, you will need:

A true square of origami paper.  The size doesn’t really matter, but don’t go too small, or it will be difficult to work with.  You don’t have to use origami paper either, but make sure the paper is thin, as it makes it easier to fold and manipulate into shape.

easy origami elephant Pin

*this post contains affiliate links*
When you purchase something after clicking on an affiliate link, the price you pay will not be affected, but I will receive a small commission from the seller.  Thank you for supporting Hodge Podge Craft in this way.

How to make an easy origami elephant:

Grab your square of paper and follow the video above!

easy origami elephant

*EDIT: A YouTube viewer has kindly let me know that this model was designed by origami artist Paul Jackson.
I learnt it from a book when I was a child and could not remember who the author was (and sadly no longer have the book).  I couldn’t see another tutorial for this online either; though there are plenty of other origami elephant tutorials, none of them look quite like this one!

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29 thoughts on “Easy origami elephant tutorial

  • June 23, 2014 at 10:44 am
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    It is indeed a gorgeous little elephant and I LOVE it on the card – it is currently sitting on the mantlepiece 🙂

    Reply
  • June 25, 2014 at 3:37 pm
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    I LOVE origami and have done a little bit on my site – this looks so simple as well, and such beautiful paper. Thanks so much for sharing with us and for joining in with the Parenting Pin it Party this week.

    Reply
    • June 27, 2014 at 9:19 am
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      Thanks so much Helen (the paper was a gift)! Popping over to check out your origami now!

      Reply
  • June 29, 2014 at 2:46 am
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    You made that look so easy! I am going to try my hand at making an elephant tonight!

    Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!

    Reply
    • June 29, 2014 at 8:16 pm
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      I hope yours turns out well Jill – just pause the video and do it step by step – you can’t go wrong! 😉

      Reply
      • August 17, 2018 at 7:50 pm
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        As someone who has not done origami, I was really looking forward to this. It was unfortunately to quick, and you don’t explain when you’re turning the paper ? Also, the mistake, you fix it without explaining how to fix it. I appreciate you taking the time to do this, but it’s unfortunate that it’s not easier to follow.

        Reply
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  • July 22, 2014 at 1:14 pm
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    I love a little bit of origami, that paper is gorgeous. I will have a little go at this when I get a spare minute. I’m wondering if I could find some sort of check paper and make myself a little Elmer!

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    • July 22, 2014 at 10:12 pm
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      Thanks Julie – GREAT IDEA! Will you post a photo to my Facebook wall if you do find some please?
      Would love to see…

      Reply
  • July 23, 2014 at 9:40 am
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    That is so sweet, thank you for sharing! Lovely paper that you’ve used too #pintorials

    Reply
    • August 1, 2014 at 3:06 pm
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      Thanks Jennifer – the paper was a gift from a friend in Thailand!

      Reply
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  • October 22, 2014 at 8:56 pm
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    This does not seem to be the correct video. It is a video to make a tiny box, which is adorable, but I’d like to make an elephant.

    Reply
  • October 22, 2014 at 9:18 pm
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    So sorry Laura, I am not sure how that happened!
    I have now fixed the video (I hope) – please let me know if it works for you..?

    Reply
    • October 22, 2014 at 9:56 pm
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      Thanks so much! Perfect. You are so quick!

      Reply
      • October 22, 2014 at 11:02 pm
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        My pleasure – I know how frustrating it is when you are trying to learn something new and you can’t view the video!

        Reply
        • October 23, 2014 at 1:06 am
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          Thanks again. Very good instruction. I need more practice though, my elephant is a little lopsided!

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          • October 23, 2014 at 2:49 pm
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            I am sure you will get the hang of it Laura – practice makes perfect! 😉

  • December 21, 2014 at 9:52 pm
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    This is a beautiful little elephant tutorial, thankyou. I am going to try and make this and if successful i will send a photo of it to the Nature Conservancy website, to help raise money to save elephants! Take a look at the Nature Conservancy website for details and also try United for Wildlife website where you will also find the info. They want people to create an Elegram (draw, paint, make, create, bake etc), 20,000 actually and send in photos of them to raise money. There is a time limit so please look asap to save elephants!!

    Reply
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  • June 3, 2019 at 10:09 pm
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    This was very neat, until I got to the part where the top had to be squished, and then it all fell apart. I now have to start all over, and I don’t know if I will ever get it correct. I can’t do this with preteens…sigh.

    Reply
    • June 3, 2019 at 10:24 pm
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      Nope. I tried, and got all the way through, no trunk, nothing was sticking out over the paper. I was using copy paper. I have to have something to do with the class tomorrow, I could be here all night…sigh.

      Reply
  • September 21, 2019 at 6:45 am
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    I found the patten of your paper hard to follow .. i need a miracle because it’s my friends birthday in 3 days time and she loves elephants…. is there any other plain paper elephants I can learned from… but you are very creatively and clever. Thank you Scherri.

    Reply
  • November 30, 2023 at 6:04 am
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    I am not able to find the video. Can you please help?

    Reply

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