Elmer the Patchwork Elephant - Art Parade

David McKee’s beloved Elmer the patchwork elephant and his friends joined us in Doncaster on 13 November to mark World Kindness Day...and they'll be staying with us until the end of January as part of Elmer’s Christmas Art Parade in the city centre!

City of Doncaster Council is working with Wild in Art, creative producers of public art events and Andersen Press, publishers of the Elmer books, to bring the 12 stunning sculptures to Doncaster. In addition to David McKee’s iconic patchwork Elmer, the elephants are inspired by well known artists with six of the sculptures featuring brand new designs unveiled for the first time in the city.

The arrival of Elmer’s Christmas Art Parade on World Kindness Day is poignant as the much loved story promotes kind acts, friendship and inclusivity, key themes of Doncaster’s Choose Kindness movement which will be sponsoring Elmer. Similar to last year’s hugely popular penguins, each elephant will be sponsored by a business, charity or organisation and trail-goers will be able to find out more details about these by scanning the QR codes on the sculptures. There will also be opportunity to take part in a High Street Safari featuring 10 QR codes located in the windows of various Doncaster buildings that can be scanned using the camera on mobile devices to reveal pages of David McKee’s classic Elmer’s Christmas along with augmented reality characters from the book.

Elmer resources and activities

• Download the Elmer Art Trail map
• An activity pack designed by publishers Andersen Press for the trail is also available below for children to download and enjoy.

Elmer Doncaster Activity Pack

Download (5.35MB - PDF)