Elf Surfing Craft for Kids [Free PDF Template]
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This fun elf surfing craft brings together sunny beach days and holiday magic in one creative project. Children in kindergarten through 2nd grade will enjoy making an elf that’s catching a wave on a colorful surfboard. The activity takes about 30 minutes to complete and gives kids opportunities to strengthen fine motor skills, practice following directions, and express their creativity through art.
If you’re searching for fun Christmas in July crafts, this festive activity will be a great addition to your seasonal plans. Parents and teachers can add it to holiday themed lessons, summer camps, or afternoon activities at home. Kids will love combining beach fun and Christmas traditions to create a cute keepsake to display.
Beach Elf Craft for Kids
This paper elf craft features one of Santa’s helpers riding the waves on a sunny day. Kids can personalize their creation with color choices and creative details so each project is unique.
A kids activity like this can help fill a summer afternoon and encourage important developmental skills like cutting, gluing, and coloring the pieces. It’ll give children a chance to practice hand-eye coordination, fine motor development, and concentration.
Our printable elf template makes it easy to put together. Grab a few supplies like colored paper, scissors, glue, and markers then start creating a festive summer craft. Before long, kids will have an adorable surfing elf ready to brighten any Christmas in July celebration.
Supplies
- Colored cardstock or construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Markers
- Crayola Bold & Bright markers
- Elf Surfing Template (click the “click here to get your freebies” image at the end of the post)
Directions
Start by printing the template, then gather the materials for this fun activity. Get those scissors ready, and let’s help the kids bring this elf to life!
Glue the dark blue wave piece along the bottom of the blue background paper. Help your child line it up with the bottom edge to create the ocean.
Take the white wave cap piece and glue it to the top of the curling wave. As your child presses it down, talk about how ocean waves get foamy white tops when they crash and roll.
Grab the elf piece and use markers or crayons to color the hair. Let kids choose their favorite hair color and add their own creative touch. This little detail helps bring the elf’s personality to life.
Take the swim trunks and decorate them if they haven’t been colored already. Once finished, glue the swim trunks onto the elf’s waist. Your elf is officially dressed for a day at the beach!
Use a marker or crayon to add a few extra details to the elf, such as rosy cheeks, a nose, or any other fun touches your child wants to include. These small details make the elf look even more cheerful.
Take the surf board, color it in, and place it near the bottom of the scene, resting on top of the water. Once your child is happy with the placement, glue it down securely.
Glue the elf on top of the surf board. Position the feet so it looks like the elf is balancing while riding the waves. Watching the scene come together is always an exciting moment.
Look for the elf’s hat, color it, and glue it onto the elf’s head. Even though this elf is enjoying a beach day, the festive hat reminds everyone that Christmas fun can happen anywhere.
Take the yellow sun piece and glue it in the top corner of the background, letting it hang slightly off the edge. Trim away the excess for a clean finish.
Using a Bold & Bright yellow marker, draw sun rays around the sun. Encourage your child to make long rays, short rays, or even zigzag rays to give the sunshine lots of energy.
Use a Bold & Bright white marker to draw a fluffy cloud in the sky. There’s no wrong way to do it, so let your child get creative with the shape and size.
Finish the craft by drawing extra water lines and wave details around the surf board and ocean with blue Bold & Bright marker. These final touches make it look like the elf is really surfing across the water.
Once everything is dry, display the completed activity and celebrate your child’s awesome beach-loving elf! Making this surfing elf helps children practice following directions, creative thinking, and hands-on crafting skills.
Be sure to check out the related crafts and activities below for even more themed fun. They can help you create engaging lesson plans, learning centers, and seasonal activities kids will love.
Summer Books for Children
How To Catch A Mermaid is the summer version of the classic “How To Catch” series! It’s perfect for mermaid fans and summer lovers alike!
Gorilla Loves Vanilla is all about, you guessed it – ice cream! This silly book will have kids laughing and asking for you to read it again and again.
Goodnight Pirate is a fun bedtime book to read to kids all summer long! They’ll love the illustrations, story, and rhyming words.
Beach Themed Christmas Crafts
Summer Santa Craft – Bring a little holiday fun beachside with this fun project! Kids will create Santa ready to catch some waves with his surfboard. His sunny vacation away from the North Pole will encourage kids to use their creativity and imagination. Use our free template to get started!
Reindeer Beach Craft – Rudolph is swapping snow for sunny beach days! Kids will love creating a Polaroid selfie featuring their favorite reindeer relaxing in the sand with sunglasses and a big smile. They’ll practice fine motor skills through cutting and gluing while stretching their imaginations with thoughts of reindeer vacations.
Beach Snowman Craft – This snowman on the beach will have kids imagining their frosty friend enjoying sunshine, sandy shores, and summer fun. They’ll practice fine motor skills, creativity, and following directions as they assemble the beach scene. This Christmas in July activity will have kids creating how a snowman would spend his days on the beach.
Christmas In July Gingerbread Man Craft – Kids will enjoy creating a gingerbread man in a sunny scene filled with sand, bright colors, and festive details. They’ll strengthen fine motor skills, hand coordination, and creativity when they’re cutting, arranging, and gluing the pieces together. Grab our printable template along with a few supplies to create this fun Christmas in July activity.
Festive Holiday Printables for Kids
Turn sight word practice into a festive coloring with these Christmas sight word coloring sheets! Kids will have fun finding and reading sight words to bring holiday pictures to life with color.
This hands-on activity helps strengthen word recognition, reading fluency, focus, and fine motor skills. Parents and teachers will love how these worksheets combine literacy practice and creative fun to make learning feel more like a holiday celebration than schoolwork.
Turn scissor practice into a merry time with these elf cutting practice worksheets! Kids will love snipping along lines, matching elf pieces, and completing festive challenges to improve their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, focus, and scissor control.
These printables are a great addition to Christmas preschool themes, holiday learning centers, classroom morning work, or quiet time at home.
Keep the holiday learning fun going after story time with these Pete the Cat Saves Christmas worksheets! Kids will complete activities inspired by Pete’s festive adventure to work on important skills like letter recognition, fine motor control, problembsolving, counting, and early literacy.
Parents and teachers can use these printables alongside reading Pete the Cat Saves Christmas to reinforce story concepts, encourage comprehension, and extend the learning with hands-on fun.
Your little ones can help gingerbread friends find their way through twists and turns in these gingerbread man mazes! Kids will build problem solving skills, critical thinking, and concentration.
Tracing the maze paths also strengthens fine motor control, pencil grip, and hand-eye coordination. These festive worksheets make a fun addition to learning centers, morning work, quiet time activities, or holiday themed lessons at home and in the classroom.
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Free Elf Surfing Template
Elf Surfing Craft
Video
Materials
- Colored cardstock or construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Crayola Bold & Bright markers
- Markers
- Elf Surfing Template
Instructions
- Print the template and gather the materials for this fun activity.
- Begin by gluing the wave piece along the bottom of the background paper.
- Glue the wave cap onto the top of the wave.
- Use a marker to draw on the elf’s hair.
- Color in the swim trunks, the glue them onto the elf’s body.
- Using a marker, draw on the elf's nose and belly button.
- Next, color in the surf board and glue it onto the wave.
- Glue the elf onto the surf board.
- Color in the elf's hat and glue it onto his elf.
- Glue the sun piece in the top corner of the background and trim off any excess.
- Using a yellow Crayola Bold & Bright marker, draw sun rays around the sun.
- Draw a cloud in the sky with a white Crayola Bold & Bright marker.
- Finally, draw extra water lines around the wave and surf board with a blue Crayola Bold & Bright marker to complete the craft.
Did you make this?
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Meet Sam
Sam is the crafter and founder of Simple Everyday Mom. She has been featured in Oprah Mag, Good Housekeeping, The Spruce Crafts, Country Living, The Bump, and more.
