This page walks through how I built the elephant headpiece for our Lion King Jr. school production — starting with a paper mache base over cardstock, adding optional clay sculpting for detail, and finishing with either paint or fabric depending on your budget and timeline. Two finish options are shown so you can choose based on your skill level and performance schedule.

Lion King Jr Musical: Elephant Headpiece

Gray elephant headpiece made from a paper mâché base with fabric overlay, featuring a sculpted trunk and white tusks, worn by a youth performer in a Lion King JR ensemble costume and created as a DIY build using an Ultimate Paper Mache pattern.

In this video I walk through the full elephant headpiece build from flat cardstock to finished stage-ready prop — including how to score and fold the base pieces, apply paper mache layers without warping, and choose between the paint finish and faux leather finish depending on your timeline. This technique works beautifully for Lion King Jr. school productions on any budget.

HOW IT’S BUILT💪🏻

PATTERN:Ultimate Paper Mache-Elephant Headdress Mask Pattern

BASE: cardstock paper and packing or gift tape (Hint: “score” all your pieces to make it easier to fold them)

  • 1ST LAYERS (PAPER MACHE): Mod Podge and newspaper strips (2-3 layers)

  • 2ND LAYER- optional (CLAY/SCULPT): Moldable Cosplay Foam Clay

  • 3rd LAYER (PROTECTIVE): Worbla Flexbond Primer

  • 4th LAYER (FINAL- lighter option): paint (acrylic) and seal it with a last layer of Mod Podge

OR

  • 4th LAYER (FINAL- heavier option, seen in my photo): cover with fabric (faux lightweight faux leather was used in photo). If you choose this option…you can skip CLAY/SCULPT layer. Note: do not cover tusks, leave them white.