by Jai Dhillon
Recently after Avar and I went to our local Odeon Newbies screening, we came across lots of statues of elephants dotted around the Intu Shopping Centre. Vibrant and colourful, they reminded me of the Wenlocks scattered about London during the 2012 Olympics.
I discovered the statues were part of a national tour, the Intu Elephant Parade, raising awareness for the plight of the Asian elephant. We went back to check it out properly over the weekend and it was amazing to see how many children were in love with these colourful animals.
The tour is an annual event and takes place in cities across the world, showcasing elephants designed by local artists. This year the Elephant Parade is sponsored by Intu and is being held indoors in their shopping centres across the UK, making it an ideal activity with the kids when the weather isn’t ideal. There are 30 elephants on display, each of which has been designed by a UK artist.
To make the exhibit even more interactive and kid-friendly, Intu Uxbridge are running an elephant hunt, the “Eye Spy Elephant Trail”, which you can participate in for free. Just pick up a leaflet from the Elephant Parade Shop or Intu Customer Services and enjoy trying to match the 20 elephant eyes with their owners to find out the elephant’s name and the artist who painted it. With 30 elephants dotted around the entire shopping centre, this will keep your little ones busy for a while, as 10 elephants will just be decoys in the hunt! And best of all, there are Intu shopping vouchers up for grabs for the winners.
Each of the elephant statues is being auctioned off, so if you have a chunk of change lying around and enough space to house one of these beauties, you can bid on them here. All of the proceeds from the auction go to the Asian Elephant Foundation—great for the kids and great for the environment they’re going to grow up in.
Alternatively, if you don’t have thousands to spend, the next best thing is a visit to the Elephant Parade Shop, which donates 20 percent of its proceeds to the Asian Elephant Foundation. They have mini replicas for sale of all the elephants on display, along with elephants from previous tours, including those that have been designed by celebrities such as Joss Stone, Katie Perry and Ricky Gervais.
But by far my favourite thing was the “Paint Your Own Elephant” for £25. Not cheap, but a great idea for artistic little ones. You can either let your creative juices flow or use the reference book for inspiration. The lovely staff will then take your elephant away to varnish and you can pick it up two hours later.
The Intu Elephant Parade is now in its final days, but you still have some time to get down there! The elephants will be at Intu Uxbridge until this Sunday, 29th June 2014, before moving on to Intu Bromley on 30th June for the final four weeks of the tour. Happy elephant spotting!
About the author:
Jai Dhillon is mum to baby boy Avar and spends her time split between west London and New York city. When she’s not walking with elephants, she’s busy sourcing and reviewing baby products for her site Kiddy Reviews.
