How to catch elephants

[This post is for Sophie but grown-ups are allowed to read it as long as they remain silent and respectful]




Equipment needed
1 blackboard and easel
1 piece of chalk
1 violin
1 telescope
1 pair of tweezers
1 pot with lid

Method
Set up blackboard and easel in a clearing in the jungle
Take the piece of chalk and write on the blackboard 2 + 2 = 5
Conceal yourself nearby, pick up the violin and start to play

How it works
Elephants are very musical, so any passing elephant will be attracted into the clearing by the sound of violin music.
Elephants are very intelligent, so when it sees what is written on the blackboard, it will stop in its tracks, trying to work out why someone should write 2 + 2 = 5 when every elephant, and most children, know that 2 + 2 = 4 (at least in this universe).

Catching the elephant
This is the easy bit. Put down the violin, look at the elephant through the wrong end of the telescope, which will make it very tiny. Using the tweezers, pick it up carefully and put it in the pot. Important: don't forget to screw the lid tightly, otherwise the elephant might escape.

(What you do with the elephant after you've caught it is up to you, but don't take it into the kitchen or you will have mighty big footprints in the margarine).