Have a bunch of egg cartons left over from the holidays? Don’t throw them all away! Egg cartons are an excellent material for craft projects for kids. They’re durable, easy to paint, and they have a shape you can’t recreate with regular box cardboard. Children love making new art out of familiar objects; arts and crafts for toddlers allow them to see the world in a new way and support important developmental skills like creativity and spatial reasoning. Why not repurpose this would-be trash into fun kid crafts?
Have a bunch of egg cartons left over from the holidays? Don’t throw them all away! Egg cartons are an excellent material for craft projects for kids. They’re durable, easy to paint, and they have a shape you can’t recreate with regular box cardboard. Children love making new art out of familiar objects; arts and crafts for toddlers allow them to see the world in a new way and support important developmental skills like creativity and spatial reasoning. Why not repurpose this would-be trash into fun kid crafts?
Since egg cartons are so versatile, there are dozens of ways to transform them. From cutting to paining, flowers to bones, the possibilities are endless when using them for crafts! Kathy Charner’s book The GIANT Encyclopedia of Art & Craft Activities for Children 3 to 6 contains plenty of art and craft ideas for toddlers. Here are a few activities from the book. Grab your egg cartons and get cracking!
Darling Daffodils
Materials
- Scissors
- Cardboard egg cartons
- Construction paper
- Newspaper
- Yellow and green paint
- Paint cups and brushes
- Paper towel tubes
- Flower shapes cut from construction paper or cardboard
- Glue
- A stapler
What to Do
- Before the children arrive, cut the egg cartons into individual egg pockets. Cut the flower shaped from the paper or cardboard and cover the work area with newspaper or a tarp. Pour the paint into the cups
- Invite the children to paint the cardboard flowers and egg compartments yellow, and the paper towel tubes green
- While the paint is drying, have the children cut leave shapes from the green construction paper
- Once the paint is dry, glue or staple the flower shape to the top of the tube. Glue or staple an egg holder to the middle of each flower shape
- Attach the leaf shapes to the tube with glue or staples
Floss Your Teeth
Materials
- Egg cartons
- Scissors
- White paint
- Paintbrushes
- White yarn cut in 12” pieces
What to Do
- Before the children arrive, divide the bottom of an egg cartons into four sections (three compartments for each child)
- Give each child their section of the carton with the bottom facing up
- Have the children paint the egg cartons white like teeth. When the cartons are dry, give each child a piece of yarn
- Talk to the children about how to care for their teeth. Demonstrate flossing by wrapping the ends of the yarn around their fingers and sliding it between the compartments of the egg carton
Munching Caterpillars
Materials
- File folders or poster board
- Scissors
- Egg cartons
- Newspaper
- Paint and Paintbrushes
- Small containers
- Green construction paper (12” x 18”)
- Pencils
- A hole punch
- Pipe cleaners cut in half
- A stapler
What to Do
- Before the children arrive, cut used file folders or poster board to make large leaf stencils. Cut the bottom of the egg cartons in half lengthwise. Cover the table with newspaper and set out paint in small containers. Place half an egg carton and a brush at each child’s seat
- Ask the children to paint their egg carton caterpillars. They can paint him with spots, stripes, stars—whatever they want!
- While the paint is drying, have the children trace leaves on the construction paper, then cut out the leaves
- Punch out caterpillar nibbles on the leaf with the hole punch. Poke holes on top of each caterpillar’s head for the antennae. Have the children insert the pipe cleaners into the holes
- Staple each caterpillar egg carton to a leaf and display
