Fun Egg Carton Crafts for Kids
If you ask most parents, the idea of an eco-friendly and low-cost afternoon activity for kiddos of all ages sounds ideal. To that end, families who eat eggs — or are simply able to get their hands on some egg cartons — are in luck, as these grocery store staples can unlock a world of fun for kids after they’ve served their intended use.
These craft ideas can be constructive for any kid but might be particularly good for those working on IEP goals.
Here are just three examples of fun egg carton crafts for kids worth trying next time you’re looking for a sustainable and creative activity for little learners.
Celebrate Each Season with Carton Crafts
It’s such a joy to see kids’ enthusiastic reactions to holidays — and only natural for them to want to get on the fun each time a new season rolls around. Egg carton crafts are a simple, no-fuss way to celebrate various occasions.
For instance, colorful baby chicks are an adorable way to usher in the spring season and its various holidays. Another example would be creating fun and spooky carton decorations in time for Halloween — like spiders, black cats, ghosts, jack-o-lanterns or witches.
It’s pretty simple to transform egg cups using some paint, paper, glue and add-ons like feathers, googly eyes, pom poms and pipe cleaners. So, once you stock up on a couple key materials, or gather them from your existing craft collection, you’ll be good to go all year round.
Use Egg Cartons to Collect Treasures
Trying to get the kiddos out of the house and into the outdoors? Try treating egg cartons like a kids’ treasure box — then encouraging your intrepid little explorers to go out and find items to fill their cartons.
As the experts at Tinkergarten suggest, offer prompts to help collectors focus on what to seek out. For toddler-aged collectors, keep it simple — perhaps by asking them to fill their cartons with things they like, or anything that will fit neatly inside. As kids get older, the prompts can become more complex. Consider asking kids to collect items of a certain color or texture. Once children reach the ages of four and five, they can start to collect items based on more abstract categories, like “things that animals would eat,” etc.
Make an Egg Carton Choo-Choo Train
Many kids become interested in transportation at some point, perhaps even to the point of obsession. Egg cartons are a great way to recreate kiddos’ favorite modes of transportation — from boats to buses; trucks to trains.
Using pipe cleaners or string to connect decorated egg cartons into a train is only the start. Then kids can fill their “train cars” with their favorite toys or objects and cart them all around the house or yard. There’s creativity to be found in decorating and building the train and incorporating into play later, too.
Create the Perfect Percussion Instruments
Do your kiddos love to scream, shout and shake it all about? Try turning a couple egg cups into shaker instruments by filling them with rice or dry beans. While an adult will have to handle the hot gluing step, kiddos can do everything else, from painting their new percussion instruments to shaking these instruments on the beat of their favorite songs.
Adding instruments to the usual song and dance is a great way to increase the range of motion, practice hand-eye coordination and introduce basic musical concepts early in life.
Think twice before you toss those egg cartons, otherwise you might inadvertently throw away a versatile craft supply that can turn into an animal, vehicle, treasure chest or musical instrument. It’s never a bad idea to have a couple extra cartons on hand for a rainy day.
