Are you looking for an easy craft for toddlers? I’m not sure about what happens at your place, but we go through a lot of eggs and in turn have quite a collection of egg cartons. This Egg Carton Caterpillar activity is an easy to set up and fun craft idea that allows us to repurpose resources that would otherwise be headed for landfill!
Egg Carton Caterpillar
Egg cartons are such a versatile resource. This simple craft idea transforms a once grey, dull egg carton into a bright and colourful character to add some vibrancy to your toddler play space. Why not utilise the entire egg carton and make a pair!
This activity is perfect to pair with the Very Hungry Caterpillar book too - the pop up version is available HERE.
What you need to make Egg Carton Caterpillar
- Egg Carton
- Scissors (adult use)
- Paints (We love this collection of Crayola Paints!)
- Paintbrushes - if you don't already have some THIS Set is great for toddlers
- Pipe cleaner
- Googly eyes - stick on ones are SO much easier than trying to glue them. You can get them HERE.
- Paper (optional, we just used it to reduce mess and make tidying up a bit easier)
How to make you Egg Carton Caterpillar activity
To prepare your egg carton, simply trim the led and the other strip on the front of the carton. Then cut the wells along the length of the egg carton so you have two lengths as shown in the picture.
With care, use your scissors to make two small holes in the well of one end. This is for the pipe cleaner antennae to be poked through once your caterpillar has been painted. It is much easier to make these holes before painting, trust me!
The next step in the most fun – pass your egg carton strip to your toddler and let their creative juices flow! Will they use just a few colours or all of them? Will they use the brushes or resort to use their fingers? Will they paint stripes or polka dots? Will they paint the entire length or leave some bare? There are no right or wrongs – only a good time!
Once your special artist has finished, trim two 5cm lengths from your pipe cleaner. Bend one end of each so they may resemble a cane. Poke the straight end of each into the holes you made earlier and presto!
Your caterpillar is taking shape! Stick your googly eyes on and your Egg Carton Caterpillar is complete!
My girls both loved creating their Egg carton Caterpillars. I love how our young people take so much ownership over their creative projects. This little project was quick and easy to set up and filled an hour beautifully! Dull, dreary egg cartons turned into vibrant masterpieces so special and unique!
If you enjoyed this activity we would love to see you share a picture in our Facebook Group. You can also follow along on Instagram for more toddler activity ideas. Follow @myboredtoddler and use #myboredtoddler
If you enjoyed this egg carton caterpillar craft you'll love our other Very Hungry Caterpillar activities.
You might also like this fun egg carton craft activity idea
About the Author:
Dani is a busy stay at home Mum of 3 and early childhood teacher in training who is passionate about play based learning throughout early childhood. For educational play ideas that you can do at home and parenting tips visit Play Inspired Mum Check her out on Instagram andFacebook