If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I love repurposing our recyclables into new and creative crafts. I want my daughter to see how things can fulfill more then one purpose, to understand that not all should be wasted and to see the creative possibilities in the otherwise mundane. In honor of Earth Day here are our best egg carton craft ideas:
1. Sp-egg-tacles
What you’ll need:
- Empty egg carton
- Scissors
- A single hole-puncher
- Pipe-cleaners
- Markers or stickers
This was such an adorable craft! My daughter walked around the house almost all day wearing her little glasses. She put them on, and immediately became different characters! All you need to do is cut out two pods (leave them attached in the middle). Cut a hole in the middle of each pod, for visibility. Hole punch the sides and insert pipe-cleaners.
If you want an educational component to this craft: ask your students to imagine that their egg carton glasses gives them “chicken vision”. Then, have them create a fun story about what they see!
2. Vowel Sound Shake-Up
What you’ll need:
- Empty egg carton
- Markers
- Letters (cut-outs, or written on paper)
The idea here is to write common letter sounds or combinations in each pod (I choose “ch”, “b”, “th”, “d”, “sh” and “l”). Then place a vowel in the carton. If you don’ have foam vowels like I did, then you can simply write vowels on pieces of paper and use that instead. Have the kids place only one vowel in the carton, close it and then shake it up like crazy ?. When they open the carton, they see where the vowel landed and pronounce that letter sound combined with the vowel to make a funny word. Repeat with different vowels. Be sure to practice each sound before starting.
3. Number Race Game Board
What you’ll need:
- Empty egg carton
- Numbers (cut-out or written)
- Dice or number cube
- Player pieces or figurines
The simplicity of this was so great. We lined each pod with numbers, and my daughter and I took turns rolling a giant number cube. With each roll we advanced our players, and whoever reached the end first won.
This is a great activity for kids who are not yet familiar with board games. It teaches them how to advance their spot through counting. It also teaches them that there is a start and end position. It helped with number recognition every time we rolled our cube, as well as counting practice. The best part: we had an important discussion about winning and losing.
If you don’t have foam numbers, simply write the numbers on the egg carton it’s self. Use any figurines as players!
4. Alphabet Tree Craft
What you’ll need:
- Empty egg carton
- Paint
- Construction paper
- Alphabet stickers (can also be written directly on craft).
This is a perfect follow up activity after reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We made our own coconut alphabet tree. We reused an empty egg carton by painting it green. We cut out some grass, and a tree trunk using construction paper. Lastly, we used some old stickers we had lying around for the alphabet. Voila :).
What are your favorite egg carton craft ideas?