11 Ideas for Reusing Egg Cartons with Kids

Crafts

Pinterest is rife with adorable egg carton crafts. Here are some of our favorites. 

Egg-Carton-Whale-Kids-Craft-5-750x600WhaleThis craft from I Heart Crafty Things is almost too beautiful to play with. But we’re pretty sure your kids will get over that for some imaginative underwater play. To round out the underwater scene, check out this link for other egg carton sea life.

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Pirate ShipSet sail with this easy-to-make pirate ship. The instructions here call for stickers for the mast, but your kids could also draw or paint on a skull and crossbones or whatever else suits their fancy. Bonus: if you have any Fischer Price Little People, they fit perfectly inside.

egg-cart-n-coptersHelicopter. Is your child obsessed with trains, planes, cars and anything else that moves? If so, indulge in your child’s love of all things vehicle with these minicopters from The Craft Train. Not only are they fun to make, but they will be lots of fun to play with afterwards, too!

tmt

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Agh, this craft! Love the little turtle heads from Sugar Aunts, and love the imaginative play that can happen afterwards. Maybe round out the craft by making some cardboard pizzas.

sunflowers

SunflowerMake a whole bouquet of these lovelies from Buggy and Buddy. You can glue these to paper, or try attaching a straw to the back with a dab of hot glue, then placing them in a vase or mason jar for a year-round splash of color (with no watering).

Play

Sort it out. Kids — particularly kids ages 2 to 4 or so — love to sort. And egg cartons make the perfect receptacle for that. Pompoms, marbles, rocks, beans, pasta – any of these will work. Your kids can sort by color, by shape, by size…. Hours of fun. Seriously.

Divvy Up Paint. Those big squeezable containers of finger paint are great fun for the kids. But when given the whole container, they’ll likely empty its contents within minutes. Space out the fun by squeezing out globs of paint into egg containers. The paint will last much longer, and they’ll have just as much fun.

Play Dress-Up. Add to your kids’ dress-up stash with these adorable DIY masks from Picklebums. If your kids don’t like having strings around their faces, you could staple a straw to the side instead for them to hold onto.

Go Natural 

Use them as seed planters. Egg cartons are the perfect size for starting those little buds. The best part is when the seedlings are ready to plant, you can just tear one “egg” off and plant it directly in the soil. The carton will naturally decompose.

Make a bird feeder. This sweet and easy homemade bird feeder from the Creative Cubby will take less than five minutes to make. Then just sit back and watch the birds feast!

Donate them. An egg vendor at your local farmers market or CSA farm may take those cartons off your hands (as might a neighbor with chickens!). Some stores  will also take egg cartons. Or check in with your preschool or elementary school to see if they have need of some for craft projects. It’s a nice way to start to teach your kids about giving back.

Ali Wilkinson
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