October 14, 2026

Egg Carton Crafts

An egg carton caterpillar, flower, and bug

Egg carton crafts use the cups. Each cup is a flower, a bug body, or one section of a caterpillar. Cardboard cartons paint better than foam. Rinse off crumbs and let the carton dry before you start. These are not in the short recycled guide, which stays with tubes, boxes, and caps.

Set up the table

An adult cuts the carton into a row of cups or into single cups. Scissors slip on the bumpy cardboard, so this is not the child's cutting job. Offer paint in a thin layer. Soaked cups fall apart.

Caterpillar

Ages: 4+. Time: 25 minutes.

You need: a row of four cups, paint or markers, paper antennae.

  1. Leave the cups attached.
  2. Colour each cup.
  3. Draw a face on the first cup.
  4. Tape two paper antennae behind the head.

Four cups are a caterpillar. The whole dozen is hard to handle.

Flower cups

Ages: 4+. Time: 20 minutes.

You need: single cups, paper petals, a green strip, glue.

  1. Glue petals around one cup.
  2. Tape the cup to a stem.
  3. Make one or three.
  4. A yellow centre drawn in the cup is enough.

The cup is already the centre. Do not stuff it.

Bug

Ages: 5+. Time: 20 minutes.

You need: one cup, paper legs, markers.

  1. Draw a face on the outside.
  2. Tape six short legs along the sides.
  3. Add wings if it is a flying bug.
  4. Count the legs.

Six legs say insect. Eight legs say spider. Pick one.

Paint pots

Ages: 3+. Time: 15 minutes.

You need: a carton left whole, three colours of paint, a brush, paper.

  1. Put a spoon of paint in three cups.
  2. The carton is the palette.
  3. They paint on a separate sheet.
  4. Close the lid when you stop, or wash the cups.

This is a tool and a craft. The palette can be the thing they remember.

Treasure cups

Ages: 5+. Time: 20 minutes.

You need: single cups, paper, crayon.

  1. Each cup holds one tiny paper object they draw and cut with help.
  2. Line the cups in the lid.
  3. Name what is in each.
  4. No tiny real objects for children who mouth things.

Paper treasures keep this safe.

Snake

Ages: 5+. Time: 25 minutes.

You need: cups cut apart, tape or a brass fastener for an adult, markers.

  1. Decorate each cup.
  2. Tape them in a line, slightly overlapping.
  3. Add a tongue on the first cup.
  4. It can curve.

Tape on the inside of the curve so the outside looks clean.

What to watch

Foam cartons snap and make small pieces. Prefer cardboard. Paint dries slowly in the cups, so set the animal somewhere flat, not on a bed.

The Imagination Hive is a children’s art and STEM studio in Milton, Ontario. These projects use ordinary supplies so you can start at the kitchen table.

Keep making