If your family eats a lot of eggs you would be amazed at how many of those styrofoam egg cartons you throw away in a years time. The next time you get ready to toss one, remember that there are all sorts of things you can make with them. One of these things is an art supply holder for little kids. Theyll love helping to make it and theyll thoroughly enjoy using it during art time at home.
Cut the Styrofoam egg carton down the center, lengthways. Turn it upside down. Now poke a hole in the top of each section of the carton. The holes you poke will become the holders for crayons, markers, pencils, pens or similar items.
You can create a caterpillar from the egg carton by adding a few craft supplies. Start with chenille pipe cleaners in the color you choose. The furry pipe cleaners can be cut into pieces that form legs. Cut one pipe cleaner into four pieces then bend the pieces to form the legs. Stick the end of one pipe cleaner piece into the side of one egg carton section. Do this for each section then do the same thing to the other side. So, after adding the legs youll have six legs on each side. Now youll take two more pipe cleaner pieces to form the antennae. Stick them in the top of the first section of the egg carton. You can embellish the antenna by gluing a tiny jewel onto the top of each antenna. You can purchase wiggly eyes to glue on or you can just draw the eyes on with a marker. There are many ways to decorate the caterpillar art supply holder. Give the caterpillar a mouth formed from a strip of red felt, a red marker, or even a piece of red licorice. Or, purchase a set of stickers that form a face, and affix them to the caterpillar. You dont necessarily have to use the egg cartons which are made from Styrofoam. You can use the cardboard types as well. You can make the caterpillar longer, by adding on another half of an egg carton, or you can make it smaller by using only three or four sections of the carton. By adding on another section you can then have one section that holds, say, crayons, with a second section that holds markers. Or, the entire caterpillar can hold an array of colored pencils. The supplies you use the caterpillar to hold are up to you. You can make a different caterpillar that can hold other things besides writing instruments. Cut the carton in half, but instead of turning it over, leave the concave side of the sections facing upward. Attach the legs, eyes and antennae as you did before. Now the little cups can hold paper clips, fake jewels, buttons, and many other types of supplies. Place two of the half cartons next to each other and make a two-headed caterpillar. Kids really love helping with this project and there are so many different ways to embellish it. You can even attach a separate head, without using one of the egg carton cups as a head. Things you can use to make a head include pom-poms, a small rubber ball, a ping-pong ball, or even a ball of tissue. Glue on eyes and antennae then glue the head onto the first cup of the egg carton. Instead of using chenille sticks for the legs you can use sticks, toothpicks or even sections cut from straws. Youre not limited by having to use craft supplies; look around the house and youll find all sorts of things you can use instead. You and your kids will really enjoy this easy art supply project. If you have an empty carton of eggs you can make two caterpillar caddies today! The project will give kids something to do on a rainy day and theyll create something they can use for years.
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