Egg Carton Caterpillars Kids Painting Activity

A craft activity is a great way to entertain your kids and encourage them to be creative! These egg carton caterpillars are cute and fun to make. All you need is an empty egg carton, craft paint, and some colorful embellishments!

You can easily turn an empty egg carton into these creative pals, instead of throwing it in the trash. My kids loved painting their egg carton caterpillars and decorating them with googly eyes and pipe cleaners. Kids craft projects are a great way to have fun and use up some of your random craft supplies.

How to Make Egg Carton Caterpillars

Craft Materials

• empty egg carton
• colored craft paint
• paint brushes
• paint tray or small paper plate
• small jars with water
• googly eyes
• pipe cleaners
• rhinestones
• hot glue gun or tacky glue

To make an egg carton caterpillar, first cut a large egg carton in thirds lengthwise. If you are using a standard size egg carton, cut it in half lengthwise. Use scissors to trim off any edges and sharp corners.

Paint Your Caterpillar

Next, paint the egg carton segments using colored craft paint. You can set your kids up with individual paint trays or give them each a small paper plate to hold the craft paint. Fill a small jar with water so your kids can wash their brushes out in between colors.

Kids can design their eye carton caterpillar using any paint colors they’d like! Create a rainbow caterpillar by painting each segment a different color. Or use one color of paint and add designs such as stripes and dots. Allow the craft paint to fully dry.

Painting egg carton caterpillars is a great opportunity for young kids to practice using a paint brush. Older kids can get really creative with their designs! Each of my kids had their own artistic vision for how they wanted to design their caterpillar.

Embellish Your Caterpillar

Once the paint is dry, you can embellish these egg carton caterpillars with googly eyes, pipe cleaner antennas, rhinestones and other crafty accents. Use a hot glue gun or Tacky glue (not school glue) to attach the embellishments. I’ve discovered that school glue doesn’t work as well to permanently attach googly eyes and rhinestones.

To make pipe cleaner antennas, poke two holes through the top of the caterpillar’s head segment. Wrap a short piece of pipe cleaner around a pencil to create spirals. Insert a pipe cleaner into each hole in the caterpillar’s head and hot glue it in place.

It’s fun to see how colorful these egg carton caterpillars turn out! My kids were very proud of their finished caterpillar friends. Kids can play with these egg carton caterpillars or use them to decorate their school desk or bedroom shelf.

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Katie Wallace

Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 4 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, photography, and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist, and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!