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100 Things To Do With
Egg Cartons
Compiled by Dave Morley		 Recycle Symbol

After the successful original project, 100 Things To Do With Paper Tubes, Lynda challenged me to come up with 100 or more thought starters for crafts and activities you and your Beavers could do with egg cartons. Here's the effort. Although many are sketches, others are fairly complete. If you have any ideas to add to the collection, please send them along.

Each craft and/or activity is dependent on the design of the egg cartons you have available. Not all egg cartons are the same. There are 6s, 8s, 12s, 18s, 24s and 36s. It also depends on the material used for the egg carton:  cardboard, recycled paper product, plastic or styrofoam. And then there are the different colours. An advantage is that while many of these are recycled products, after you are finished with them, they can be recycled again.

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Note:

Before beginning on a craft project or activity, each egg carton should be sanitized. Styrofoam cartons can be easily washed in soap and water. Cardboard and recycled materials can be put in a microwave for about a minute each. Any egg carton or cup that is soiled should be discarded.

  1. Airplane — You may be able to make two airplanes out of an egg carton. Use 3 or 4 connected cups as the body, and add wings and a tail from the flat material of the lid. A trimmed cup on either side of the front wing for the engines. Help Beavers add windows and insignias (stickers).
  2. Animal Noses — Paint single egg cups an appropriate colour for the animal you want. This makes the snout, now add a nose — black for most animals, pink for a rabbit — and hold on with sewing elastic. Make ears and the illusion is complete.
  3. Baby Chicks — Made with one egg cup and two cotton balls. Put a mixture of baby powder and yellow tempera in a paper bag. Beavers shake cotton balls in bag. Carefully shake off excess in a garbage can. Glue the cotton balls in the egg cup and add construction paper beak and eyes.
  4. Ball Toss — Give number values to each cup in an egg carton bottom — say 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100s. Beavers try to achieve their best total score by bouncing three ping pong balls into the cups.
  5. Beaver Buggies — A modified version. Give each Beaver a pair of connected cups and let them decorate. Provide two sets of wheels to be connected to the "body". Race then down a ramp.
  6. Bells — Paint individual cups golden yellows. Add more decorations with stickers or glitter. Add a small jingle bell as clapper. Add finished product to Christmas wreaths, hang on Christmas tree, or use as a door decoration.
  7. Bird — Use one egg cups for the body. Add wings, tail, and head made from other parts of the egg carton, or use colourful construction paper.
  8. Boats — The lids provide opportunities for some interesting boats; especially in the minds of Beavers. Cut up the lids to use as sails.
  9. Bubble Blower — Using a carefully trimmed single cup from a styrofoam (polystyrene) egg carton, make a pencil-size hole in the bottom. Beavers dip the rim into a bubble solution and blow through the hole.
  10. Bugs — Cut carton into single cells. Paint green or some other bug colour, or let the Beavers use their own choice of colours. Use three pipe cleaners for the legs (6). Glue on googly eyes and use various styles and colours of pipe cleaners for the antennae. Let your Beavers invent.
  11. Building Materials — Use egg cartons whole, in halves, in cells, or a combination of all. Give Beavers the challenge of building a tower or some other structure.
  12. Butterfly — Use three connected egg cups (lengthwise). Attach a pair of fun foam wings to each side of the middle section. Add a pipe cleaner antennae and facial features.
  13. Camel — A two hump camel is a natural, and can be added to the Nativity project below. Use other carton materials for the legs and head. Add a yarn tail. Fashion three wise men from single cups.
  14. Candles — Make scented candles. Melt wax in a double boiler. Add scents (from a candle shop) and old crayons for color. Put the wick in the bottom of each egg cup. Tie on a small washer to keep it on the bottom. Pour in the wax, holding up the wick. After wax has set, help Beavers remove the egg cup.
  15. Candy Dish — Each Beaver needs half (3 by 2) an egg carton. Glue together two 375 mm by 25 mm strips of brightly coloured construction paper. Staple these to the side of the carton. Add a bow to one side the handle, or embellish the handle as you wish. Finally, add an assortment of candies or treats.
  16. Caterpillar — Cut egg cartons so each Beaver has a section three eggs long. Beavers then attach pipe cleaners for antennas, glue eyes on, colour with markers.
  17. Centipede — A natural. Let Beavers paint a full egg carton. This is the body. Add construction paper feet to the cups, eyes, an chenille stems for antennae.
  18. Christmas Decoration Storage — Something for the Beavers to make for after Christmas. Line egg cups with tissue paper. Store small Christmas tree bulbs and ornaments in each cup.
  19. Christmas Tree — Beavers cut out traced Christmas tree pattern from egg carton lid. Paint the tree green and decorate with stars and other stickers, and use yarn or coloured string garland. You may even use an egg cup as the base.
  20. Colour Glasses — Use two adjoining egg cups. Cut the bottoms out. Cover the cutouts with different colour cellophane. Attach elastic to the sides of the glasses to keep them in place.
  21. Craft Helping Hand — When working with small round items, use the egg carton to hold the item while Beavers paint one side, or just as a holder while the item dries. The egg carton keeps those little round things from rolling away. If the Beavers are painting Easter Eggs and egg carton works well.
  22. Craft Tray — Use the lid of the carton during craft activities to put pencils, crayons, fixatives, paint brushes, etc.
  23. Cup Challenge — Using a single cup and give each participant a spring-close clothes pin. The objective is to pass the egg cup around a circle, using only the clothes pin, and without dropping the cup. Make the cups different colours. Make things more complicated by starting another cup or two in the same and/or opposite direction.
  24. Desk Organizer — A Father's Day possibility:  remove the top and place inside a desk drawer to hold small items, like paper clips, rubber bands, push pins, etc. Beavers paint or decorate the top so it can be placed on top of a desk — where it will be seen.
  25. Dominoes — Make yourself various sets of stackable dominoes using egg cups. Use numbers, alphabet (uppercase and lowercase), colours or dots on any one set. Good homemade game for Beavers.
  26. Dragon — Could also be a dinosaur. Every egg carton has enough bumps to make interesting dragon bodies and tails. Use toilet paper rolls for the legs and neck, and be creative with the head.
  27. Dragon Fly — Use a single egg cup as the head. Attach a coloured craft (popsicle) stick to one side of the cup. This is the body. Make two pair of narrow wings out of material from the egg carton top. Attach them at the point where head and the body are attached. Use buttons for eyes.
  28. Dreidel — A variation of the top. Point egg cup light green, add appropriate symbols to the sides, and push a short (golf) pencil through the top of the cup.
  29. Ears — We talk about about noses and snouts but parts of the egg carton are good for ears. Trimmed egg cups work just fine, and various bends in the carton offer other ear possibilities. Use ears in projects and disguises.
  30. Easter Eggs — As an Easter gift from the Beavers. Paint egg carton purple and decorate with various yellow and pink items. Fill each cell with green tissue or shredded filling. In each cup, place one of more candy or chocolate eggs.
  31. Egg Cup People — Beavers us markers to draw a face on the side of an egg cup. Help them fill their cup with potting soil then sprinkle grass seeds on top. Let them take the people home with instructions to water as necessary — just to keep the soil moist. Soon, their egg cup people will have growing "hair".
  32. Finger Creature — Cut out three adjacent cups from a cardboard egg carton. Leaving the middle cup, trim the outside cups so they look like ears. Cut and X into the bottom, big enough to insert a Beaver's finger. Paint the creature with tempera, and add facial features with markers.
  33. Fire Starter — Fill each cup with wick and a combination of saw dust/wood chips, dryer lint, and paraffin wax.
  34. Flower — Cut the egg cup into various flower shapes such as rounded or pointed tulips, then colour. Use pipe cleaner stems and cut out construction paper leaves.
  35. Flying Saucer — For a space theme, trim an egg cup so it sits level. Using tacky glue, attach to the top-middle of a plastic coffee tin lid.
  36. Game/Toy Storage — Help Beavers take care of those little game pieces or toys at home. Beavers decorate an egg carton to be used to store game pieces, dice, etc.
  37. Golf Ball Storage — For Father's Day, Beavers decorate an egg carton as a great place to store extra golf balls.
  38. Halloween Pumpkin — Join two cups together at the open end to form kind of a ball. Paint the ball orange. Add black construction paper eyes, nose and mouth. Use green construction paper for a few leaves on the top.
  39. Hawaiian Leis — Cut egg carton into individual cups. Paint bright colours. Punch holes on two opposite sides. Use brightly coloured tissue paper threaded on a metre string or yarn. Use cups as spacers between the tissue paper.
  40. Homemade Game — This works well with a 24-cup egg carton. Think of cribbage. Mark a start and finish on the egg carton and trace a course through the cups. Make a top (see below) from a single egg cup and number the sides 1 to 4. Beavers spin the top and move their coloured button up and down the cups of the egg carton. They win when they spin just the right number to go out.
  41. Ice Cube Tray — As a cheap ice cube tray at camp, use plastic egg cartons to make extra ice.
  42. Indoor Snow Shoe — Some egg carton designs have a flat lid. Give each Beaver a pair of lids. Conduct an indoor biathlon with Beavers navigating a course and pausing to do a ring (or ball) toss.
  43. Jigsaw Puzzle — The solid top of an egg carton is good weight for Beavers to draw on the area and cutting them up to make the puzzle pieces.
  44. Kim's Game — A small item in each cup of the carton. Lid closed. Lid is opened for 30 seconds to let Beavers see the items then closed for them to recall what was inside.
  45. Lady Bug — Carefully trim a single cup. Paint it reddish-orange. Beavers add black construct paper dots (one hole punched), chenille stem antennae and googly eyes.
  46. Make Paper — Help Beaver to tear up egg cartons. Put the pieces into a pot with detergent, and cook on low for 2-3 hours. Now put mixture in a blender — make it a smooth consistency. Add water to mixture before and after cooking. Strain pulp through screen until desired thickness. Mix in a touch of food colouring or other items (such as string, or confetti dots), to enhance the character of your paper. Evenly spread mixture onto open newspapers. Place more newspapers and towels on top to absorb moisture. Cover with heavy books for 24 hours. (May need a plastic barrier.) Peel off paper and let dry for 24 more hours.
  47. Marble Drop — Put number values in the bottom of each egg cup. Beavers try to drop marbles into the cells (and stay). Total for their best score.
  48. Marble Passing — Give each participant an egg cup. All participants are in a circle. Start a marble in one direction. The marble has to be "poured" from one person to the next all the way around the circle. Once everyone gets the feel of the activity, start a marble in the other direction. Add even more if you like.
  49. Marionette Bird — Use a single cup for the head, two more singles for the feet, and a double for the body. With string, connect the head and feet separately to the body. Add facial features and a feather crown to the head. Use different colour feathers for the wings on both sides of the body and for the tail. Connect the head and body to a paper tube control and the feet to another.
  50. Masks — Use two connected egg cups. Ends versus middle sections give a different look, and using cups in to the eyes versus outward is yet another look. Cut out the bottom of the cups for the eyes. Decorate with construction paper eyelashes, antennae or whatever the Beaver imagination comes up with. Attach a piece of elastic string to the sides of the mask to hold it place around the Beaver's head.
  51. Material — Think of egg cartons as a source of material for other projects that don't necessarily need the shapes provided of an egg carton.
  52. Money Tray — As a Father's Day gift, use the flat lids of an egg cartons — or a styrofoam meat tray. Decorate sides and bottom inside.
  53. Mouse — Trim a single egg cup so it sits flat. Using a folded triangle of egg carton material, glue on the snout. Add a small pink pom-pom for the nose, black felt ears, and a pink pipe cleaner tail.
  54. Mr. Egg Cup — Give each Beaver a trimmed egg cup, assorted fun foam shapes and tacky glue. Let them create their own creature or face.
  55. Munsters — Start with a full 12-egg carton. Think about using the egg carton from all directions:  normal, upside down, vertical. Add eyes to all the cups, or pipe cleaner arms. Maybe eyes are somewhere else and other appendages come from the cups. To stand your munster vertical, glue paper tubes to the bottom and add your own design for feet.
  56. Nativity — Fashion Mary and Joseph from single egg cups. Keep them simple Colour Mary light blue. Use gold pipe cleaners for haloes. Turn over a single egg cup for the manger. Shred yellow construction paper for the straw. Add a single white mint as the baby Jesus.
  57. Necklace — Let Beavers paint and decorate single cups and thread them onto coloured yarn. For an native look, each egg cup looks like a giant tooth.
  58. North Pole — Paint a single cup white. Turn over so the solid part is on top. Beavers make a sign that says "North Pole" to tie on with a bow to the candy cane. Cut a small hole in the top of the egg cup and push in candy cane pole.
  59. Number Game — Number each cup of the egg carton, or the same number repeated in each half. Put a token in the carton, close the lid and shake. Let Beavers take turns shaking the carton. Use with games such as May I.
  60. Nursery — Fill egg carton with potting soil and plant one or two seeds in each cup. Teach the Beavers how to water and care for the seeds. Emphasis to keep the lid closed so the seeds will stay warm and sprout quicker. Pressed paper egg cartons can be planted directly outside.
  61. Owl — Take a good look at the end pair of cups and the separator between four cups. There's a strong resemblance to an owl.
  62. Paint Container Holder — If you use baby food jars for paints, use the lid of an egg carton and cut out holes just large enough to hold the jars. In this way they won't tip over, there's something there to catch the drips, and somewhere to put brushes.
  63. Paint Tray — Makes disposable paint holders. Each Beaver has their own paint tray.
  64. Painting Shapes and Textures — Dip a cup in paint and gently press on paper. Different parts of the cup give different shapes and textures.
  65. Paper Mache — This is a Pulp Method. Soak small pieces (about 2 cm. square) of egg carton over night in warm water until soft. Add a small amount of previously-mixed wallpaper paste to the paper mixture and stir. Strain excess water from the pulp mixture and place in the plastic container. With the pulp ready to work, let Beavers form jewelry, ornaments, etc. After drying, objects may be painted with acrylic paints.
  66. Pig — Glue two trimmed egg cups together at the open end. Use other parts of the egg carton for the ears. Attach pop-pom feet and a short curly pip cleaner tail.
  67. Plant Starter — A variation on the Nursery above:  using the bottom half of an egg carton, poke a few holes in the bottom of the egg carton for drainage. Fill about ¾ with potting soil and vermiculite. Beavers plant one to two seeds in each cup and at home sets the egg carton in a sunny window.
  68. Potpourri Container — Use a square of four connected cups. Plastic or styrofoam cups look great. Make up your own potpourri and fill the cups. Cover with plastic wrap or coloured cellophane. Help Beavers tie a package bow (across all four cells) for this Mother's Day gift.
  69. Project Organizer — With 12 compartments, an egg carton can help you organize a craft project for each Beaver. Include the craft materials, tools and fixatives.
  70. Puppet — Show Beavers how to draw a face on the flat side of the egg cup. Glue to a craft stick and add yarn hair.
  71. Raft Races — An egg carton for each Beaver. Let them decorate and perhaps add a sail or two. This helps Beavers distinguish "their" raft. Race these in a local stream.
  72. Recycling Awareness — Make this craft part of a Reduce, Reduce and Recycle theme. Don't forget items such as paper and plastic bags, plastic containers, polystyrene (styrofoam) products, and aluminum and tin cans. The Beavers will understand that they can reuse materials and reduce the amount of waste that is produced.
  73. Rocky Rabbit — Paint a fist-size rock with tempera. Glue together two trimmed egg cups for the head. Attach a pair of rabbit ears in the seam between the cups. Help Beavers draw or glue facial features on the rabbit. Glue the head to the rock body and a cotton ball for the tail.
  74. Robot — From a cardboard egg carton, give each Beaver five cups. In pairs, glue two cups together. Cut a triangular piece out of opposite sides of the single cup. Glue the pairs and single cup together. Add pipe cleaner arms and googly eyes.
  75. Shaker — Put rice, beans, peas or popcorn kernels in a carton. Close and seal. Decorate, such as with as with a collage of construction paper scraps.
  76. Sleeping Elf — For the body of the elf, glue two egg cups together at the open ends, then paint pink. From cardboard, cut a headboard and footboard, just slightly wider than the elf. Make headboard about twice the height as the footboard. Cut a square of fabric for the blanket of the elf and glue it over the bottom egg cup. Glue two googly eyes and a pom-pom nose on the top cup to make a face, then glue on a fiberfill beard and hair. Glue the headboard across the top of the elf and the footboard along the bottom.
  77. Snack Trays — Great at camp, or on a hike. Set out a variety of bite-size snack foods such as crackers, cheese, raisins, grapes, various cut-up vegetables, etc. Let Beavers take them outside for a Picnic.
  78. Snake — For St. Patrick's Day:  give each Beaver six (or more if you have them) individual egg cups. Beavers colour them however they wish. Use a one-hole punch on two opposite sides of four cups and one side of the remaining two. Join by threading yarn or ribbon through. Add eyes and a mouth to the head.
  79. Snowman — Use six cups, glued in 3 pairs — open ends together. Paint white. Decorate with pipe cleaner arms and construction paper eyes and buttons. Tie on a ribbon scarf. Consider a black construction paper hat, dependant on tail level.
  80. Sorting Tray — Beavers can use this to sort various rocks by size, beads by colours, etc.
  81. Sound Proof Box — As part of a science theme, line a cardboard box, big enough for a Beaver to sit in, with egg cartons on every side but the floor. Let Beavers experience how noise is suppressed.
  82. Spider — Punch holes in the sides of the carton; enough for 8 pipe cleaner legs. Let Beavers use markers to colour their spider. Add a pair of googly eyes.
  83. Stacking Game — Beavers are given single cups. From shoulder height and arm's length, Beaver tries to drop the cup into one on the floor.
  84. Stop Lights — Mount three connected egg cups on the top of a paper tube. Glue green, yellow and red construction paper circles on each of the cups.
  85. Tiddly Winks — Beavers try to snap little coloured disks, such as bingo chips or buttons, from a flat surface into a cup.
  86. Time Capsule — At the start of a year give each Beaver an egg carton. Have them fill it with 12 things they'd like to remember. Take a Polaroid and put it inside. Open the time capsule at the end of the year.
  87. Tooth Scary — To make this hand-operated puppet, use a 12-cup egg carton, remove and trim up the lid. Help Beavers cut triangular pointy teeth on the side and two ends. Add two single cup nostrils on either side of the front of the lid. Attached two single cup bulging eyes about halfway along the lid. Tape the back ends together and paint the creature. With markers, complete the nostrils and eyeballs, and maybe add eye lashes.
  88. Top — Let Beavers decorate a single cup — colour with markers, paint, and/or use stickers. Insert a short pencil (golf pencil) down through the middle. Number the sides to use as a game spinner (instead of dice).
  89. Train — For each Beaver you'll need a row of six cups and half a of a toilet paper tube. Beavers turn the egg carton half open side down and colour. Colour the half paper tube black. Glue the tube onto the first cup and there you are, a train.
  90. Treasure Hunt — Give an egg carton to each Beaver before going on a nature hike. Have Beavers collect "treasures" to fill the carton. Treasures can be used for a "Show and Tell", gathered and sorted, glued into the carton or on paper as a reminder.
  91. Truck — Using a full egg carton, remove half (3 by 2) of the lid. Add a dozen fun foam wheels and light blue construction paper windows for the cab.
  92. Turtle — Cut small turtle shapes out of green construction paper. Have Beavers glue an egg cups onto their turtle shapes. Paint or use markers for their "Painted Turtle".
  93. Turtle Races — Each Beaver is given a single cup which they decorate like a turtle. Then, they are given a marble to put under the cup when it is placed on the top of a I-beam drapery track ramp. Turtles race down the ramp.
  94. Waste Basket — Each Beavers needs the bottoms of nine egg cartons, nine pieces of string each about a metre long, and one aluminum pie plate. With a one-hole punch, make four evenly spaced holes along the side of each carton. Beavers thread a piece of string through the top holes of two cartons and tie them together, cups to the inside. After several cartons are together, put the plate inside so it is supported by the bottom rows of the cartons. Finish tying the cartons around the plate.
  95. Water Cascade — As part of a science demonstration, angle the egg carton and start running water from the top. Watch as the water fills one cell and then the next on its way to the bottom.
  96. Water Challenge — A Beaver challenge. How long does it take them as a team to get water from one source, carrying it in a single egg cup, to fill a container to a given line?
  97. Weigh Distribution — Have a Beaver step on a single egg carton cell. It will crush. Now make a bed of egg cartons, using only the cups. Place them open-side down and next to one another. Place a thin piece of plywood on the bed and carefully lay a Beaver on top of the plywood. The bed will support her weight. I may also support a scouter. Discuss with the Beavers why this happens.
  98. Weigh Scale — Cut out the middle section of a wire coat hanger. Make a loop on each end. (Tape the ends.) Suspend an egg cup on each end with string. Let Beavers put various items in each end to see what is heavier.
  99. Wild Card — Give each Beaver an egg carton, other "good junk", and adult support. Tell them to make anything they want, but it must include the egg carton. Let us know what imaginative ideas they come up with.
  100. Witch — Using the end of an egg carton, cut away the carton so you have a section with two egg cups and the protruding divider section that separates the four egg cups. Add small black eyes, bag or construction paper hair, a pointed hat and a simple black construction paper body.

Books and resources used as a starting point:

1001 Teaching Props
Warren Publishing House Inc., Everett, WA 98203, 1992
ISBN 0-911019-46-4
Best of leader, Fun at the Pond, the First Twelve Years
Scouts Canada, National Council, 1993
ISBN 0-919062-68-7
Disney's Family Fun Crafts
Deanna F. Cook, Worzalla Publishing Co., Stevens Point, WI, 1997
ISBN 0-7868-6304-8
Kids Create
Laurie Carlson, Williamson Publishing Co., Charlotte, VT 05445, 1990
ISBN 0-913589-51-9
Make Stuff
A handy spot on the web for projects using recycled materials.
Theme-a-Saurus II
Jean Warren, Warren Publishing House Inc., Everett, WA 98203, 1990
ISBN 0-911019-26-X

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Last updated: December 21, 1999
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