# Egg Carton Sheep > Dip cut-up cardboard egg carton cups in white paint and print fluffy wool onto a sheep outline, then finger-paint a cheery spring scene around it. Start with open-ended egg carton flower printing as a warm-up. - URL: https://www.funlittles.com/spring-art-egg-carton-sheep/ - Ages: 2–5 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium - Time: prep 15 min, activity 20 min - Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class - Skills: fine-motor, printmaking, creativity, colors - Cautions: egg ## Materials (one batch) - 1 piece Cardboard egg carton, cut into individual cups (household) - White paint - 1 sheet Colored construction paper or card stock - 1 piece Marker for drawing the sheep outline (household) - 1 piece Paper plate or tray for paint (household) - Assorted colored paints (optional) - Finger paints (blue, green, black and bright colors) (optional) - 1 sheet Black paper (optional) - 1 piece Scissors (household) - Glue stick (optional) (household) ## Substitutions - Instead of finger paints: Black paper cut-outs for the head and legs (As in the author's alternate method.) ## Safety - Adult cuts the egg carton into cups. - Use clean, dry cardboard cartons. Cartons may carry raw egg residue, so take care with children who have an egg allergy. - Supervise toddlers so paint stays off mouths and eyes, and wash hands after. ## Before you start - Cut the cardboard egg carton into individual cups. - Hand draw a sheep outline on a sheet of colored construction paper for each child. ## Steps 1. Warm up: dip an egg carton cup in colored paint and print flowers all over a sheet of paper. 2. Add details to a few of the flowers. 3. Pour some white paint onto a plate. 4. Dip the open end of an egg carton cup into the white paint. 5. Press the cup inside the sheep outline to print the wool. 6. Keep printing until the sheep's wool is full and fluffy. 7. Use your fingers to dab on flowers and bugs. 8. Paint a blue sky and green grass, then touch up the legs and ears with black finger paint. 9. Let the picture dry. ## Tips - They do look like wool, don't they? The fuller the wool became, the more excited the kids were. - Start with some open-ended printing fun. Our preschooler was very keen on making colorful flowers before we moved on to the sheep. - A neatly drawn outline helps. When we redid it with my 4 year old, I did a much better job of drawing it. Ha! - It's an ever-green art activity. My now 4 year old was still interested in egg carton printing. - Toddlers and preschoolers can work on the same sheep project side by side. - Egg carton flower printing is already a preschool favorite. One reader's son had done the flowers at preschool, and the sheep makes a fun next step. (from readers) ## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013) The weather has warmed up a bit for us here and we can’t wait for spring. The store are packed with all things Easter and the kids are giddy whenever we go by the seasonal aisle. ( not always a good thing though!) To keep us cheery we have started with **s[pring crafts](https://www.funlittles.com/flower-crafts-for-kids-20-spring-crafts/)** and today we have a [**spring art idea**](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-art-tulip-painting/) for the kiddos. We have already shared our spring [**ABC garden**](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-craft-abc-garden/) and our [**Color Garden**](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-craft-color-matching-garden/). In the past seasons we have gotten creative with our [**fall art**](https://www.funlittles.com/puffy-paint-fall-art/) and recently with our [**snow cookies**](https://www.funlittles.com/snow-activities/) and [**snow painting**](https://www.funlittles.com/winter-activities-for-kids-fake-snow-painting/) for the winter. - Cardboard egg carton - White Paint - Construction Paper/card stock paper Before we went on to the sheep craft, we actually engaged in some open ended art fun. With the cardboard egg carton cut up into individual slots and paints I invited the kids to have some printing fun. Usually my toddler is the fun who loves printing with objects but on that day the preschooler was very keen on making colorful flowers with egg cartons. This spring art is her work. Surely this art project will be very much for toddlers. She had a great time experimenting with different colors and printing the flowers and of course we had to add the details on at least few flowers. On a colored construction paper, I hand drew a sheep outline for the girls. This time both my toddler and my preschooler were interested in participating and we started printing the sheep’s wool with the cut up egg slots. They do look like wool, don’t they? The more fuller the wool became the more excited the kids were with the spring art idea. Once the sheep’s body was done, the preschooler who is very much into creating scenes did her thing. Using her fingers created flowers and bugs. Then added the blue sky and grass and touched up the sheep’s legs and ears with black finger paint. That’s our spring sheep in a beautiful cheery spring scene. *{ edit- we redid this activity with my now 4 year old. This time I did a much better job of drawing the outline. Ha! My now 4 year old was still interested in egg carton printing. Talk about an ever-green art activity. [**Printmaking ideas for kids**](https://www.funlittles.com/tag/printing/) here}* ### Alternate Way to do the same sheep craft On a card stock paper print using cut up egg carton cups. Use regular white paint. Once the paint dries flip the paper over and cut out the sheep's wool. Use black paper to cut out head and legs. Thanks for reading You will positively like [**Tulips Printmaking Art Project**](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-art-tulip-painting/) [**25 Butter Crafts and Art**](https://www.funlittles.com/butterfly-arts-craft-kids/) [**20 Flower Crafts for kids**](https://www.funlittles.com/flower-crafts-for-kids-20-spring-crafts/)