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Fun and easy kids activities

Egg Carton Sheep

Mar 4, 201320,538 views
For the toddler
sheep Save
spring art idea Save
Spring Art : Egg Carton Sheep Save
sheep art for spring Save
sprint craft with sheep Save
eg carton printing sheep craft Save

by TurkeyMom in For the toddler

Ages2–5 yrs
Prep15 min
Activity20 min
Leveleasy
MessMedium
Works for1:1 · Small group · Class

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.

⚠️ Safety first

  • 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 the kids arrive

  • 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.from the author
  • Start with some open-ended printing fun. Our preschooler was very keen on making colorful flowers before we moved on to the sheep.from the author
  • A neatly drawn outline helps. When we redid it with my 4 year old, I did a much better job of drawing it. Ha!from the author
  • It's an ever-green art activity. My now 4 year old was still interested in egg carton printing.from the author
  • Toddlers and preschoolers can work on the same sheep project side by side.from the author
  • 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

Make it your own

  • Alternate sheep: print white wool all over a sheet of card stock with the egg carton cups. When the paint dries, flip the paper over, cut out a cloud-shaped wool body, and add a head and legs cut from black paper.
  • Make it a full spring scene with finger-painted flowers, bugs, sky and grass.
  • Do open-ended egg carton printing in many colors to make spring flowers.

The story behind it

By TurkeyMom · March 2013
spring art with egg carton flowers printing
Before we went on to the sheep craft, we engaged in some open ended art fun, printing with paints and the cardboard egg carton cut up into individual slots.
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Egg Carton Sheep: the original post

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 spring crafts and today we have a spring art idea for the kiddos. We have already shared our spring ABC garden and our Color Garden. In the past seasons we have gotten creative with our fall art and recently with our snow cookies and 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.

spring art with egg carton flowers printing 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.

flowers with egg cartons for spring craft 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? sprint craft with sheep The more fuller the wool became the more excited the kids were with the spring art idea. 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. sheep { 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 here}

sheep art for spring

Alternate Way to do the same sheep craft

On a card stock paper print using cut up egg carton cups. Use regular white paint. egg carton printing Once the paint dries flip the paper over and cut out the sheep’s wool. eg carton printing sheep craft Use black paper to cut out head and legs.

Thanks for reading

Sheep Craft done 2 ways with egg cartons from Kids Play Bix

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What readers say

💬 6 comments 🍎 tried with 1 classes or groups

🍎 In the classroom

Preschool did flowers, sheep is new

A parent's son had already made egg carton flowers at preschool; the sheep was a fresh, cute twist on the same printing idea.

“My son has done the flowers with egg cartons at preschool but not thought of sheep - that is very cute.”
Pinkoddy, Mar 2013

🎉 Worked for us

Carton bottoms make fun shapes

A fellow blogger loved the bright colors of the printed flowers and the shapes the egg carton bottoms leave behind.

“I love the bright colors of your "flowers" and the fun shapes made by the egg carton bottoms.”
Mary Catherine of Fun-A-Day!, Mar 2013

✨ Readers' twist

Paint with things besides brushes

A reader whose family loves painting with non-brush tools welcomed egg cartons as a new printing tool.

“painting with items that are not paintbrushes is a favorite for us, and I always love finding new uses for egg cartons.”
Jen Fischer, Mar 2013

🎉 Worked for us

Planned for the next painting day

A reader loved how the art turned out and planned to use egg cartons on their next painting day.

“I will definitely be using egg cartons on our next painting day.”
Tulip, Mar 2013

🎉 Worked for us

Featured in a paint play roundup

A reader praised the open ended printing and featured the post in a Ways to Play with Paint roundup.

“What fantastic open ended art printing :)”
Reader, Mar 2013

Tried it?

Reviewed before it appears. No links, and please no children's names.

Read all 6 comments

  1. Reader · Mar 2013

    What fantastic open ended art printing :) I'll be featuring your post as part of my Ways to Play with Paint roundup from the Weekly Kids' Co-op. Thanks for sharing. xoxo P

  2. Jen Fischer · Mar 2013

    I love that you used the egg cartons to paint with - painting with items that are not paintbrushes is a favorite for us, and I always love finding new uses for egg cartons.

  3. Pinkoddy · Mar 2013

    My son has done the flowers with egg cartons at preschool but not thought of sheep - that is very cute.

  4. Tulip · Mar 2013

    I absolutely love the way this turned out! I will definitely be using egg cartons on our next painting day. Thanks so much for sharing your spring art inspiration!

  5. Mary Catherine of Fun-A-Day! · Mar 2013

    Isn't it fun to use different objects for painting and printing? I love the bright colors of your "flowers" and the fun shapes made by the egg carton bottoms. Definitely a fun activity. I'm going to pin this now. Thanks! :)

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