KIndergarten teachers have a way of making every holiday and “holiday” a Big Deal. My daughter has had Earth Day marked on the calendar for quite a while, so I figured I had better come up with a craft. Make that an easy craft because let’s be honest: Earth Day is no Valentine’s Day. Enter these simple egg carton flowers!
In true eco-friendly fashion, we did not purchase anything for this project, and you’ll probably have all of these things on hand too:
- empty egg carton
- pipe cleaners
- old tissue paper (1 sheet)
- paint (we used liquid watercolors because I was really not feeling a mess that day, but acrylics would give a brighter effect)
- paint brushes
- scissors
First, an adult will need to cut the egg cups apart. Trim them so they are roughly even all the way around the rim. You can also cut leaf shapes from the lid. Just freehand it.
Next, paint the egg cups and leaves. Make sure to get both the inside and the outside for maximum color. (Our watercolor flowers turned out muted, but if you want a brighter look, acrylics are the way to go.) Allow to dry.
The adult can then poke a small hole in the base of the egg cup so that you can stick the pipe cleaner stem through. (I used a pen and managed not to stab myself, but you definitely do not want your kid to do this part.) Use a whole pipe cleaner for long stemmed flowers, or cut it in half for a more proportionate look.
For the center of the flower, cut long strips of tissue paper and fold them up accordion style. Thread the pipe cleaner up through the bottom of the egg cup and wrap it around the middle of the folded tissue, then fluff and pinch your tissue until it looks the way you want it to. There’s really no right or wrong way to do this– just play around with it.
To add the leaves, make a hole in the bottom of the leaf. This is easier to do with a hole punch. Thread the leaf onto the pipe cleaner and give it a twist to keep it in place.
Voila! You have a beautiful, eco-friendly bouquet.
You can find our list of 14 Earth Day Books here (complete with a few craft books!).
