Easy Egg Carton Butterfly Craft For Kids
Are you hoarding those old egg cartons for the next time you need them? We love making recycled crafts with kids and these egg carton butterflies are so cute. Learn how to make this fun butterfly craft with your kids with our simple steps.

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Our butterfly craft is a little different than some have seen. If you do not want to involve other materials, you can just wrap the pipe cleaner around the middle and twist it at the top.
We will give you two different options for how to make the butterfly body.
What age is this craft for?
This project can be made by any aged child. They can choose the paint colors and all details of their butterfly craft.
Adult assistance will probably be needed when cutting the egg carton and gluing. We used a hot glue gun to make it while our children helped picked the items.
Recommended Supplies
- Egg Carton: cut to show 4 spots
- Washable Paint: We just used regular washable Crayola tempera paint.
- 1/2 Pipe Cleaner
- Googly Eyes
- Scissors
- Paintbrush
- Glue Bottle Or Hot Glue Gun
Optional Butterfly Body Supplies
- Clothespin
- Craft Stick With 4 Pom Poms: These pom poms will last for all your craft projects and have a little extra sparkle on some.
Tips For Cutting Your Egg Carton
- We found that flipping over our “cardboard” carrier made it easier to cut.
- You may have to trim the edges of your butterfly wings.
- Cardboard egg cartons will be easier to work with instead of styrofoam (and better for the environment, too)
If you love making easy crafts from egg cartons, then you will have to consider making the cutest egg carton turtle or hungry caterpillar craft next.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Paint Your Egg Carton
If you are working with older children, you could look at real butterflies and introduce the concept of symmetry.
Or just let those toddlers and preschoolers have fun painting. Just make sure you only give kids paint colors that will mix well together to avoid that big brown mess.
Step 2: Let Paint Dry
Step 3: Glue Butterfly Body On
Hot glue a craft stick on to egg carton. You will have to trim the end a little or your body will be too long.
Fold the pipe cleaner and glue on onto the stick.
Step 4: Add Pom Poms and Eyes
Have fun with the colors in your butterfly body. One Of our favorites was a rainbow body.
Optional: Clothespin Body Idea
Instead of using a craft stick with pom poms, you could paint a clothespin and attach the antenna by opening the clip.
Glue or wedge the clothespin into the egg carton.
Follow us on Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook & Flipboard for more free art and craft ideas!
More Easy Crafts
- Oobleck Slime Recipe Preschoolers Love
- How To Melt Crayons In Cupcake Liners
- Easy Slow Cooker Playdough
- Easy Bird Mask Craft (use the rest of that egg carton)
Do you like this art project? Please give us 5 stars below 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 and have fun being creative with your family.
How To Make An Egg Carton Butterfly Craft
Equipment
- Scissors for adults to cut egg carton
- Glue Bottle if googly eyes are not stickers
- Glue Gun For adults only
Supplies
- Pre-Cut Egg Carton 4 sections per craft
- Tempera Paint you can use any colors you want
- Paintbrush
- 1/2 piece Pipe Cleaner
Body Material
- 2 Googly Eyes
- 4 Pom Poms
- Craft Stick or Clothes Pin
Instructions
Prep Egg Carton
- Cut a cardboard egg carton in so you have four cups for the wings.
Making Your Butterfly Wings
- Use tempera paint to paint the egg carton.
- Let the painted egg carton fully dry.
Make Butterfly Body
- Hot glue a craft stick on to egg carton. You will have to trim the end a little or your body will be too long.
- Cut a full pipe cleaner in half. Fold 1/2 of a full pipe cleaner and hot glue on onto the stick.
- Glue on 4 poms poms on the craft stick using hot glue or glue bottle
- Glue on googly eyes.
Notes
- If you are working with older children, you could look at real butterflies and introduce the concept of symmetry.
- You could also make the body out of paper or just paint the craft stick or use a clothespin.
- Let your young child experiment and have fun making this easy egg carton craft.
- Cardboard egg cartons will be easier to work with instead of styrofoam (and better for the environment, too)