Every now and then we take a break from homemade slime to try out other kinds of cool STEM activities, and this is our latest! Can you believe this Earth Day recycled craft uses egg cartons? So easy to make, fun to wear, recycled materials, and a bit of chemistry, too! You could even do this for Earth Day!
Add this colorful Earth Day craft to your lesson plans this season. If you want to learn more about combining art and science for fun, hands-on STEAM, let’s grab the supplies! While you’re at it, make sure to check out these other fun spring activities.
Who doesn’t love a good egg carton craft activity? We have at least one of these in our recycling bin every week. This Earth Day recycled craft project is perfect, even for kids who don’t like crafts or adults who don’t think they are crafty enough. Find out how plastic egg cartons can be transformed into a cute recycled Earth Day craft for kids of all ages.
Free Printable Earth Day Activities Guide
Recycled Earth Day Craft
What do you need for an Earth Day recycled STEM craft? Recyclables of course! Make sure to check your recycling bin for your supplies! If you want to read a little bit more about the science behind the craft make sure to scroll all the way down!
Supplies:
- Plastic Egg Container
- Sharpies
- Twine
- Hole Puncher
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Tray
Instructions:
Adult supervision and assistance are recommended for this project.
STEP 1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
STEP 2. Start by cutting apart the individual egg cups from the plastic egg container. Trim around them carefully so they look like small cups, and smooth the edges as much as possible.
STEP 3. Use your Sharpies to color the cups in any design you want! You can also choose to make the Earth, blue for the oceans, and green for the continents.
Tip: To apply more even color, use the flat side of the marker, not the tip. You want to fill in as much of the clear space as possible!
STEP 4. Make sure to punch a hole in the egg cup before baking. We tried to do this after baking the first batch but had a great deal of difficulty making the holes and broke a few of the cups, too.
STEP 5. Place your cups on a baking tray lined with parchment. Bake them in a 300-degree oven for approximately 3 minutes, but make sure to watch the process unfold! It’s neat to see the egg cups curl up and then flatten down again.
Note: You may want to turn the vent on to help with any smell, but we did not find it very strong.
STEP 6. Carefully take the tray out of the oven. They do not stick to parchment so don’t worry about moving them immediately! Let them cool.
STEP 7. Then grab your twine and beads to create a necklace or a small sun catcher to hang in the window!
It is such an easy and fun activity to sit and enjoy with your kiddos this Earth Day! We combined some great parts of STEAM for this Earth Day recycled STEM craft activity with chemistry and art.
I am always happy when I can sneak in a bit of art or craftiness to a project with a kid who isn’t generally into crafts!
The Science of Melting Egg Cartons
This awesome little recyclable project for Earth Day includes a bit of physics and chemistry. Chemistry is all about substances and their properties and what makes them what they are, including atoms and molecules. Melting the cup does not actually change its chemical makeup; rather, it is a physical change, which I talk about more below.
Did you know plastic is a polymer (just like our leakproof bag experiment or our homemade slime recipes)? A polymer is a molecule made up of many repeating strands. Polymers have different characteristics, including density, strength, and solubility, among others. Did you know you can make plastic from milk, too?
The plastic egg container is a type of thermoplastic, or plastic, that can be heated and reshaped, which is known as a physical change (not chemical). This is how we make our plastic egg carton craft! The polymer chains of this type of plastic are bonded together weakly, so when high heat is introduced, the bonds break. However, the bonds reform as the plastic cools into its new shape! Thermoplastics are also easily recyclable!
ALSO CHECK OUT: Recycling Projects For Kids
More Recyclable Activities For Earth Day
- Recycle Crayons
- Cardboard Tube Marble Run
- Growing Seeds In Eggshells
- DIY Bird Feeder
- Stryofoam Geo Board
- Newspaper Craft
Printable Earth Day Activities Pack
40+ Earth Day science activities and STEM projects for kids that are easy to set up and fit into your available time, even if it’s limited!
- Printable Earth Day theme STEM activities that are simple but engaging for home or classroom. Perfect for K-2 and beyond but easily adaptable to many skill levels.
- Dive into simple background science explanations to share with kids. At the same time, kiddos can explore hands-on and playful experiments, projects, and activities such as cleaning up oil spills, exploring water filters, and more!
- Engaging Earth Day Enginers pack with theme activities, journal pages, and design process steps! Learn about the design process and think like an engineer while you design and build a better recycling can and more!
- Easy to gather supplies makes these STEM activities ideal when you have limited resources available. Specialty activities include growing a grass head, making an insect hotel, DIY birdseed ornaments, and more!
- Additional STEM activities include a recycling sort, brick-building ideas, puzzles, and screen-free coding activities.
- Earth Day Bingo Activity Pack is included as well.
This looks fantastic! I know my kids will love this. Thank you so much for the idea and all the tips on how to do it! Do you think this would work with plastic from a soda bottle? I’m just trying to think to use what I have on hand.