Egg Carton Caterpillar

   This is such a cute and easy project. My two year old is really into animals lately and loves learning about new creatures! Projects like this really give your child a chance to learn more about his/her surroundings. After we made this little fella' we went outside to look for some...after he learned about where caterpillars live he was fascinated with finding one! We did end up finding a worm, which he quickly pointed out was not a caterpillar due to it's lack of legs :) We will find one in the backyard eventually....

   Materials:

• one old egg carton
• stickers
• crayons (don't use markers for this one, they don't stay on the carton and rub off EASILY onto your child's hands.)
• piece of scrap paper
• black sharpie (for parent's use only.)
• scissors (for parent's use only.)

   First, completely cut off the top flap of the egg carton leaving the bottom detached. Once you have the bottom portion of the carton all by itself, you are ready to make TWO caterpillars! Yay! Now, cut down the middle of the carton, long ways, splitting the 'egg holders' in half.

    You may have to clean up the edges with the scissors, but the little imperfections are perfectly fine.  He is a bug after all :)  Hand over the blank caterpillar to your eager child.
    Watch as your child discovers coloring on a new surface. The texture of the carton is much different than that of construction paper or normal drawing paper. Talk to them about how coloring on the carton is different; what color is it? How does it feel? What sound does it make when you scribble on it?                When I was young I used to love to draw on balloons, the texture and sound the pen would make was so much fun (this is another great idea for a rainy day!)
    Let your child finish coloring on the caterpillar, remind them of all the caterpillar parts and encourage them to draw eyes, a mouth, feet, etc. If your child is too young to make these parts, help them out by adding them on with sharpie once they are done coloring.  The very hungry caterpillar is a great resource for learning about caterpillars in a fun way!
    Now that you have completed your little guy, all that's left to add on are the antennas! Take a scrap piece of paper, any color, and cut out a 2" rectangle (for longer antennas just use a bigger piece of scrap paper.)   Fold a small portion of the rectangle over onto itself, continue folding until you have a straight, flat piece of paper.
   Poke two small holes with the point of your scissors where you want your antennas to go.  Slide the piece of folded paper into the holes from the under side of your caterpillar.
  That's it!  Now your kids can wiggle around with their adorable little caterpillars! Remember to teach them about the importance of recycling and how it helps animals like caterpillar and so many more!
   Happy Caterpiller-ing!