This craft teaches children the body parts of an ant. Start with three attached egg carton cups. Since most egg cartons have a dozen cups, one will make four ants. Paint the outside of the cups red and allow them to dry. Using a sharp instrument, such as a pencil or pair of scissors, the supervising adult can poke two holes in the top of the first cup for the antennae and one at the bottom of each side of all the cups for the legs. From the inside of the "head" cup, stick each end of a pipe cleaner through a hole to make the antennae. If needed, bend them at the base a little bit to hold them in place. Next, poke three more pipe cleaners through the bottoms of the cups to make the legs. Glue wiggly eyes or round cereal pieces to the "head" of the egg carton ant. Draw a mouth with a marker.
Children who like riding a school bus will especially enjoy this egg carton craft. Cut the lid off the egg carton. Paint the lid yellow with one or two coats of nontoxic paint. Cut out pictures of people from magazines to put in the "windows" of the bus. After the paint has dried, glue construction paper squares to the bus to represent windows, then glue the pictures of people to the construction paper. Cut circles out of black construction paper for the bus wheels and glue them to the bottom of the bus.
Cut five or six connected cups from the bottom of an egg carton. Poke holes in the "head" piece for the antennae. Push both ends of a pipe cleaner through the holes to represent the antennae. Paint and decorate the bumps of the egg carton caterpillar in as many colors as you want. Add a mouth and eyes. Glue stickers on the caterpillar to personalize it.
Cut the egg carton apart with each cup separated. Poke a hole in the bottom of each cup. Decorate the outside of the cups as you wish with paint, markers, stickers and glitter. Cut a 6-inch piece of string and tie a tiny bell to one end. Tie a knot in the string about 1 inch above the bell. Pull the string through the hole in the egg carton cup until the knot touches the cup. Tie a knot in the top of the string to secure it in place. Attach an ornament hook to hang it from a tree or wreath.