DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Egg Carton Dump Truck

Although children Age 3+ will enjoy playing with this craft, it's a bit fiddly to make so I've rated it Age 5+.

Materials:

• styrofoam egg carton,
• small piece of a straw (about 3 inch piece),
• glue,
• scissors,
• paint or markers (see NOTE)

NOTE:  you can't paint styrofoam with tempra paint or washable markers.  It doesn't cover well and it will flake off when it's dry.  Acrylic paint or permanent markers work well, but most of us don't want our kids using them.  The solution I've come up with is to have the girls assemble the craft on day 1.  In the evening, I paint the craft with white acrylic paint (you can buy it for less than $1 at Walmart or the craft store and it will work for  many crafts).  It dries overnight and in the morning the girls can paint over it with tempra paint or color over it with Crayola markers!
 

Cut three pieces from your egg carton (shown from left to right in the photo):

1. from the top, cut 1/3 of the egg carton to make the bed of the dump truck
2. from one side of the bottom, cut the first two cup strip.
3. from the other side of the bottom, cut the first 6 cup strip.
   

• cut the bottom of the middle two cups off the 6 cup strip.

• Glue the two cup strip onto the front of the six cup strip
• Glue the base of the dump truck onto the back of the 6 cup strip (or just place it on so the kids can move it up and down when they play with it)

• Optional:  prime the truck white acrylic paint.
• Color or paint the truck yellow or red.
• Draw black windows on the front and black circles (wheels) on the side of the 4 bottom cups.
• You can paint the inside of the truck bed a different color if you like.

• Make a small hole in one of the top egg cups.  Slip the straw in the hole as a smoke stack

Print friendly version of these instructions

Keely wrote us because the egg cartons in Australia are a little different than what we use in Canada and wanted to share the modifications.