Transform an egg carton into a vibrant coral reef craft. Add colorful sea animals from our free printable template.
Perfect for a fun and educational crafting session, this project will spark imagination and ocean awareness. Pairs well with a lesson about oceans and marine life. Enjoy crafting your very own coral reef masterpiece today.
My daughter and I enjoyed making this coral reef craft together. We had fun picking the colors for the sea animals.
The base of this coral reef craft is an egg carton. We used a Styrofoam egg carton, and we didn’t have any problems poking the pipe cleaners through the carton. I am not sure how a paper carton would work.
To give our pipe cleaner coral more of a natural look, we wrapped the pipe cleaners around our fingers. We used 3 pipe cleaners per egg spot.
You can tape or glue the sea animals to the pipe cleaners. We used tape and we simply rolled the tape and stuck it to the back of a sea animal and then then stuck it to a pipe cleaner. This seemed to work well for us.
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Coral Reef Supplies
- Egg carton
- Scissors
- Free printable sea animals template
- Crayons or markers
- Pipe cleaners
- Tape or glue
How To Make a Coral Reef
Step 1: Prepare the Egg Carton
Begin by cutting the bottom half of the egg carton. This will be the base for your coral reef. You can make your egg carton any size. We cut our egg carton, so we had 4 egg spots.
Then, turn the egg carton upside down. This will serve as the base of the coral reef.
Step 2: Print and Color the Sea Animals
Print out the free printable sea animals template. See link below.
Next, let your creativity shine as you color the sea animals using crayons or markers.
Then, carefully cut out each sea animal along the outlined edges.
Step 3: Create Your Coral Reef
Take pipe cleaners and poke them through the egg carton to create the coral reef. You can bend and twist the pipe cleaners to form unique shapes and designs.
Step 4: Add Sea Animals
Using tape or glue, attach the sea animals to the pipe cleaners protruding from the egg carton. We used tape to secure the sea animals to the pipe cleaner.
Step 5: Enjoy Your Coral Reef Craft
Once all the sea animals are in place, step back and admire your masterpiece. Your coral reef craft is now complete and ready to be displayed.
You can also add additional elements such as seashells, rocks, or glitter to enhance the beauty of your coral reef.
Free Printable Sea Animal Template
Click on the link below for the free printable sea animal template. The sea animal template is for personal use or classroom use only. It cannot be edited or sold. Feel free to print as many copies as you need.
Click here for the free printable sea animal template.
