Adorable Easter Egg Caterpillars

March 29, 2022 Katie

Walking through the Easter aisles at Target over the weekend reminded me of this project that I first did when my youngest was really little. This seemed like a good time to share, since you can actually find eggs in stores right now. It’s a super simple craft that is also absolutely adorable. It’s a great project to do with kids. My big kids are still fascinated by these caterpillars. It’s pretty cute.

This is a perfect way to reuse eggs left over from Easter. Even if you had to buy a package of eggs specifically for this, it would still be a relatively inexpensive craft. You can probably find all of the supplies at the dollar store.

Supplies:

Plastic easter eggs—12 bottom halves and one top half
Pipe cleaners
Permanent marker

Optional:

Googly eyes
Paint
Scissors

The most important feature your eggs need to have is two holes in the bottom. I’ve collected a lot of different eggs over the years, and most of them have that. You could always use an awl or something else sharp to poke holes in eggs that don’t already have them, but of course it’s much easier if they do.

When I did this project years ago, I sought out eggs that are not hinged together. This time I used what I had on hand, which happened to be almost entirely hinged. With a pair of scissors, it’s easy enough to make them usable.

For these caterpillars, I used the bottom halves of twelve eggs and the top half of one egg. I had plenty of pipe cleaner space left, so you could use more if you want a longer caterpillar.

Here’s how to make a caterpillar!

1. If your egg halves are attached, use scissors to detach them. The more of the hinge you can remove, the better.

2. Thread the pipe cleaners through the egg halves, leaving just enough of the pipe cleaners at the top for the antennae. I threaded them through the bottom of the eggs. I started with the egg I wanted on the bottom, but it really doesn’t matter as long as you pay attention to the order if you want a specific pattern.

3. Once you have all of the eggs on the pipe cleaners, twist the pipe cleaners together underneath the bottom egg to secure them. You can either cut off the excess pipe cleaners or twist them extra to fit inside the egg half. Then put the top half of the egg on the bottom of the caterpillar.

4. Curl the pipe cleaners at the top to form antennae.

5. Draw a face on your caterpillar using a permanent marker. I kept it simple and just did eyes and a mouth. If you prefer, you could use googly eyes or paint a face.