DLTK's Holiday Crafts for Kids
Egg Carton Bat Craft

This is one of those crafts that I made as a young girl and have had fun passing on to my children.  You can make a whole bunch of them and hang them up for spooky decorations.

This is one of those projects that looks even better in real life than it does in photos!

Materials:

• egg carton (the paper type, not the styrofoam type).
• scissors,
• black paint (we used acrylic) and paintbrush.
• glue,
• white paper (just a small scrap will do).
   
• Optional:  wiggly eyes
   
• Optional:  a sharp pencil, needle or nail.
   
• Optional:  thread.

Instructions:

• Cut a line of three egg carton cups.
• This can be done by children age 10+, but younger children will require adult assistance with this step.
• Cut a U shape from the front and back of each of the edge egg carton cups.  Again, younger children will need help from someone older.
• I draw a line lightly with a pencil so that when I'm battling the egg carton with the scissors, I don't have to think about where I should be cutting.
• You will end up with something that looks like this!
• If you're doing this project with young children, you can prep the craft up to this stage before you invite them to join you.
• Paint the egg carton with black paint, inside and out.  This step can be done by kids of all ages.
• Let dry.
• Glue wiggly eyes onto the center cup.
• Strangely, I find this is easier the younger you are.  Preschoolers with their tiny fingers seem to be good with wiggly eyes.
• If you don't have wiggly eyes, just cut or punch two circles from white paper and use those.
• Cut two tiny triangles from a scrap of white paper and glue them on below the eyes.
• Optional:  poke a couple of holes in the top of the bat and thread a piece of thread or string through to hang your bat.