Eggtropolis

Materials:

• Egg cartons
• small cartons
• food boxes
• scissors
• art supplies
• poster board
• magazines and other photo sources

Here's how your children can make a cityscape out of milk cartons, shoeboxes, and egg cartons (with holes in the top).

First, cut a sheet of poster board in half lengthwise and tape the ends together to create a backdrop for the city. Next, have your children create buildings out of the egg-carton tops (the holes are the windows) and various-sized boxes. Each one will be glued to the backdrop so only the front and sides show, and your children can use the cartons in different ways to create a variety of buildings.

Have your children draw or cut out pictures of people to place in windows in the buildings before they are glued down and use paint, colored paper, and other materials to decorate the surrounding structures.

As each building is completed, have your children affix it on the background. They can then add pictures from magazines and junk mailings to complete the scene, such as birds or airplanes above the buildings and people walking in front.

Sounds like a city planner's dream to us.

More on: Arts & Crafts Activities for Kids: Project Ideas

Excerpted from:

© 2005 by Steve and Ruth Bennett. Excerpted from 365 Unplugged Family Fun Activities with permission of its publisher, Perseus Books Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

To order this book visit perseusbooksgroup.com.