This big-mouthed crocodile is eager to hold your paper clips, pencils, and lots of other small things. You can make it in no time out of egg cartons.

What You Need:

• three cardboard egg cartons: two with lumpy lids; one with a smooth lid.
• green and yellow poster paint
• tacky glue
• wiggly eyes
• scissors

What You Do:

1. Cut the egg cartons (you may need an adult's help).

For the mouth, cut off the last row of egg cups from the ends of two carton bottoms, as shown below.

 

2. Glue parts together.

• Glue two egg-cup "eyes" to the top mouth part.
• Glue the backs of the two mouth parts together in open-mouth position.
• Glue four egg-cup "feet" to the outside of the smooth lid (the croc's belly).
• For the curved back, bend a lumpy egg-carton lid. Glue it to the belly at the ends. Don't worry if the lid rips a little as you bend it.
• For the tail, bend another lumpy lid and glue one end to the belly.
• Glue the mouth to the lid.

• When the glue is dry, paint your crocodile. (If you paint first, the glue doesn’t hold very well.)
• When the eye-cup paint is dry, glue on wiggly eyes.
  

Now give your crocodile whatever you want to hold. Don't worry--it won't run off or swallow a thing!

 

Craft by Robin Walker

Photo by Mark Godfrey