Whether you’re celebrating Shark Week, need something to do on a rainy day, or have a classroom full of kids with a creative side, this recycled paper egg carton shark is the perfect way to get into the crafting mood and talk about Shark education! 8 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans each year. Marine species, like sharks, ingest or are entangled in plastic debris and can cause serious injury. While making this paper shark, talk about the importance of switching from single-use plastic to recycled paper packaging. The more we reduce plastic and polystyrene foam waste, the less plastic ends up in our oceans. So get out the scissors, paint, and glue, this craft is totally jaw-some!

For these crafts you’ll need:

  • Recycled paper egg cartons
  • Scissors
  • Craft glue or hot glue gun
  • Paintbrush
  • Grey, white, black paint (or paint colours of your choice)

Egg Carton Shark Craft:

  1. First, you’ll need to cut out your egg carton shapes. For the body of the shark, you’ll need the middle pointed parts of the egg carton. Get a paper egg carton and cut two of the pointed parts out. Cut one of them slightly shorter than the other.
  2. Next, use some of the remaining pieces of the egg carton to cut a shark fin and a shark tail.
  3. Once you have your pieces cut out to how you like, take your paintbrush and grey paint to cover all the cut out pieces of the shark in paint.
  4. Once the grey paint has dried, you’ll stick the two pointed pieces together with glue. Place the glue on the inside of one of the pointed pieces, and stick the other shorter point inside of it.
  5. Glue the shark fin to the top of the shark’s body and glue the tail to the shorter end of the shark.
  6. When the glue has dried, take your white paint to create circles for eyes on either side of the front of the shark. Once the white has dried, paint black circles inside your white circle to complete the eyes.

This Shark is ready! Show off your shark to your friends and family or use the paper shark in a presentation about sharks in your classroom.

Are you ready to get crafting paper sharks? Share your egg carton crafts and your single-use plastic and foam swaps with us using #ditchplasticpackaging on social media. Follow us at @ditchplasticpackaging for more crafts and tips!