Chinese New Year Craft - Egg Carton Dragon

In the Chinese culture Dragons are thought to be linked to good luck, wisdom and long life. Dragon Dances are performed in the New Year to scare away evil spirits. With Dragons playing such a big part in the celebration of the Chinese New Year I thought it would be fun to make a Chinese New Year Craft with my little creatives, and Egg Carton Dragons are an old favorite of mine!

Chinese Dragon Supplies:

This list contains affiliate links.

Egg Carton – Preferably with holes on the top, like in the picture above.
Pipe Cleaner (2)
Paint – we used acrylic
White Paper
Scissors
Black Marker / Sharpie
Glue Gun
Tape

Make It:

1. CUT

1a. One row of the egg carton.
1b. Two diamonds from the top of the egg carton, which will make the snout.
1c. The top of the egg carton, which will be the face, per the picture below.

2. PAINT:

2a. The egg carton row – any color you’d like.
2b. The face – any color you’d like.
2c. The snout – paint the outside to match the face and the inside of the snout a fiery color.

3. WRAP PIPE CLEANER AROUND:

3a. The Eye Brows – we used about 1/4 pipe cleaner per eyebrow, start the pipe cleaner around the back of inner eyebrow, wrap around the front of the face and slightly around the outer eye brow.
3b. The Mustache – carefully poke two holes in the face just above the nose /snout, thread the pipe cleaner through so its even on both sides and work it into the desired shape, we went for wiggly and spiraled.
3c. The Beard – start at the part closest to the chin and wrap your pipe cleaner around the bead until the bottom, then cut any excess off.

4. CUT AND ASSEMBLE:

4a. Cut a piece of white paper small enough to fit behind the eye openings.
4b. Tape it to the back of the head.
4c. Draw in eye balls with your black marker / sharpie.

5. GLUE:

5a. The snout, per the pictures below.
5b. The head to the body, by placing glue on each side of the face, per the picture in 5B. Try and tilt the head up to the sky a bit when gluing.

6. DANCE AND DISCUSS!

Take your dragons and dance around with them, and discuss the topic below.

DISCUSS: Chinese dragons are a symbol of China and are believed to bring good luck to people. It is thought that the longer the dragon dances, the more luck it will bring to the community. So Dance Baby Dance!