This post is sponsored by Stonyfield.

As we wrap up National Craft Month, we slide right into April, which puts Earth Day on the forefront of the brain. And while Earth Day and Craft Month don’t naturally correlate for everyone, they are like besties in the land of Project Kid! Rarely does a craft project leave this studio without at least one upcycled or reused material. And our mission is beautifully two-fold—we get to spare the landfills of more plastic waste while also showing kids that the materials they need to craft are right under their nose…or spoon in this case!

Once again, my friends at Stonyfield put our maker-brains to the test to come up with another craft reusing their yogurt tubs and containers. We wanted to bust out of the obvious container projects and really show you how creative you can get with some basic materials that you have around the house.

This cute DIY bird puppet uses one quart-size tub (plus the lid!), one individual yogurt cup, duct tape and cupcake liners! (You know you have extras of those laying around from birthday parties of the past.) This is a great craft for the springtime, and I challenge you to think of what other animals could work with this construction. I asked my 9 year-old daughter and she said that all she sees is a bear doing jumping jacks! Maybe that’ll be next.

Remember…don’t just toss those Stonyfield yogurt containers. Your kids will squeal with delight when they see how they can quite literally bring them to life.

Imaginations…get ready, get set, take flight!

What you’ll need:

• Stonyfield quart size containers
• Duct tape
• Scissors
• Cupcake liners
• Glue
• Black paper
• Hole punch
• 3 bendy straws
• Black cardstock
• 2-inch styrofoam ball
• Single-serve Stonyfield yogurt cup
  

MAKE IT:

Cover Stonyfield quart-size yogurt tub with duct tape. If you don’t have duct tape, there are many great substitutions! You can paint the tub or cover it with paper!)

Punch holes about 1 inch down from the top on either side of the covered container. The easiest way to accomplish this is with a long-reach hole puncher, but if you don’t have one, poke a hole with an Exacto knife, then use the end of a scissor to make it bigger. (This is definitely a job for an adult.) Also, make a hole in the center of the bottom of the container.

Set the yogurt container aside. Extend your three bendy straws and wrap a piece of tape around the flexible part. Insert the middle straw through the bottom hole and the two side straws through the side holes.

Cut the Stonyfield quart-size lid in half. Flatten cupcake liners and fold into quarters. Glue them on the lid halves as feathers. Make sure to overlap them to get a fluffy feather look! If you don’t have cupcake liners, you can use painted coffee filters, tissue paper, or actual craft feathers. Repeat to cover the second lid half.

Use a piece of duct tape on the back to attach the wings to the side straws.

Fold a few more cupcake liners and glue to the front of the Stonyfield yogurt tub as the chest.

Glue a small cardboard ball into the bottom of the single-serving yogurt cup. If you don’t have a styrofoam ball, you can create a ring of padding with newspaper. You just need to leave space in the middle for the straws to go through (see final step). 

Cover the small yogurt cup in duct tape. 

Punch two circles from black cardstock and glue them to the front as eyes. Cut a circle from the black paper and cut out a wedge. Roll the paper into a cone shape and glue together as a beak. Glue just below the eyes.

Fold more cupcake liners into fourths and eighths and glue them to the top back edge as the birds tk. Use scissors to cut fringe to create a more feathery look. 

Poke a hole in the styrofoam ball with a scissors and tape the end of the straws together. Glue the straws into the center of the ball. 

Push and pull the bottom straw to make the bird flap his wings and peak his head out!