Green Friends Made from Discarded Yogurt Cups

Green yogurt friends

Only a few recycling centers accept yogurt containers and none in my area, so most get tossed in the trash and end up in landfills (which makes me feel really, really guilty).

This cute spring craft incorporates those yogurt containers and transforms them into fun animal friends that are cute, easy to make, perfect for kids and keeps the containers out of the landfill.

These green friends are fun to make anytime the kids need something to keep them busy and teach them about reusing, recycling and repurposing. And they can be made by older kids without supervision, or by younger children with supervision.

To make some froggy friends you will need:

  • Small yogurt cups One flat like those of Yoplait YoPlus yogurts for the turtle, and for the frog a small cup like those from Yoplait FiberOne or Yoplait Kids yogurts.
  • Green spray paint The type made for plastic works best but there are low voc options too.
  • Green craft foam Thick green recycled/handmade craft paper or green cardboard would work as well.
  • adhesive A glue gun and glue sticks are quick but hot. Try a fast drying craft glue if worried about burns.
  • Craft eyes Small to medium size
  • Markers One permanent and one fine tip or ball point pen.
  • Scissors

Froggy friend from yogurt container

To make your green frog friends:

1) Clean and dry empty yogurt cups

2) Take the yogurt cups outside or to a well ventilated area and turn upside-down on a bottle or newspaper and spray paint them green. You may need two or three coats to get even coverage.

3) While the paint is drying, trace patterns for the head, legs, tummy (frog) and tail (turtle) onto the craft foam (or cardboard) with a fine tip marker or ball point pen.

4) Cut out the shapes and set aside for the frog. You will need a large football/frog shaped head, two legs and a circle for the belly. For the turtle you need four little legs, a tail, and a head.

5) Once the paint is dry you can glue the shapes on. Start with the head for each friend.

6) Now glue on the tummy for the frog or tail for the turtle.

7) Glue on the eyes

8 ) Draw a mouth and nose holes for the frog.

You can use acrylic paint, stickers, or cut out craft foam to customize the frogs and turtles with spots and designs. You can use what you have on hand or look for eco-options when it comes to glue, paint, and other supplies.

Making yogurt cup crafts helps me feel a little less guilty about tossing yogurt cups in the trash, since some of them are reused and the kids have a great time making frog friends with them.

10 thoughts on “Green Friends Made from Discarded Yogurt Cups”

  1. Pingback: Green Friends Made from Discarded Yogurt Cups

  2. Pingback: Green Friends Made from Discarded Yogurt Cups

  3. This is a cute idea, and it’s certainly good to find ways to reuse containers. My only concern is that children will be done playing with them after a few hours, and then the containers will be clutter or trash again. Maybe there’s another use for the containers that could be more long-term, like using them for plant pots, crayon containers, etc.

    What about making homemade yogurt with the kids helping? There’s a great article about how to do it at Bean Sprouts and FakePlasticFish.com.

    Melanie Parker
    NoNewPlastic.com

  4. This is a cute idea, and it’s certainly good to find ways to reuse containers. My only concern is that children will be done playing with them after a few hours, and then the containers will be clutter or trash again. Maybe there’s another use for the containers that could be more long-term, like using them for plant pots, crayon containers, etc.

    What about making homemade yogurt with the kids helping? There’s a great article about how to do it at Bean Sprouts and FakePlasticFish.com.

    Melanie Parker
    NoNewPlastic.com

  5. Thanks for the great ideas Melanie.

    For Easter I flipped the yogurt containers up and made bunny heads and used the little cups to hold candy, suckers and some were even big enough to hold eggs.

  6. Thanks for the great ideas Melanie.

    For Easter I flipped the yogurt containers up and made bunny heads and used the little cups to hold candy, suckers and some were even big enough to hold eggs.

  7. The spray paint and foam make this even less earth friendly than if you just tossed the cup. Maybe try making the cup animals with only paper.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top