Take Easter egg decorating to a whole new level with this fun LEGO® machine!  The machine spins the egg so that all you have to do is hold the marker and it draws straight lines.  (Well, relatively straight.)  Oh my goodness, this was such a fun project!  It would make a great engineering challenge for a class or LEGO® club.

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Build a LEGO Egg Decorating Machine

The other day, we saw a video on Facebook for an egg decorating toy that works the same way as this LEGO® machine.  Well, actually it probably works better.  But the toy was sold out, and at $20, it probably wasn’t worth it anyway.  We had the idea to try creating a LEGO® version, and it ended up being a fantastic engineering challenge that we all enjoyed.  The kids have had a blast decorating eggs with a machine that we built ourselves!

We used the LEGO® Technic Power Functions set to power up our egg decorating machine.  If you don’t own this, I highly recommend it.  Don’t be scared off by the Technic name!  We have only ever purchased one Technic set, but we have a lot of Technic pieces that have come in various sets such as Star Wars sets or the Crazy Action Contraptions set.  You’ll need some x-shaped axles and gears to use with the motor, but you can order those on Brick Link if you don’t have them.  We tried creating a version of the machine that could be operated by hand, but it just wasn’t the same.  Plus, the power functions set can be used to create all kinds of other projects.

Build a LEGO Egg Decorating Machine

Here’s a video of the egg machine in action:

Ready to build one? Here’s what you’ll need:

LEGO® Technic Power Functions motor

Basic bricks for building the frame

6 – 1 x 2 Technic bricks (one hole)

3 – x-shaped Technic axles, 12 studs long

2 – Technic wedge belt wheel

2 – 18mm wheel with axle hole

4 – red Technic bush

4 – light gray Technic bush (1/2 length)

2 – gears, 40 teeth

3 – gears, 24 teeth

1 – red Technic connector

1 – gear, 8 teeth (or another Technic bush)

4 – 2 x 4 plates (flat bricks)

4 – 2 x 2 curved slopes

NOTE:  For $12.12 on Amazon, the Crazy Action Contraptions set has one 12 stud axle, two Technic wedge belt wheels, 6 red Technic bush, 3 gray Technic bush (1/2 length), two 40 tooth gears, two 24 tooth gears, and three 8 tooth gears.  Plus more bricks and pieces and a book of 16 project to make.

Step 1:  Build the frame.  It has 3 layers of basic bricks,and then the layer with the Technic bricks.

LEGO Egg Decorating Machine

Step 2: Build the first axle.  This is a 12 stud axle with two Technic wedge belt wheels.  If you don’t have these wheels, experiment with what you have.

LEGO Egg Decorating Machine

Step 3:  Build the second axle.

The two sections join together with the red connector.  You’ll need to put the axles through the Technic bricks on the frame, however, before adding all the other stuff.  This photo is just to show which pieces we used.

LEGO Egg Machine

The only function of the gear on the far left is to make it easier to turn by hand.  You can leave that one off if needed.

Build a LEGO Egg Decorating Machine

Attach the motor to the power box.  Then build a little platform for the motor to sit on.  At first, we attached the motor to the axle with the black wheels on it, but it made the egg spin too fast.  My 13 year old said that we needed to add a smaller gear next to a large gear.  He set it up so that the motor turns the small gear, and the small gear turns the large gear.  Because the large gear rotates fewer times than the small gear in the same amount of time, the egg spins at a more reasonable speed!

Build a LEGO Egg Decorating Machine

The egg needs a little guidance to sit securely in the machine.  We added four 2 x 4 plates (flat bricks) and four 2 x 2 slopes to the top of the machine.

Build a LEGO Egg Decorating Machine

Tips:

  • Egg size matters.  We used Eggland’s Best Large eggs.  Each egg varies in size slightly – but you can adjust the two gray wheels to accommodate for size differences.  Push the wheels closer together for a smaller egg or move them farther apart to accommodate a larger one.  I’m not sure that jumbo eggs would fit in this machine without adapting it, however.
  • Hard boil your eggs.  At first, we could not get our egg to spin without wobbling.  My husband suggested boiling the eggs first and it worked!  No more wobbling!
  • Get your egg spinning nicely before decorating.  If your egg is wobbling a lot, try tightening up your machine. The spinning causes the parts to move, so you’ll need to make adjustments every now and then to keep it working properly.
  • Press lightly with the marker!  Too much weight on the marker will cause the egg to shift position and be off balance.  It’s not hard to do if you just keep this in mind!  The ends of the egg are hard to decorate without sending the egg off balance (see our photo below).
  • Wipe off the wheels after each egg.  I was worried that the Sharpie marker would rub off on the wheels, but it did only slightly.  Wipe off the wheels after each egg, otherwise they will leave a faint line on the next egg. It doesn’t really matter, though, since you’re going to color the eggs anyway.

Build a LEGO Egg Decorating Machine

Have fun decorating eggs!  If your family builds a LEGO® egg machine, we’d love to see a picture of it on our Facebook page!

Our 5 year old couldn’t hold the pen still enough to make nice even stripes, but that didn’t bother him at all.  He chose to just do wavy stripes, and it turned out so pretty!

LEGO Egg Decorating Machine

Here are our finished eggs, decorated by kids ages 5-13:

LEGO Egg Decorating Machine

They look pretty in an Easter basket!

Build a LEGO Egg Decorating Machine

If your kids love getting new ideas for LEGO® projects, you’ll want to check out our LEGO® book!  The title is Awesome LEGO® Creations with Bricks You Already Have, and it has 50 new projects with instructions for most.  Build vehicles, animals, a working candy dispenser, and more!

LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO® group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize, or endorse this site.

10 Comments

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  1. Ariel Mar 31, 2017

    This is so cool! May we share this on our facebook page: Lincoln Children's Museum?

    Reply
  2. rae bolsginer Apr 3, 2017

    Love it! Here is another version that my son built using regular logo parts (not technic) and a small motor: https://www.facebook.com/Lukas-Invents-1453075188045800/

    Reply
  3. Nicole Apr 5, 2017

    Is that all I would need to purchase? The Crazy contraptions kit and lego technic motor set? So cool! Good for you and your boys!

    Reply
    1. Sarah Apr 7, 2017

      Well, almost! The Crazy Contraptions kit has several of the pieces but not all of them. You can refer to the parts list above.

      Reply
  4. Jen Apr 14, 2017

    This is brilliant! We made one, too! Check it out on my Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant Pinterest board. Jennifer Atwood Heninger!

    Reply
  5. Shannon Apr 14, 2017

    My 11yo really enjoyed this! After building, adjusting and decorating a couple of eggs, he decided to add an attachment to hold the Sharpie. It's adjustable and even flips back to easily change Sharpies. So much fun!

    Reply
    1. Sarah Apr 15, 2017

      Oh that's cool! What a great modification!

      Reply
  6. Rick Apr 16, 2017

    Great idea! My 6-year-old and I made one with the pieces we had. We didn't have exactly the same gears, but it worked out just fine. We used rubber wheels on one axle to give more grip on the eggs.

    Reply
    1. Sarah Apr 17, 2017

      I'm so glad you had fun with it! Thanks so much for commenting!

      Reply
  7. Holly Apr 17, 2017

    This was such a cool idea! We made one based on your design and it turned out great. My son was so excited and proud of his striped eggs. :) Thank you!

    Reply
    1. Sarah Apr 17, 2017

      That's fantastic! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!

      Reply
  8. omar Apr 25, 2017

    Thanks for the post

    My boys love playing with lego and they like your post when I show them. we will try it hopefully they enjoy it

    Reply
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  10. Tristine Birk Mar 24, 2021

    Is there a manual way to turn the wheels? Just trying to teach another option of mechanics.
    Thanks!

    Reply

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