Cactus Paper Cup Craft For Kids [Free Template]

Who’s ready for summer?? It’s such a fun time for kids to fill the day with either relaxing or going on an adventure. 

We’ve got you covered with a fun and easy project for craft time! With this cactus paper cup craft, kids will create a cheerful blooming cactus from an everyday paper cup!

Keep the kids learning and having fun all summer long! We have lots of summer crafts for kids to choose from for a variety of interests.

Paper Cup Cactus Craft

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Whether your adventures this summer take you to the beach, on a hike, or to the zoo, you may be looking for some way to keep the kids entertained on those days you stay home and relax.

It’s a fun way to keep little hands and minds busy and develop skills like fine motor skills, scissor skills, and following directions.

Download our free template to get started on this craft that’s perfect when discussing plants or desert landscapes!

Supplies

• Green paper cup
• Colored cardstock or construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Black marker
• Cactus template (enter your email in the form at the end of the post to get the template)

Directions

Download the cactus template, print, and cut out the pieces you need.

Begin by using a black marker to make spines all along one half of the paper cup and on the cactus arms.

Fold the cactus arms along the dashed line, apply glue or a glue dot, and glue one arm to each side of the cup.

Take the flowers and glue them to the top of each arm and to the top of the cactus.

Next, glue the eye near the middle of the cup, one on each side. We only glued the inner part of the eyes to the cup, but you can also glue the entire eye to the cup.

Create the mouth by gluing the tongue to the bottom of the mouth.

Finish up by gluing the mouth to the middle of the cup, just below the eyes.

Summer Ideas For Kids

While kids are on summer break, be sure to keep them engaged and learning so they continue to improve important skills.

If you need ideas for some fun crafts and activities that are perfect for summer, keep reading below for a few of our favorites. From mermaids to camping, there’s something that will appeal to all sorts of kids’ interests.

Summer Books For Kids

Reading books with your kids is not only a fun activity, but it also has numerous benefits that go beyond simply enhancing their vocabulary or imagination. Sharing stories together can help them develop empathy and a deeper understanding of the world around them.

Plus, it’s a great way to introduce new ideas and concepts that they may not encounter otherwise. By igniting curiosity and encouraging a love for learning, reading is an invaluable tool for both parents and children alike.

See below for some of our favorite summer books for kids.

How To Catch A Mermaid is the summer version of the classic “How To Catch” series! It’s perfect for mermaid fans and summer lovers alike!

Gorilla Loves Vanilla is all about, you guessed it – ice cream! This silly book will have kids laughing and asking for you to read it again and again.

Goodnight Pirate is a fun bedtime book to read to kids all summer long! They’ll love the illustrations, story, and rhyming words.

Summer Crafts For Kids

Crafting is a great activity to do when it’s time to come inside to cool off a bit and combine some fun and learning. Kids develop fine motor skills, gain decision-making skills, learn how to follow instructions, and much more when they craft.

All while having fun creating, they are also learning about counting, patterns, shapes, and colors. Completing projects makes kids proud and builds their confidence, so get to crafting with your kids this summer!

Octopus Handprint Craft – This craft takes kids under the sea with the octopus! They’ll use their little fingers for the eight tentacles on their own octopus.

Handprint crafts are a fun way to customize a craft, and they get kids using their imaginations to see what else they can create from them!

Ice Cream Puppet Craft – The perfect treat during the summertime is a cold ice cream cone! They even make for a fun craft for kids. Take an ordinary paper bag and turn it into a creative puppet that kids will love to pretend with once they’ve completed their creation.

Mermaid Headband Craft – This headband makes a beautiful crown for your mermaid princess! Your kiddo’s imagination can run wild and embellish their headband with glitter, stickers, jewels, or any other fun sparkly item in your craft closet.

Choose from the craft version or the black and white version for kids to color in any way they like.

Paper Plate Fish Craft – This colorful, fun, and easy project will have kids excited for craft time this summer! Since this craft uses inexpensive supplies like paper plates and paper, kids can create a whole school of fish.

Summer Activities For Kids

Get outside this summer and enjoy nature by camping! Get kids excited for their upcoming outdoor adventures with our camping dot to dot printables.

These pages will have kids working on counting from 1 to 30 and their fine motor skills when they connect the dots to complete 3 different camping illustrations. 

Make a splash with some fun summer color by number printables! These worksheets are filled with summer fun and kids will love coloring them in!

Not only do kids enjoy this activity, but it also aids in learning number recognition! This printable set comes with 7 summer themed pages, so kids will be entertained for a while!

Just because summer break is here, it doesn’t mean the learning has to end. Use these crab worksheets to teach kids new things while having fun!

They’ll work on handwriting, using scissors, and letter recognition while learning more about the side-walking crab!

Take a break from the screens and give the kids these summer do a dot printables! They’re filled with activities that will appeal to toddlers to kindergarteners.

With over 20 pages of summer fun, they’ll learn a variety of things like letter and number recognition, using scissors, recognizing patterns, and more. 

Fun Summer Finds

• Summer Activity Tokens For Kids
• Giant Bubble Wand Kit
• Personalized Ice Pop Holder

Share With Us

Did you make this activity with your kids or students? We’d love to feature them on our social media!

For a chance to have your child’s project featured, simply snap a picture of the completed project and post it to our Facebook page, email it to us directly by clicking here, or use #simpleeverydaymom on your social media!

Cactus Paper Cup Craft Template