The ocean is brimming with incredible creatures like the octopus! With its eight wiggly arms, this undersea wonder is a favorite of little ones and grown-ups alike. Kids can bring this wonder to life with a fun and engaging paper cup octopus craft!

Continue the adventure under the sea with more octopus activities they’ll will love. This recycled cup activity is entertaining and educational for your growing children.

This and other ocean crafts for kids are an easy addition to all your sea life lesson plans!

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Cute Octopus Craft

With a splash of creativity, your kiddos can transform a simple paper cup into a cool DIY octopus with tentacles that elegantly curl like they’re in a graceful underwater dance.

They can customize their new aquatic friend with their favorite colors to make it their own.

Get them ready for an ocean of fun and dive into making this fun craft with a few basic supplies and our free template.

Read below for our step-by-step instructions to see how easily this cute craft comes together.

Supplies

Colored paper cup
Colored cardstock or construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Markers
Octopus template (click the “click here to get your freebies” image at the end of the post)

Click here to see our favorite kids’ craft supplies.

Directions

Start by downloading and printing the template. Once the template is printed, gather the materials for this fun activity. Get those scissors ready, and let’s help the kids bring this octopus to life!

overhead view of printed octopus template

First, guide your child to glue the inner half of the octopus’s eyes in the middle of the paper cup.

Glue the tongue to the bottom of the mouth.

Click here to see why I recommend these craft supplies

Next, help your child to glue the completed mouth in the middle and just below the eyes.

Use a marker to draw some spots above the octopus’s eyes.

hands using purple marker to make octopus markings

Take the tentacles and wrap each one around your finger in order to curl them.

Finally, encourage your child to glue the tentacles on the bottom and inside of the cup, all along the

Be sure to check out our other paper cup crafts while you’re here. Your littles will be glad you did!

Easy Jellyfish Craft

Books About Ocean Animals

The Snail and the Whale– Julia Donaldson, author of the famous book The Gruffalo, brings kids another fun book about an unlikely set of friends. Snail and Whale have lots of fun together in this colorful book!

Shark Lady– This children’s book is based upon the true story of Eugenie Clark, aka, The Shark Lady. Learn about her love of sharks, her discoveries, and the inspiring message of going after what you want in life.

The Rainbow Fish -This is a classic children’s book with a wonderful message for children. In it, a fish learns to share his favorite possession, his glittery scales, with his friends!

O Is For Ocean Crafts

Crafting is a beneficial activity that ignites children’s imaginations and gets them learning at the same time. With every stroke of a paintbrush or glue of a glittery sequin, kiddos are developing their fine motor skills.

Try out these ocean craft ideas as you plan your next trip to the beach or aquarium!

Related: Shark Worksheets

Shark Name Craft – Make waves with this fun and educational shark craft! This jaw-some activity will have little ones learning to spell their names and create a friendly shark with just a few supplies and our free editable template.

Paper Chain Octopus Craft – Get linked up with this super cute octopus craft. Children will work on their bilateral hand coordination when they thread strips of paper to make a paper chain. The best part of these paper chains? They become the wiggly arms of an octopus!

A collage of four ocean-themed crafts for kids, featuring name crafts with fish cutouts, paper jellyfish with looped tentacle chains, colorful striped fish, and red paper crabs with movable claws. The crafts use bright colors and simple shapes, making them engaging for young children.

Paper Plate Fish Craft – Did you know that paper plates are the perfect canvas for so many crafting projects? This colorful fish is easy to make and fun to customize, and it all starts with a plain paper plate!

side by side examples of paper cup octopus

Crab Puppet Craft – Scuttle into some crafting fun with this fun puppet craft! Kids will create their own crab puppet with a few materials and a “pinch” of imagination. This crabby craft will make your children feel claw-some as they develop new undersea adventures.

Ocean Theme Activities For Kids

These octopus connect the dots are a fantastic way for your little artists to bring some captivating sea creatures to life! As they connect the dots, they’ll reveal the different octopuses and work on counting, sequencing, fine motor skills, and spatial awareness.

Try this Jellyfish Name Craft

This activity will make a splash as kiddos create some undersea scenes with our ocean play dough mats. They can use play dough to sculpt their own sea creatures or print out the corresponding ocean animals sheet to create their own scenes. These activities are a great way for children to use their imaginations and learn more about ocean animals!

A collage of four ocean-themed educational activities for kids, including a purple octopus dot-to-dot worksheet, a "Design a Coral Reef" activity featuring a colorful underwater scene with sea creatures, a set of ocean-themed letter search puzzles, and a completed illustration of a pink octopus with wavy tentacles.

Let’s go for a swim with the dolphins and discover more ocean animals with these ocean preschool worksheets. They’re a fun and colorful way for littles to practice handwriting and letter recognition, build vocabulary, learn colors, and so much more!

solo example of finished paper cup octopus

Using scissors is a great skills activity and also improves the muscles in a kid’s hand, too! Use these ocean day cutting practice sheets for a fun way for them to discover more sea animals as they cut different lines and angles to improve their scissor skills.

These skills will also help them grasp a pencil and gain the control to write.

Hammerhead Shark Puppet Craft

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!

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