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If you’re up for a challenge, this Origami Octopus craft for Kids is perfect to expand your Origami skills! Practice your folds and see what happens!

When it comes to animated creatures in cartoons, some of the most common ones are cats, dogs, mice, bears, pigs and rabbits. Think Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Peppa Pig, for instance. Not many of us would consider an octopus as an ideal candidate for a cartoon character, but you’d be surprised at how popular they are!

Some of the famous fictional octopuses are Oswald from Oswald,  Squidward Tentacles from SpongeBob SquarePants and all the guys from The Octonauts. Looks like octopuses are only going to become more popular!

In that spirit, we’ve got a cute little Origami Octopus craft for kids and beginners today, and you don’t need any special Origami skills for this! 

Adorable Origami Octopus Craft for Kids

Supplies required:

• Colored craft paper
• A pair of scissors
• Craft glue (optional)

How to make the Origami Octopus Craft:

1. Choose a craft paper in a color you like. Cut out two squares of side 15 cm from it. Cut out two small eye shapes from white paper and two tiny circles from pink paper. Use a black marker to draw pupils inside the eyes. 

2. Let’s put away the eyes and cheeks as well as one square for now. We’re going to make the body of the Origami octopus craft. Start by folding the square into half diagonally. Unfold and then fold again in the opposite direction. Unfold so you get two diagonal lines criss-crossing through the middle.

3. Turn the sheet upside down. Now fold the square into half horizontally. Unfold and fold again vertically. Unfold so you now have 4 lines intersecting in the middle. The diagonal lines are bent upward and the others bend downward.

4. Make a fold diagonally from the center to the four corners. It will look like the center point is being ‘pulled up’. Now fold along the horizontal creases so you get a star-like shape as shown below.

5. Turn the star on its side so that the long diagonal ‘arms’ are on either side, as shown below, with a center crease visible from the top.

6. Fold the star from the left to the right, folding along the central crease, so that all the flaps are now on one side as shown below.

7. Now we’re going to fold all the flaps one by one, to make the tentacles of the Origami octopus. Start with the top most flap and fold it to the right, at an angle of 25-30 degrees. 

8. Now fold the next flap to the right, again folding at an angle so that it appears staggered from the previous flap. It should look like the picture below.

9. Repeat the previous step with the next flap, folding toward the right at an angle.

10. Finally, fold the last flap toward the right. The body part of the Origami octopus is ready. 

11. Let’s take the other square paper now to make the head of the Origami octopus. 

12. Fold the square sheet in half diagonally. You now have a triangle with the base at the bottom and corner on top.

13. Take the right corner and fold it upward to meet the upper corner. 

14. Repeat the previous step with the left corner. Now you have a diamond shape with two flaps that meet along the middle.

15. Take the bottom corner of the diamond and fold it upward, but not all the way to meet the top. You should get a shape as shown below with a smaller triangle inside. 

16. Fold the left and right corners into the shape so they meet the sides of the inside triangle. The head of the Origami octopus is ready!

17. Time to put everything together! Take the octopus body from Step 10 and turn it to the other side. 

18. Now apply glue on the inner triangle of the octopus head. 

19. Stick the body on the head so that the top corners of both parts align with each other. Now fold down the top corner of the head on top of the body part. 

20. Now turn the completed Origami pattern around so that the front part is facing you. Gather your remaining pieces – the eyes and the cheeks.

21. Stick the eyes and the cheeks on the octopus head. Use colored markers to draw spots and a smile.

That’s it – your Origami octopus is complete!

Isn’t this guy absolutely adorable! The best part is that you can use craft paper of any color – this is a fictional octopus after all! Who knows, maybe you can give him a backstory and personality, and create a character all of your own!

If you enjoyed this octopus craft, you may also like these:

• Cute and Easy DIY Octopus Bookmark Craft
• Paper Plate Octopus Craft for Kids
• DIY Paper Cup Octopus Craft for Kids
• Handprint Octopus Art