DIY Paper Cup Octopus Craft | Craft Ideas with Paper Cups

Here’s a super cute ocean animal craft for kids– paper cup octopus craft! Not only is it fun to make, but it also provides fine motor practice for little ones.

We love Ocean crafts and have a Printable Ocean Theme Drawing Prompt, a Paper Plate Seashell Craft & an Under The Sea Theme Shape Match.

Today, we are adding another ocean craft – the Paper Cup Octopus to our craft repository.

We have been reading one of our favorite books in our Toddler Class– Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae. If you haven’t read his books before you need to buy or borrow them now! They’re fabulous for toddlers and preschoolers and you’ll find them in almost every early learning classroom.

Supplies need to make a paper Cup Octopus Craft:

Paper Cup
Scissors
Googly Eyes
Acrylic paint – Orange
Paint brush
Chalk markers – White & Pink
Glue

To make the Paper Cup Octopus Craft:

Start with a clean paper cup. We had the small cups, but you can use the longer ones too. Using Scissors, make 8 cuts around the cup. Make sure that you only cut halfway and not till the edge of the cup. This will form the head & the legs of the octopus. Slowly open to form a flower like structure.

Using Acrylic paints and a brush, paint the Paper Cup Orange. Use a plastic sheet or newspapers to protect your surface. make sure all sides are coated uniformly. Let dry completely. It will take about 10 minutes or so

Once the paper cup is completely dry, use your thumb and forefinger to slightly curl the ends of the cup upwards. The curled edges are the tentacles.

Using Pink markers, draw circles on the body of the paper cup octopus. Now outline each pink circle with a white marker. You can use acrylic paints and an ear bud to add dots in case you don’t have chalk markers.