Octopus and Squid Made from Toilet

Paper Tubes

Okay, here it is – the kid’s craft I promised! Hope you have as much fun making yours as I did making mine.

Kids if you are under 10 please get an adult’s help with this craft. You can do most of it yourself, but let a grownup help with the stapling and cutting unless they say you can do it yourself.

Gather all of your supplies together and if you don't have something you need, ask an adult for it.

What you will need to make your Octopus:

1 Toilet Paper Tube

1 white Viva Paper Towel or 2 or 3 thinner white Paper Towels, layered

White Paper or Cardstock (how about up-cycling the back of a junk mail envelope?)

Elmer’s Glue or Quick Dry Aleene's Craft Glue 

2 Colors of Acrylic Craft Paint, plus White Craft Paint

Acrylic Paint Brushes (3/4” or 1” and 1/4")

Paint Palette or Containers or Container Lids to put paint on

Bowl or Glass of Water  to clean your paint brushes. Don’t let the paint dry on them or they will be ruined.(I use the bottom cut off of a large bottle of mouthwash – I use the top of it as a funnel)

Sharpened #2 Pencil and Eraser (in case of mistakes)

Black Sharpie and Colored Sharpies or Crayola Markers

Round Lipstick or Glue Stick Tube or Circle Stencil

Scissors

A Glass or A Plastic Container you can use to stand your Octopus in upside down

A Ruler

And here’s how to make your Octopus:

Fold the corners of your paper towels(s) in loosely to the center (don’t crease it). This makes 4 new corners. Fold in the new corners loosely, then, pull the bottom edge together to make a loose ball. Set it in the glass or container upside down to hold its shape.

Put a generous amount of glue around the inside of one end of the toilet paper tube. Stuff the edges of the paper towel ball into the end with the glue, keeping the ball part fluffy and loose. You want it to stick up above the end of the toilet paper tube to make the top of your Octopus head round.

Choose a color for your Octopus and paint it over the paper towel top and body on the outside. Set it aside to dry.

While your paint dries, use your pencil to trace 2 circles around your lipstick tube or circle stencil about ½” wide for the Octopus’ eyes. Draw a smaller circle inside of each of those circles. You can use a smaller round object or stencil for this if you like.

Draw over these circles with your black Sharpie or Marker.

Color the outside circle in one color and the inside circle in another with your colored Sharpies or Markers.

Cut out the eyes with your scissors.

When the paint is completely dry on your Octopus, put some glue on the backs of the eyes and stick them to your Octopus near the top of the toilet paper tube, below the paper towel top.

Draw a smile on your Octopus with your pencil a little bit under the eyes, and paint it white. Let it dry.

Trace around the outside of the Octopus’ smile with your black Sharpie.

Use your pencil to lightly draw 8 vertical (straight up and down) lines around the bottom half of your Octopus. The best way to do this is to draw one in front starting a little bit under the mouth and drawing a straight line down. Then draw one about the same length on the back. Then draw one on each side. Now just draw one line in between each of those lines and you end up with 8 evenly spaced lines.

Use your scissors to cut each of the lines. Be careful not to cut them too high. They should be about halfway up and under where the face is. Now you have 8 Octopus Tentacles. (Octopi have tentacles instead of legs and arms.)

Use the handle of your small paint brush or your pencil and curl each of the Octopus’ tentacles around it to make them curl up.

Hold your Octopus upside down and paint the underside of the tentacles. Paint up a little into the inside of your Octopus so that none of the cardboard tube shows when you turn it over again. Put it in the glass or container upside down to let the paint dry.

And that’s it! When the paint is dry, turn your Octopus over and it’s all finished. You’re a great artist! Next we’ll make a Squid friend for your Octopus.

What you will need to make your Squid:

                         

2 Toilet Paper Tubes

 White Paper or Cardstock

Elmer’s Glue or Quick Dry Aleene's Craft Glue 

2 Colors of Acrylic Craft Paint

Acrylic Paint Brushes (3/4” or 1” and ¼”)

Paint Palette or Containers or Container Lids to put paint on

Bowl or Glass of Water  to clean your paint brushes. Don’t let acrylic paint dry on them or they will be ruined.(I use the bottom cut off of a large bottle of mouthwash – I use the top of it as a funnel)

Sharpened #2 Pencil and Eraser (in case of mistakes)

Black Sharpie

Round Lipstick or Glue Stick Tube or Circle Stencil

Can or Container lid about 3” across or a Circle Stencil about 3” across

Scissors

A Glass or A Plastic Container you can use to stand your Squid in upside down

A Ruler

And this is how to make your Squid:

Cut one toilet paper tube lengthwise, open it up and lay it flat it on the table.

Put the 3” can or container lid on top of it and hold it down while you trace around it with your pencil.

Cut out the circle you drew.

Draw a straight line across the middle of the circle. Now draw a line across the circle the in the other direction to look like a compass or equal armed cross.

Draw a line halfway between two of these lines from the middle to the edge. (The line at the top of the circle in this picture is where the toilet paper tube is spiraled. You can ignore that.)

Cut along this line and one next to it. You are cutting out a triangle from your circle.

Pull one cut edge over the other cut edge to the first line it touches and staple it with two staples to stay closed in a wide cone shape.

Fold the cone down with the stapled part in back and crease the edges.

Now open the middle of the folded cone. This is the top of your Squid’s head,

Put glue all around one end of the other toilet paper tube.

Put your Squid's Head on top and stand it up straight in the glass or container to dry. Let the glue get completely dry.

Paint your Squid in the color you want on the outside. Paint under the Squid Head, too. Stand it up to let the paint dry.

Trace 2 circles with your pencil around the lipstick tube, glue stick tube, or circle stencil to make a circle about 1/2” across.

Draw a smaller circle inside these circles.

Trace over these circles with your black Sharpie or Marker and color in the pupil (middle circle).

These are your Squid’s eyes.

Cut around the outside of the circles of the eyes with your scissors.

Draw 8 vertical (straight up and down) lines with your pencil (the same way as you did with your Octopus, but shorter) about 2 inches long from the bottom of your Squid (about 1/3” of the way from the bottom). This is done by drawing one in front, one in back, one on each side. Then line one between each of these lines to make 8 vertical lines, just like the Octopus, but with shorter tentacles.

Cut all of the lines and you have 8 short tentacles. (Squid use their short tentacles to help them swim and hold stuff.)

Put glue on the backs of the eyes and stick them on your Squid halfway between the glued-on top and the top of the tentacles.

After cutting out the big circle for your Squid’s head you should have 2 scrap edges leftover. Use these to draw 2 long tentacles. These should be skinnier than the short tentacles but with a triangle at one end of each tentacle. Squid use their long tentacles to reach out and pick up food and stuff, just like we use our arms and hands.

Cut out your Squid’s long tentacles.

Paint one side of your Squid’s long tentacles with the same color as the outside color of your Squid.

Curl the short tentacles on your Squid upward.

Paint the underside of your Squid in your second color choice and stand it in your glass or container to dry.

Paint the other side of your Squid’s long tentacles in the same color  as the inside of your Squid's body and let them dry.

Turn your Squid back over so it’s right side up and pull 2 tentacles on the sides up a little.

Curl your Squid’s long tentacles around your finger or pencil, with the second color facing out.

Put a drop of glue on the top side of one of your Squid’s tentacles at the top end (not the triangle end).

Stick it to the inside of the toilet paper tube on one side under the tentacle you pulled up a little. I put mine a little to the front instead of going all the way to the side.

Do the same thing with your Squid’s other tentacle on the other side so that it has 2 long tentacles under the short tentacles.

Paint polka dots all over your Squid with the second color and let the paint dry.

Use your black Sharpie or marker to draw a small smiling mouth on your Squid’s face under the eyes in the middle.

With your pencil draw a tiny triangle on a piece of your white paper, small enough to fit in your Squid’s mouth. This is your Squid’s tooth.

Cut out your Squid’s little triangle tooth.

Put a little glue on the back of the tooth and stick it on your Squid’s mouth.

That’s it! Look at what a great job you did!

Are you ready to give your Octopus and Squid their new names? What are you going to call them? I named mine Ollie Octopus and Sid Squid!

You can leave question and comments below.