Octopus Puppet Made From A Paper Bag

Today’s under the sea puppet craft is inspired by one of our new favorite children’s books My Very Own Octopus by Benard Most.

This book tells a story of a little boy who fantasizes about the possibilities of owning a pet octopus. The illustrations in the book are fun and colorful & will have your child’s imagination running wild.

Although “I” personally would never own one of my own, it’s still fun to pretend. And what better way to pretend, than with a fun craft? This book opened the window to an easy project and we took the challenge. Lil Man & I grabbed some supplies and made our own octopus friend that was completely customizable from start to finish.

So on that note, are you ready to make one with your child today? Well then… find all the crafty details for this paper bag octopus art project idea in the full tutorial below!

Happy crafting {and reading} my friends! Don’t forget to share pictures of your finished octopus made from a paper bag on our Facebook page for us to admire! #gluedtomycrafts

Here is what we used:

Paper Bags {I had a brown one on hand}
Various Colors of Craft Paint
Foam Paint Brushes
Tissue Paper or Old Newspapers
Large Wiggle Eyes or Paper Scraps
School Glue
Rubber Bands or Twine
Kid Friendly Scissors
Small Paper Plate

Directions:

First things first – set up a crafting spot. You will want a place that can get messy.
Squirt some paint on a paper plate and tell your child to paint their paper bag completely.
Once the paper bag is completely covered, set aside so it can dry.
When it’s dry, go ahead and grab your tissue paper, rubber band/twine and scissors.
Stuff some tissue paper inside your child’s painted paper bag and tie it off towards the middle with either a rubber band or a piece of string. This is the body of your octopus.
Next cut some strips in the bottom of the paper bag to give the look of tentacles on the octopus.
To finish off, glue on the wiggle eyes or make some eyes from paper like I did.
Finally, draw on a simple mouth design, with a sharpie marker on the paper bag.
And that’s it for the paper bag octopus! You could even customize even more by adding some rhinestones or glitter.
Don’t forget to share pictures with us on Instagram! Just tag us directly or use our hashtag #gluedtomycrafts

Check out our AMAZON storefront for supplies!

What do you think? Isn’t this paper bag pet octopus better than the real thing? We also have our Popsicle Stick Octopus for you to check out and pair with today’s awesome craft idea! #gluedtomycrafts

Paper Bag Octopus Puppet

Print This Tutorial

Tools:

School Glue
Scissors
Small Paper Plate
Paint Brushes
Sharpie Markers

Supplies:

Large Paper Bag
Craft Paint
Old Newspaper
Rubber Bands
Cardstock Paper

Instructions:

First things first - set up a crafting spot. You will want a place that can get messy.
Squirt some paint on a paper plate and tell your child to paint their paper bag completely.
Once the paper bag is completely covered, set aside so it can dry.
When it's dry, go ahead and grab your tissue paper, rubber band/twine and scissors.
Stuff some tissue paper inside your child's painted paper bag and tie it off towards the middle with either a rubber band or a piece of string. This is the body of your octopus.
Next cut some strips in the bottom of the paper bag to give the look of tentacles on the octopus.
To finish off, glue on the wiggle eyes or make some eyes from paper like I did.
Finally, draw on a simple mouth design, with a sharpie marker on the paper bag.
And that's it for the paper bag octopus! You could even customize even more by adding some rhinestones or glitter.

Paper Bag Octopus Puppet Craft Idea