Octopus Christmas Craft

_______

Bells and Christmas go hand in hand, and this jingly octopus Christmas craft fits right in. It is easy to make and is guaranteed to be treasured by your little learners.

_______

Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

_______

Supplies To Collect

Gather the following supplies to make all three colors of this Christmas musical instrument craft:

red, green, and silver cardstock paper
large red, green, and silver jingle bells
small Christmas foam balls
wiggly eyes
white glue
scissors and pencil

_______

Making the Octopus Christmas Craft

_______

To make this festive musical craft, start by cutting out a circular design with eight curved legs from red, green, and silver cardstock paper. Feel free to download this octopus template to use for the craft.

_______

Octopus Craft PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.

_______

Next, use white glue or a glue gun to adhere a large jingle bell in the same color to the middle of the eight-legged base.

Afterward, glue a similarly colored small glitter foam ball to the tip of each paper leg.

_______

Finally, add two wiggly eyes to the jingle bell-themed octopus.

_______

Variations Of This Octopus Christmas Craft

Here are a few ways to vary the octopus craft to make it your own:

Instead of using a large jingle bell for the leggy craft, use a similarly-sized foam ball that has been spray-painted with red, green, or silver paint.

Rather than adhering small foam balls to the tips of the legs, glue on small jingle bells or large round beads cut from garland. Either of these will add a little weight to the octopus legs, allowing the metallic decoration to hang nicely when held.

_______

Each octopus Christmas craft can be made in two or three complementary colors instead of a monochrome palette.

_______

Christmas Octopus Craft Play

This jingle jangle Christmas craft is not just meant to look pretty sitting on a decorated mantle. Set the shiny octopuses out in a space your little learners can access. Tell them that this craft is a musical instrument, so should be handled gently. The wiggly-eyed octopuses will be moved around to different spots and your little charges will enjoy listening to their soft and gentle musical sounds.

_______

The octopus Christmas craft also makes unique jingle bells for your little learners to use to accompany popular holiday songs such as Jingle Bells and Jingle Bells Rock.

_______