Uppercase Letter O Craft for Preschool

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Octopi are captivating animals. I love to see an octopus at an aquarium and watch them move around a tank. These mysterious creatures are extra special because they have eight legs that help them move and eat. Octopi fascinate children. Look at this adorable octopus made from the letter O! In this uppercase letter O craft for preschool, your child will practice the shape and sound of O as they turn the letter into an octopus.

When you can connect learning to something your child already finds fascinating this is a win-win approach. Your child wins because they can get excited about learning and connect the new information more easily. You win because your child is more interested in the lesson and easier to teach. That’s why I love this octopus craft!

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Extension Activities with the Octopus

Since you are making an octopus letter craft today, and the octopus is probably something your child is already fascinated by, now would be a good time to connect all of your learning activities to this theme. You can take this one activity and carry over the idea into several different subject areas. The whole time you’ll be reinforcing the shape and sound of O, but your child will also be counting and learning a variety of skills.

Science and the Octopus

The octopus theme lends itself very easily to science. You can read factual books about the octopus-like An Octopus is Amazing which is a Read and Find Out About Science book. This series will have facts and details and pictures for your student to explore, and each book usually has a series of experiments or activities to try. You can also plan to try this octopus science experiment.

Reading About the Octopus

Be sure to check out our list of letter o picture books which includes a fantastic section of octopus books. My favorite from the list is Good Thing You’re Not an Octopus by Julie Markes. Check your local library and ask the librarian. You might find a new favorite! Reading picture books together gives your child experience with rich vocabulary and expressive language.

Math and the Octopus

If you have explored skip counting, the octopus is an excellent opportunity to try skip counting by eight. It’s a much tougher skill than sip counting by two or three or five, but just try it a little and see what your student can do. Start by counting the legs on each octopus in succession, adding them to each other as you go, and emphasizing the last number for each one (8, 16, 24). Then point to the last leg on each octopus body and say just that number. Even if your student doesn’t really understand the concept they are beginning to form connections in their brain about the number eight! You could also keep track of the octopus’ legs using tally marks.

Materials for the Uppercase Letter O Craft

I like to get everything ready before I let my kids know we are doing craft time. Usually, this includes drawing the different parts of the craft freehand so that my child can cut the different pieces out. You can see the cut pieces needed for the craft in the instructions section. Having everything ready to go before you begin will help cut down on any frustration caused by craft time.

• pink construction paper (2 pieces)
• black construction paper
• white construction paper
• backing construction paper
• black marker/pencil/crayon,
• glue
• scissors
• alternative – white paper and crayons

Instructions for the Uppercase Letter O Craft

1. First, trace the cut pieces shown above using a thick marker. Once this is ready, have your child follow the instructions below.
2. Cut out a large uppercase O from the pink paper.
3. Next, cut out 8 tentacles from the other piece of pink paper.
4. Then cut out 2 ovals from the white paper and 2 small black circles from the black paper for eyes.
5. Next, glue down the uppercase O towards the top of the backing paper.
6. Then glue down the 2 white eyes, one on either side of the middle of the O.
7. Next, glue down the 2 small black circles into the middle of the white eyes.
8. Then glue down the 8 tentacles around the bottom half of the O.
9. Finally, draw a smile at the bottom of the O and some little dots for suckers on the tentacles with the black marker/pencil/crayon.