It's amazing what you can do with an old tissue box and a few toilet rolls. We had a lot of fun designing and creating this Octopus Garden complete with several octopuses, a watery background, woolly seaweed and some fishy friends. What's more, this Octopus Garden costs next to nothing and will be played with for weeks to come.
Octopus Garden
: 60 minutes
Age: Any Age
Level: Easy
Materials
Tissue box ready to be transformed
Take one tissue box and paint the inside with a nice watery blue color, then allow it to dry off completely.
Paint the outside of your toilet rolls in bright colors, then allow the paint to dry, before cutting up the rolls from the base to create exactly eight octopus "legs", and curl them outwards (so that they can stand up easily). Glue on two googlie octopus "eyes" and draw on some smiley "mouths".
Two octopuses that need a home
Now your newly born octopuses need a home, so you can begin designing and decorating some waves and fish to fit neatly into the back of the tissue box. Cut them into shape and glue them into the scene.
Make some holes along the top of the tissue box (maybe with a hole punch) and poke colorful bits of wool through to make some hanging seaweed. You could also add in some hessian to be the sandy sea bed and a collected sea shell or two.
Cut out some waves and fish for the background
Now it should look like a cozy sea cave and just the perfect size for a few octopuses to dance and play...... "I'd like to be under the sea......"
Make holes across the top and poke wool through for the seaweed
Maybe your octopuses need some more friends to play with? Who else can you make to join them?
