Kids can have fun learning the letter O with these free Octopus themed activities for preschoolers and kindergartners.
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Today I am sharing our Letter O is for Octopus crafts, activities, and printables for preschoolers and toddlers. We made a letter craft (and I have the pattern for you), we played a sorting game using a suction cup to make it extra fun, and we painted an octopus using Q-tips to work on our fine motor skills.
These activities also go great with our Octopus Marshmallow Craft/Snack!
Find all our Letter of the Week A-Z Series here.
Letter O Sight Words
These are our Letter O Sight Words or High Frequency Words. Sight Words and HFW, are words that either brake the regular reading/spelling rules, or the rules might be too advanced for young readers to have learned yet. Our free printable includes these sight word sheets that you can use in the activities listed below.
Ideas for O is for Octopus printable:
- Place word and matching picture out when doing an activity that matches the word
- Color the cards
- Read the word together and match the word with the picture
- Point and name the letters on the card
- Write the letter of the week on each card
- Write the word on each card
O is for Octopus
SUGGESTED BOOKS & ACTIVITIES:
Click photos: Affiliate links to more information on these items we love! (Purchases through affiliate links earn us a small commission with no extra cost to you. See our Disclosure Policy here.)
Good Thing You’re Not an Octopus!Inky the Octopus: The Official Story of One Brave Octopus’ Daring Escape (Includes Marine Biology Facts for Fun Early Learning!)
Octopus’s Garden
Newbested 40 Pack Unfinished Wooden Ocean Sea Animal Life Cutouts,Octopus,Shark,Whale,Dolphin,Turtle,Crab,Squid,Seahorse Shapes Model for Home Decor Ornament,DIY Craft Art Project(5 PCS/Shape)
- Suggested Song: Octopus’s Garden (Youtube video by TheClemmer) and if you want to show your kiddos a cute video of an octopus check this out Little Octopus Climbing Over Rock (Youtube video by Parry Gripp)
O is for Octopus Craft
Objectives: Letter O recognition, Creativity, Fine motor skills
Age Group: Preschool
Supplies:
- Craft paper
- Googly eyes
- Ribbon
- Glue
- Scissors
- Pen
Directions:
1. Print the pattern on craft paper and have child cut them out. You may need to help cut the bottom of the octopus out. I was thinking it was going to be challenging for Little Tiger (age 4) but she didn’t need my help at all.
2. Have child glue googly eyes to the front of the octopus and use a pen to draw the mouth.
3. Cut out 8 pieces of ribbon and glue them to the back of the octopus.
4. Glue the octopus to the letter O. If you would like, you can also glue the craft to a piece of craft paper.
1. Attach the suction cup to one arm of your octopus. If you don’t have an octopus toy you could make an octopus out of paper or just explain that octopuses have suction cups on their arms.
2. Place 6 or more flashcards on the table and ask the child to locate cards and use the suction cup to pick it up and put it into a discard pile.
My daughter had tons of fun using the suction cup to pick up the cards. Eventually we removed the suction cup from the octopus to make it easier to use. I would ask her things like, “Find all the words that start with the letter C” or “find everything with yellow on it.” Whatever your child is working on, you can adapt this activity for all types of themes like letters, colors, shapes and so forth.
Octopus Fine Motor Skills Painting
Age Group: Preschool/Tot School
Supplies:
- Q-tips & paint or
- Cereal & Glue
Directions:
Print out the printable and give to child to decorate with q-tips and paint or cereal and glue.
When given the choice to use paint or cereal, my kids chose paint. My daughter took her time making sure to decorate each dot. My son started out painting nice and neat, and then choose to paint quickly with large motions (I took a picture and his hand looks like one big blur across the page :). I love seeing how my kid’s do the same activity differently based on their age and personality. As soon as he was done he was back playing with his cars.
Don’t see the box? CLICK HERE to be directed to the download. Please share and pin our printable ?
These activities are best for preschool and early kindergarten kids (ages 3–6). They’re designed to support letter recognition, fine motor skills, and hands-on learning.
Most of the activities use simple supplies you likely already have, like paper, scissors, glue, markers, and optional extras such as paint or googly eyes.
You can count the octopus’s eight arms, practice identifying the letter O, or add color sorting and ocean-themed books to turn this into a full mini lesson.
Updated Jan. 2026
A very nice activity for learning o and related sight words.
A very nice activity for learning o and related sight words.