Not only is this emotion changing octopus a really fun craft to work on with children, but it can also help them to learn about different feelings and become more confident in expressing them. 

How to do it

1. Turn one of your paper cups upside down and use the pencil to draw an octopus as big as you can on the side. 
2. Colour in or paint the body of your octopus in as many different colours as you want. 
3. Go over your octopus’s outline with the black marker pen to make it stronger and clearer. 
4. This step is for adults only: using pencil, draw a rectangle where the octopus’s face will be, then carefully cut it out with the craft knife, leaving a hole. 
5. Stack a blank cup inside your octopus cup and use it as a stencil to mark a rectangle onto the inside cup.  
6. Turn the inside cup slightly until you can see a blank space through the rectangle, then trace it again. Keep doing this until you reach the first rectangle you traced. 
7. Take out the inside cup and colour in each rectangle using a shade that matches the octopus on the outside cup. Leave to dry for a few minutes. 
8. Make sure the inside cup is upside down – just like the outside cup was – then use the marker to draw different faces for the octopus inside all of your coloured rectangles. Try as many emotions as you can think of. 
9. Wait for the inside cup to dry, then slide it back inside the outside cup. 
10. Now you can turn the inside cup and look through the rectangle on the outside cup. You’ll see the octopus’s emotions change!