I want to show you how to make an adorable pipe cleaner squid craft that can be used to teach your child all about squid anatomy. Also, look at my page Oceans Unit Study and Lapbook for more hands-on ideas.
I’m always looking for hands-on ways to bring science lessons to life. Ocean animals are a favorite in our home, and few creatures are as fascinating as the squid.
This simple pipe cleaner squid craft combines art, creativity, and marine biology in one fun activity.
Kids can twist, shape, and design their own deep-sea creature while learning about how real squids live, move, and hunt. It’s the perfect mix of learning and play.
Read the facts aloud as your child builds their squid to teach them all about this amazing cephalopod, you will also find more ideas to expand your study from a basic craft into a mini unit.
MOLLUSKS BOOKS FOR KIDS
And because a squid is in the mollusk family, look at these other books.
8 Books About Mollusks
Add some of these books to your home library or to your unit study for the day.
The book uses simple, easy-to-understand language to teach children what mollusks are, how they look, how they move, what they eat, and where they live. The beautifully detailed, realistic paintings of noted wildlife illustrator John Sill introduce readers to a variety of mollusks—from the small garden snail to the giant Pacific octopus. An afterword provides more details about the animals in the book.
The giant squid is one of the most elusive creatures in the world. As large as whales, they hide beyond reach deep within the sea, forcing scientists to piece together their story from those clues they leave behind.An injured whale's ring-shaped scars indicate an encounter with a giant squid. A piece of beak broken off in the whale's belly; a flash of ink dispersed as a blinding defense to allow the squid to escape-- these fragments of proof were all we had . . . until a giant squid was finally filmed in its natural habitat only two years ago.In this beautiful and clever nonfiction picture book about the giant squid, Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann explore, both visually and poetically, this hidden creature's mysterious life.
A young snail's artistic trail inspires a whole class of children to be creative too!
"Brilliant illustrations and a short text invite an unnamed sleeping, pajama-clad child into a garden teeming with wildlife. The boy gradually shrinks until he is so small he experiences things as a snail would. The incredibly detailed drawings and the idea of shrinking to enter another world should capture children's imaginations
Escargot is an adorable French snail who only wants two things: 1) To be your favorite animal, and 2) To eat the delicious salad at the end of this book. Except this delicious salad has a carrot in it. And Escargot hates carrots. But when he finally tries one―with a little help from you!―he realizes that it’s not so bad after all.
Here is the story Grandma tells one evening on her wide veranda steps. It has Michael and Hannah and the disappearing baby in it, a tigerish bird, raindrops like sacks of water, and the hugest apple you ever saw. Oh yes . . . and the Snail House. So gather round, climb up now into Grandma’s lap. Darkness is falling, the air is still, and the story is just about to begin.
A snail's life from the time it is hatched to the time it lays its own eggs.
A young snail dreams of having the biggest house—or shell—in the world. Then one day, his wise father tells him the story of another snail with the same dream. He grew and grew, adding bright colors and beautiful designs, until he found that his house came at a terrible cost. The young snail decides that a small, easy-to-carry shell might be best for a life of adventure and exploration.
Then, look at these squid facts.
SUPER SQUID FACTS
Squids are cephalopods, a group that also includes octopuses and cuttlefish. The word cephalopod means “head-foot,” because their arms are attached directly to their head.
There are around 300 species of squid in the world, ranging from tiny finger-sized squids to the enormous giant squid that can grow longer than a school bus.
Squids move by jet propulsion! They pull water into their body cavity and then shoot it out quickly through a tube called a siphon. This helps them zoom through the water like little torpedoes.
They can change colors! Squids have special skin cells called chromatophores that let them change colors instantly for camouflage or communication.
Squids are clever hunters. They use their two long tentacles to catch prey and bring it toward their sharp beak-like mouth, hidden beneath their arms.
They have blue blood. Unlike humans, who use iron to carry oxygen in their blood, squids use copper, which makes their blood look blue.
Squids squirt ink when they’re scared or trying to escape predators. The ink creates a dark cloud in the water that confuses enemies while the squid swims away to safety.
Then, look at more cephalopod activities.
CEPHALOPOD CRAFTS AND ACTIVITIES
Don’t stop with squid, take a look at the amazing lives of other cephalopods like the cuttlefish and octopus.
- Under the Sea Science Activities With Amazing Disappearing Octopus Ink
- Blue Squid Bottle Craft and Science
- Octopus Yarn Craft – Yarn Octopus Instructions
- DIY Ocean Squid Windsocks
- The Creative Colorful Classroom: Octopus Art Project
While our pipe cleaner squid craft is great and can be quite educational on its own, consider expanding on the activity by adding in one or more of the following activities to expand it into several subjects.
Compare Squids and Octopuses-Draw a Venn diagram comparing their similarities and differences. Which one has an internal shell? Which one is faster?
Explore Squid Anatomy- Label a picture or your pipe cleaner model of a squid’s body parts- including fins, mantle, arms, tentacles, and siphon.
Watch a Nature Video- Look for documentaries or short educational clips showing squids in their natural habitat. Seeing them in motion helps kids understand how they swim and hunt.
Creative Writing Prompt- Ask kids to write a short story about their pipe cleaner squid exploring the ocean. What creatures does it meet? What adventures does it have?
Math Connection- Count all the arms and tentacles together (10 total) and use it as a fun opportunity to practice addition or multiplication facts.
HOW TO CREATE AN ADORABLE PIPE CLEANER SQUID CRAFT
- 3 colors of pipe cleaners – 4 of one, 2 of another, 2-3 of the third
- Googly eyes
- Glue or hot glue
- Scissors
I used 3 colors for our squid- one color for the 8 arms, another for the 2 longer tentacles, and a third to create the head.
Take 4 pipe cleaners of one color and fold it in half.
Bend a different color in half around the bundle, going in the opposite direction. This will be part of the head, but first, we are going to use it to anchor everything.
Take 2 more pipe cleaners in a third color and put them on either side of the bundled ones in the center. Wrap each around the single pipe cleaner several times until secure.
You want to make sure these stay longer than the arms so they are obvious tentacles.
Bend up your anchor pipe cleaner and form it into a pointy oval shape to form the head.
Ball up any color and place in the center.
Take a pipe cleaner the same color as the anchor piece and wrap it from the open base up to the top. You will need at least 2 to cover it completely.
With 2-3, you should have a little extra left at the end; use this to bend into the fins on the top of the head.
Glue googly eyes on either side of the head.
Finally, so that they do not stick straight, arrange the legs and tentacles into a more natural wavy shape.
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