Marble-Painted Spider Web Craft

Here's yet another fun holiday craft idea from our fantastic story time lady, Mrs. D! My little man (who I have mentioned is not hugely into crafts like his big sister) really had a great time creating this project, and I can't blame him. Who doesn't love fun ways of painting? And painting with marbles is definitely fun!

He enjoyed adding the foam spider sticker at the end, but you make a spider from a pom pom and some pipe cleaners like we did here. Or you can just add a plastic spider ring in its place. I'm thinking you could either cut off the plastic ring part and then glue it on, or if that doesn't work, make a slit in the paper, and poke the ring part through and tape it to the back side of the paper.

I'm also feeling inspired to do a string-painting version of this spider web craft... So many spooky possibilities!

{Spider-in-a-Web by Logan, Age 4}

Materials:

• round cake pan or pie tin
• black construction paper
• pencil
• scissors
• white tempera paint (and small bowl/cup to hold it)
• marble/s
• spoon 
• adhesive foam spider sticker (optional)

Directions:

1. Place a piece of black construction paper inside your cake pan or pie tin. Using a pencil, trace around the inside and cut out the paper circle.
2. Lay the construction paper inside the cake pan or pie tin.
3. Place some white paint in a cup or bowl along with a marble or two. Help your child coat the marble/s with paint, using a spoon. Again, using the spoon, help your child place a marble on top of the paper.
4. Have your child gently roll the marble around to make a "web" pattern on the black paper. If desired, put the marble back in the paint to re-coat it.
5. Have your child place a spider sticker in the web and then allow the paint to dry completely before displaying his artwork.

Cheese and Cracker Spider-wich Snack

I adapted this snack idea from spider cookies I found on this website. I wanted to make it a bit healthier, so I used crackers instead of vanilla wafers, spray cheese in place of frosting, raisins instead of candy, and pretzel sticks rather than licorice rope.

Materials Needed:

• round crackers (such as Ritz)
• spray cheese (You might also use cream cheese or peanut butter.)
• pretzel sticks
• raisins

Directions:

1. Spread spray cheese on inside of one round cracker.
2. Insert 8 pretzel sticks to make spider's legs.
3. Top with another cracker. You may wish to add a small amount of spray cheese to help it stick.
4. Using two small dots of spray cheese as "glue," apply raisins for eyes.
5. Enjoy!

Dum Dum Sucker Spiders

This craft is easy and inexpensive to mass produce. We did 20+ assembly line style for Story Time treats, each one taking only a minute or two in total. They would be cute to hand out to trick-or-treaters or as party favors. I modified this idea from http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/spider-pops-661131/ which calls for Tootsie Pops. I used the Dum Dums because I already had them. Since they are smaller than Tootsie Pops, I decided to cut the pipe cleaners in half instead of using four whole pipe cleaners (which also saved money on materials.) I bought two packages of 25 black pipe cleaners at Walmart for 77 cents each.
 

Materials Needed:

• Dum Dum sucker
• 2 black pipe cleaners
• glue
• wiggly eyes

Directions:

1. Cut two pipe cleaners in half.
2. Holding all four pieces of pipe cleaner together, twist up around base of Dum Dum sucker. You now have four legs on either side of the sucker, which becomes the body of the spider.
3. Bend and arrange pipe cleaners as desired to form the legs.
4. Glue wiggly eyes onto center of pipe cleaners to form the head of the spider.

Spooky Spider in a Web Craft

Materials Needed for Spider Web:

• black paper plate (or plain plate colored with black crayon, marker, or paint)
• hole punch
• black yarn (or thread or string)
• scissors

Directions for Spider Web:

1. If using a plain paper plate, turn over and paint or color black. Allow to dry, if needed.
2. Use hole punch to make holes around the outside of the plate.
3. Cut a length of yarn, thread through a hole, and knot on the back (Use as many knots as needed to secure the yarn so that it won't come through the hole.)
4. Lace yarn through holes to form spider web. You will go over the plate and under the plate alternately.
5. When you are close to the end of the yarn, tie it to a piece of the web. Start over with a new length of yarn, if desired. (You can cut more yarn and go through holes repeatedly until you get the web the way you want it. Just be sure to knot the ends of the yarn when stopping and starting each length.)

Materials Needed for Pom Pom Spider:

• scissors
• glue
• 2 pipe cleaners (We used black.)
• large pom pom (We used neon colors.)
• wiggle eyes

Directions for Pom Pom Spider:

Mia's Spider in a Web

1. Cut two pipe cleaners if half.
2. Lay the four pieces of pipe cleaner side by side.
3. Twist pipe cleaners in the middle so that they are all connected. (You now have four legs on each side.)
4. Glue pom pom to center of pipe cleaners.
5. Glue wiggle eyes to pom pom.
6. Allow glue to dry completely.
7. Bend pipe cleaners to form the legs.

This idea comes from: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/paper-plate-spider-web.htm