Halloween is almost here! Yippee! I was lamenting to a friend the other day that Halloween used to be a one day a year event but since I had children it is has somehow morphed into a month long extravaganza filled with pumpkin patches and parties and a bizillion haunted houses. Part of the reason I have been out to lunch here on Babble Dabble Do is because I was helping with my son’s school’s Pumpkin Fair that wrapped this weekend. Now we are finally back and ready to share a couple of easy last minute projects we’ve been keeping busy with.
After reading a great review on Momma Harvey about the new e-book series The Artful Year by Jean Van Hult of The Artful Parent, I decided I could use a little inspiration and purchased Autumn. I completely agree with Leslie Ann Harvey that this is a fantastic book/series and a must-add to you repertoire of art books for kiddos. As soon as my spider obsessed son saw the pipe cleaner spider project he literally had tunnel vision. So much so that I wasn’t able to swing by the store to pick up some of the supplies needed. No matter, we used Jean Van Hult’s basic ideas and created a version made out of beads that I thought turned out to be a great complimentary project.
Halloween Spiders
Materials:
- Pipe Cleaners
- Scissors
- Wooden Beads with large holes- you will need two beads per spider, either the same size or one small, one large.
- Sharpie
- Hot Glue Gun
- Paint (Optional)
Instructions:
- Step One Cut two pipe cleaners in half to make 4 short strips.
- Step Two Thread the pipe cleaners through a large bead and stop when the bead is in the center of the pipe cleaners.
- Step Three Bend the ends of each of the eight legs to form a “foot”Â
- Step Four Spread the legs apart and glue on a small bead to make a head. Make sure to face the hole of the small bead to the front of the spider so you can add fangs.
- Step Five Cut a small strip of pipe cleaner and bend it in half to form fangs. Insert the “fangs” into the hole in the smaller bead.
- Step Six Use your sharpie to draw on eyes for your spiderÂ
- Step Seven Embellish! My son loved this part. He used a toothpick to paint a red hourglass on the belly and the sharpie to make the body of the spider look more detailed.I have to say, it’s hard to find art projects that my 5-year-old son is interested in and this one definitely hit the mark!
- Step Eight Hang ’em up! When you’re done go hang these on some of the fake spider webs you have around the house! Happy Halloween!
Leslie says
Great post! Thanks for the shout out! LOVE LOVE LOVE your spiders and pictures! 😀
Bronwyn says
This is just the kind of project I was looking for! Can’t wait to do this with Axel! I love how colorful they are. Thanks Ana!
Ana Dziengel says
I’m so happy to hear it Bronwyn! Post your finished ones on our BDD FB page. I’d love to see them!