Spider and Spider Web Craft

Spider and Spider Web

Learn how to build a spider and spider web of your own design with this creepy-crawly Creature Craft!

Spiders have 4 pairs of legs, up to 8 eyes, and 2 body segments – the head and thorax are fused to make one segment, while the abdomen makes up the second. But did you know that one of the most distinctive characteristics about spiders is there ability to create and use different kinds of silk?

Silk is a tough protein, which can be sticky or non-sticky, with the following functions: a safety or dispersal line (to get spiders from point A to point B), to cover and protect its eggs (an egg sac), to line burrows, to catch or wrap prey, & to build cool, creative structures known as a spider web!

Not all spiders build webs, but the species that do each build their own design in a specific location found in their habitat. Some can build them on the ceiling of your house, in a cave, or in an abandoned log, while others use tall grass or lampposts.

What web patterns will you create and where will you hang yours?

Materials you will need:

String, thread, yarn, old/used
2 colours of string: one to symbolize sticky and the other non-sticky
Paper plate
Glue gun
Pencil or hole punch to make holes in the plate
Pipe cleaners, 2 fuzzy balls, googly eyes for your spider

Step-by-Step Instructions:

To create your spider's legs, take 2 pieces of pipe cleaners and cut them in half and wrap a small piece of pipe cleaner around the centre of those
Bend the pipe cleaners so they look like 8 individual springy spider legs
For the body, use the glue gun (get help from an adult for this!) to stick a pompom at the point were all the legs meet
You can add another segment to the body by gluing another pompom to the one you just did
Use the glue gun to add some eyes to your spider
Next, to make the web, punch holes along the outside edge of your paper plate (using a hole punch or pencil)
Punch a hole in the centre and create your radiating lines with your first colour of string
To start spiralling, loop a different coloured string around one of the radiating lines and tie it in place.
Loop it around some of the other radiating lines from the edge of your plate to the centre in a circular motion, or create your own unique pattern!
And you're done!

Fun Facts

Spiders, like the orb-weaver, use a sturdy silk to build the outer frame and main radiating lines from the center, and spiralling threads that attach to the main threads, which cover the area from the center of the web, to the outside. The strong framework threads are non-sticky silk, while the adhesive sticky threads are used for spiralling.