Over the past month or two I've been sharing some Back to School Basics posts. Back to School Basics posts include simple activities reviewing preschool and pre-k math, reading, writing, and cutting activities. This craft is a great way to practice scissor skills by cutting different types of lines to create a spooky (but colorful) spider.
On Saturday my son went tarantula hunting at a local open space preserve and even got to camp out overnight. The weekend before that, my husband took both kids to check out the tarantulas. Notice I didn't join in? I don't share the love for creepy crawlies! 🙂 As you might imagine, they are a bit spider obsessed right now. We did some research about the number of legs, eyes, and body parts of a spider and then got to work creating this simple Shape Spider!
Materials Needed for Shape Spider: crayons, cardstock, scissors, a marker, glue, and googly eyes.
How to Make a Shape Spider:
1. Draw two ovals ahead of time (or have your child draw them) and several lines for legs. Color the shapes! I wanted my son to practice cutting straight lines, so I drew the lines for him. You could easily let your child draw their own lines and cut along them... or just have them cut strips of paper and not worry about the lines being exact.
2. Cut out the shapes. My son has been struggling with cutting circles and ovals... so the end result of this project was amazing to me. Just in the past few weeks he's learned to cut more accurately with me and his teacher both working on this with him doing fun projects. Hurray!
3. Glue the legs onto the paper.
4. Then add the two body pieces on top.
5. Next add lots of glue and googly eyes! I think we read that they can have up to 8 eyes... so I think my son put on at least that many... if not more!
6. Let dry and hang! Our shape spider is a prominent part of our Halloween decorations right now!
Do you have any spider fans at your house?
Here are a few other Toddler Approved Spider crafts and activities you might enjoy...
We also LOVE these spider themed books! Do you have a favorite?
If you are looking for some more festive ideas for Halloween and Thanksgiving, I highly recommend that you check out this beautiful e-book recently released by The Artful Parent.
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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate ads.
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