Halloween Fine Motor: Giant Lacing Spiderweb

So far we've had lots of Halloween fun this year. From making and painting Plaster Handprint Spiders, to making Spiderweb Window Art, and Playing with Giant Eyeballs - it's been a blast. Though I must admit, this was my favorite activity of ours so far. Watching S thread and lace and design this spiderweb so carefully was so much fun. She was so proud and the finished product was amazing to behold.

Not to mention this was such a great fine motor activity. I loved the hand-eye coordination component.

And it's another way to use our brown yarn! Wahoo!! (I have had a giant roll of ugly brown yarn forever and am always looking for ways to use it).

S worked so methodically. It was so cool to watch her plan for the web evolve.

So that they yarn wasn't incredibly unwieldy, I had her work with one long section at a time. I would tie a knot to start it and then I would tie the final knot (S is still working on consistently tying strong knots herself). Everything else was up to S.

While S worked on the web construction, I made some spiders. :) They are SO easy to make, just take two pipecleaners, fold them in half, cut them. Then with the four short legs laying side by side, twist around the center twice (so they look like a bowtie!) and use a glue gun to affix a large pom pom. I twisted and bent the legs until I felt that they looked "spidery" and then I used a hot glue gun to affix the googly eyes. These little guys are definitely inspired by the fab pom pom spiders from Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky!

Oh, and to make the whole lacing process easier for S, I made her a "needle". It's just a bunch of tape twisted around the yarn and back upon itself. But it makes the threading process LOADS easier.

As S designed, we periodically shifted the box upside down and sideways, so that she could more easily reach the different holes.

And voila! A gorgeous finished web! You may notice that the box is not quite straight....well, we had a little brother who wanted to "help" and didn't understand that he couldn't lean on the box. :)

The moral of the story being - if a little one doesn't crumple your box, it will look to be in better shape than it is here. Ultimately no one minded at our house (phew!). It was still such a fun web to stare at. And it made a great imaginative small world for S to play with little spiders in.

To make your own you will need:

A large cardboard box

A box cutter or sharp scissors

A screwdriver

Yarn

Tape

With your box still fully assembled, take a screwdriver and out of the reach of children, have an adult punch holes through all four sides of the box with the screwdriver (you do so by, well, uh, stabbing the screwdriver into the box). Once you've made the holes, use a box cutter or scissors to cut off the back of the box. The wider you make the sides of your box, the more stable it will be. You could even make another shape, like a triangle, which would be even more stable if you want to mix it up. :) Cut long lengths of yarn and make a "needle" with tape and let your child go to work designing their very own fabulous giant spiderweb.

But wait! Before you put away that yarn and those spiders - here's another amazing way to use yarn to learn about spiders, webs, and to practice fine motor skills from Twodaloo!

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.

Comments

House of BurkeOctober 23, 2013 at 3:47 AM
This is wonderful!!! :) What great fine motor practice! :) Off to pin!
AnonymousOctober 23, 2013 at 3:52 AM
This looks like so much fun! What a great learning tool!
Dyan RobsonOctober 23, 2013 at 6:58 AM
I love this, Asia! So cool.
Ann @ My Nearest and DearestOctober 23, 2013 at 7:18 AM
Asia, I LOOOOVE this! It is so up my son's alley and I know it would keep him busy for a good long time. ;)
UnknownOctober 23, 2013 at 10:56 AM
This looks amazing! We recently punched holes in a box so my son could put in some screws and nails to build and "fix" the box. Definitely love using yarn to make a web! I think we will be doing this later today. :)
StephanieOctober 23, 2013 at 1:01 PM
This is so fab. I love it and have already pinned (faint and fall over, right?) and shared on G+. And thanks for linking to me at the end- that was so nice of you! I am going to save this idea to try when the twins' fine motor skills are a little more refined...it's just so awesome and easy to set up!
AnonymousOctober 23, 2013 at 9:40 PM
This is just so freaking smart I can't take it!!! Amazing idea. I'm just totally inspired. AWESOME!
Laura from LalymomOctober 26, 2013 at 2:25 PM
She makes the best faces! This is so great, so easy and so cool!
UnknownJanuary 8, 2014 at 5:27 PM
Making thebox was great fun for me...anger mgmt much?? I modified your desgin, used huuuge box, taped bottom flaps out to keepit upright and its our indoor rainy day laceup card.... v fun tx heaps

Halloween Fine Motor: Giant Lacing Spiderweb

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