These dangling spiders from Art for All Seasons are the perfect addition to your Halloween and fall lessons.  Plus, you can create a simple thematic unit around your spider craft and check off a few of your content standards while you’re at it.

Duration: 20 minutes

Grades PreK–3; Age range: 4-9 years

Instructions:

Follow the steps below or print the instructions with visuals.

Step 1: Fold the 5” black square into quarters. Round off the outside corner.

Step 2:  Cut on one fold line into the center.

Step 3: Roll and tape into a cone shape. As you create the cone, slip a string with a paper clip tied on the end inside.

Step 4: Cut and fold 8 spider legs twice using the 3”x6” black paper.

Step 5: Glue the first segment of each leg to the spider’s body.

Step 6: Cut the white paper for eyes. Add a black circle cut from scraps.

Step 7: Add a mouth and other desired details.

Step 8: Tie another paper clip onto the end of the string.

Lesson Tips and Ideas

• Instant Halloween décor: Hang these spiders from your ceiling or decorate a bulletin board for the season.
• Art and science: Pair this art activity with a study on a spider’s lifecycle.
• Thinking skills: Compare/ contrast the differences between a spider and an insect.
• Graphing activity: Ask students to take a poll on how many people are afraid of spiders. Have students create a graph with the results.
• Visual prompts for writing: Use the spider craft as a visual prompt and have students write a creative story about their spider. A few story or sentence starters could be: How does your spider feel? What is your spider afraid of? Write a spooky story about your spider. What does your spider look like? How many legs does your spider have? What would happen if you spider only had three legs?

These little creatures may inspire endless creativity within your classroom and won’t take hours to prepare!

Fore more Halloween ideas see:

Halloween Fun: Skeleton Art Project and Science Activities

Halloween Activities and Ideas for Your Classroom

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Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.