Spooky Pinecone Spiders
An outdoor nature walk in the autumn afternoon is the perfect prelude to this delightful crafting session. Gathering pinecones of all shapes and sizes gets kids moving and connecting with nature. Once you have brought your forest treasures inside, they can easily be transformed into the least-intimidating, most adorable spiders you have ever seen. The natural ridges of the pinecone serve as the perfect anchor points for attaching fuzzy chenille pipe cleaners, which will become the spider’s eight bendable legs.
To assemble, have your child wrap four long black or brown pipe cleaners around the center of the pinecone, twisting them securely in the middle so that four legs extend from each side. Kids can then bend the ends of the pipe cleaners to make little feet, allowing the spider to stand upright on its own. To give these arachnids their unique personalities, use craft glue to attach a cluster of multi-sized googly eyes to the flat base of the pinecone. Some spiders can have two giant eyes, while others can have a comical cluster of eight tiny eyes, making each creation completely unique and endlessly fun to pose around house plants or along bookshelves.