Perfect for Halloween and a lovely autumn nature craft that little ones will love making, conker spider webs are an easy project for careful little fingers.
What you will need
- 1 conker (fresh ones are easier to work with)
- cocktail sticks or wooden bbq skewers
- Scraps of brightly coloured wool, preferably in a rainbow sequence
- Conker drill or hand drill tool
- Scissors
- Glue
Instructions
- Make 6-8 small holes around the circumference of the conker with the conker drill or a hand drill tool. Small children will need the help of an adult to make the holes.
- Glue the cocktail sticks into the holes and leave until the glue is properly dry.
- Cut off the sharp pointed ends of the cocktail sticks.
- Take one end of the wool and tie it to one of the sticks. Wrap it once around the next stick, then continue on to the next one, again wrapping the wool around the stick.
- Continue around the conker, keeping your wool as taught as possible.
- If you aren't using rainbow wool, after about 1/2 cm of weaving tie a different colour to the thread and make sure the knot is at the back. Continue weaving with different colours until the web has filled up between the cocktail sticks to about 2cm from the ends.
- Make a firm knot around the last cocktail stick and leave about 30cm of wool to hang the web on the nature table backdrop.
- If you are using longer bbq skewers, you can leave larger gaps between the wool layers. Continue going round until it looks like a spider’s web!
The scary spider is made from the end of a teasle. Don't throw the rest away though - you can use it to make a teasle hedgehog!
There are lots of super crafting ideas in Making the Children's Year by Marije Rowling.