Spiderweb Crafts for Kids – Halloween Activity

There are so many ways to go when it to comes Halloween crafts for kids to make, I was feeling a little overwhelmed at how to narrow it down into a post that made sense. So instead of trying to tackle all the possibilities, let’s just look at one: spiderwebs.

I know that doesn’t sound that interesting, but there are actually lots of fun ways to make spiderweb crafts.

There’s of course the classic craft stick spider web with yarn (Buggy and Buddy), or a yarn spider web made with an embroidery hoop (One Little Project). You can do the same thing with twigs and yarn (The Kitchen Table Classroom) for a more natural look. Bonus: get some glow in the dark yarn for these projects!

You can fold and cut a spiderweb in the style of a paper snowflake (One Little Project) or print out and punch a spiderweb template that gives kids practice with lacing and counting (PJs and Paint). Or use a paper plate with holes punched in the edge for kids to make a lacing spider web (Mom Endeavors). You can even make a handprint spider to go on it.

Speaking of paper plates, they’re a great medium for spider webs of all sorts, including this fun and easy crayon resist spiderweb (ABCDee Learning). Or you can do it on watercolor paper (Taming Little Monsters). Or try tape resist and watercolors or regular paint made small (Our Kid Things) or large (Busy Toddler). I love this one as collaborate classroom art, or something you can keep up in your art area at home for kids to come back to through the season.

You can make a spider web suncatcher out of tissue paper (Happy Toddler Playtime). Or try a spider web salt painting (Crafted with Bliss). I love this multicolored version.

And once you’ve crafted all these spider webs, you can try your hand at preserving a real spider web with these tips from Mad about Science. Because nature is art, too!

Spider Activities for Preschoolers

Roll and Count Game with Spiders

Itsy Bitsy Spider Finger Puppet

Handprint Spider

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Easy Halloween Crafts for Kids

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?

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