Make a conker spider web
This is a nice nature craft activity to do with children if you've been collecting conkers. My five-year-old son and I made a few this afternoon, which we're going to hang around our home for Halloween.
What you will need:
Freshly collected conkers
white or silver wool,
a large needle
toothpicks or bamboo skewers
pliers
scissors
tube of sticky glue.
Instructions:
If you can use freshly collected conkers, you will find this a lot easier. First, insert eight toothpicks or barbecue skewers around a conker, I found it easier to make a hole first using a thick needle, which when it got stuck in I used pliers to pull out, my five-year-old son, however, generally seemed to manage to put his toothpicks directly into the conker without the assistance of a needle! I think his conkers were a lot fresher!
I then spread a small amount of the glue over the toothpicks sticking out of the conker, as I found this stopped the wool slipping when I wove it around, making for a neater spider web.
Tie your thread in a knot, snugly around one of your toothpicks or skewers, pressing it close to the conker. Weave the thread round each skewer, going fully round each skewer once so it holds tight. Keep your thread as taught as possible. Continue doing this until you get round all of the sticks. Once you have gone round once, leave a gap and go round again. There is no need to cut the thread in between gaps, just pull your thread out further. Continue going round until it looks like a spider’s web!
When you get to the end, tie a small knot round the last stick you get to and leave a length of thread available so you can hang it up.
My son really got into making them, he made several different variations, making his 'own kind of spider web', he also preferred to use string rather than wool, as it's easier to handle. We made quite a few and he said he wants to make some more another day, so it was definitely a popular activity with him!
