Climbing Bugs

If our forecast is correct, we're headed into some sunny days. So, this morning, even though it was still raining, or maybe because it was still raining, we made a craft to celebrate the outdoor days we hope are coming up.

We started with a spider, a climbing spider, sort of like the super hero climbing creatures we made last year.

This time, we cut two circles, using two different sized drinking glasses for a pattern, out of thin cardboard (construction paper would work just as well).

We glued them together, overlapping slightly, with the small circle on top. Then, we cut two pipe cleaners in half, and taped all four pieces in the middle, to the back of the circles, at the overlap, for legs.

We cut a couple of half inch pieces from a straw, and taped them, about an inch apart, angling in diagonally, on top of the legs. At first, we didn't get the straws set evenly, and they weren't pointing in, quite right...

...this is really how they should look.

Finally, we laced a piece of yarn up through one of the straws, and down through the other, making a loop at the top, and added some google eyes to the front.

I tied a couple of knots in the loose ends of the yarn, and we hung them on a doorknob to play with.

If your straws are placed correctly, as you pull on the loose ends of yarn, alternating back, and forth, you'll watch the spider climb, gradually, to the the top. Then, when you release tension from the yarn, he'll speed back down to the bottom (a lesson in friction).

Of course, not everyone likes spiders. So, we made a ladybug, as well.

It's great to be a homeschooler.