Easy peasy paper plate spider

I enjoy looking at and admiring craft blogs. I'm not especially artistic but I've always liked art and craft stuff and thought I'd be the kind of mum to do such things with my children. And I do, but not as often as I'd imagined. I have all these good intentions of preparing materials the night before, ready to do a fun craft project with my son the next day but it never happens!

While on summer holidays I decided we needed to do a few simple art activities at home on our quieter days when we're not out and about or having play dates with friends. I ordered a couple of crafty items and have been saving empty egg boxes and the like with the hope of transforming them into something creative.

I plan to feature a few of the things we make on here, just to show you that with very limited adult ability and basic materials, you can create something decent! I think it's important to remember that it's the making that is most of the fun in these types of activities and a young child will probably not be too fussed on how 'perfect' the end result looks! Experiment, have fun, expect to improvise and don't worry about the mess, you may just find you enjoy it too!

Onto our 'easy peasy paper plate spider'....We made it with the following:

1 paper plate
Black paper / black paint
White crayon
3 black Pipe Cleaners 
Glue
Tape
Scissors

I cut the outer edge off the paper plate and set aside.
Rather than get paint out, I opted for cutting out black paper to cover the paper plate. My son drew around the paper plate on the black paper while I held it down.
I cut out the circle of paper and he glued it onto the plate.
(Alternatively, your child could simply paint the plate black and leave to dry)
Using the discarded edge of the paper plate, my son drew two circles for eyes and stuck these onto the spider.
With a white crayon, he drew a big smile.
My son cut the three pipe cleaners in half and cut pieces of tape (obviously all with my supervision) so we could stick the pipe cleaners to the back of the plate, making three legs each side.
That's it! We also cut a piece of string and stuck to the back at the top so he could dangle the spider and run around with it more easily.