A few months back, when I couldn’t take Big M’s requests to read the same Fancy Nancy book for the 100th time in a row, I decided to change up our bedtime reading routine and start reading chapter books! She fell in love with The Wizard of Oz and has been equally engrossed in Charlotte’s Web! The best part is bedtime reading has now inspired all sorts of imaginative play by day, as well as fun activities and projects. Big M now thinks all spiders are named Charlotte, and after an afternoon searching for Charlotte in our backyard and coming up empty-handed, we decided to make our own! And of course every spider needs a home, which led to weaving word webs as well.
Weaving Word Webs
After quiet time one day last week, I told Big M we were going to go on a backyard adventure to find Charlotte and real web. She was beyond excited… only too bad it has been a long, cold winter, and the warmth of Spring is still a relative novelty, and there were no spiders to be seen, anywhere! Too avoid a very disappointed preschooler, I told her not to worry, we would make our own…
Supplies
Paper plate
Hole punch
3/8″ ribbon
Foam letter stickers
Black foam
Black pipecleaners
Googly eyes
Glue dots
Scotch tapeCost: Less than $5
Prep Time: Less than 5 minutes
Clean-Up Time: Less than 5 minutes
Since this project was invented on the fly, to keep the girls entertained while I rounded up supplies, I set them up with black paper and a white crayon for Lil’ M and a white Crayola gel marker for Big M. Pulling up Charlotte’s first web illustration on my iPad for inspiration, I left them drawing webs while I prepped their activity.
I used a paper plate as the frame for our webs, cutting out the center of it and punching holes all around the edge, about 1.5-2″ apart. I threaded about 2 yards of ribbon through one hole, taping one end down to the plate, and wrapping the other end in tape to make it easier for them to thread through the holes.
PGPB Guru Tip: I buy ribbon from The Hairbow Company – they have amazingly affordable ribbon, with a wide assortment of colors and sizes… you can get solid colors, 3/8″ grosgrain ribbon in 5 yard rolls for $0.79! Shipping isn’t free, so you’ll want to make sure to buy enough to make it worthwhile, but awesome value otherwise!
Lil’ M immediately donned her web-frame as a necklace, then ripped it off, and ran off to play. Big M set off to weaving a home for Charlotte right away.
I helped her with a few untangles here and there, but she did about 80% of it on her own. We left about a foot of ribbon dangling off the bottom to eventually attach our Charlotte. Next, I gave her a handful of foam alphabet stickers to sort through to spell out ‘Some Pig.’
Finally, we made our Charlotte. I cut out an oval from a piece of black craft foam, and cut two black pipe cleaners in half, giving me four pieces in total, to make our eight legs. She attached these with glue dots, along with two googly eyes. When Charlotte was complete, I taped her to the end of our web ribbon.
Big M is quite proud of her Charlotte and weaving her a home, complete with Some Pig! If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out our other Charlotte’s Web-inspired activities: Word Formation in Playdough and Channeling Templeton. We are almost finished reading Charlotte’s Web – next on our bedtime reading list is A Bear Called Paddington!
What are some of your favorite Charlotte’s Web-related activities? What other chapter books have you read aloud to your children? Find all our favorite book-related activities on my Read! Read! Read! board on Pinterest.
8 comments
[…] pony beads? If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy Scissor Skills for Preschoolers and Weaving Word Webs. For more fine motor skill fun, check out our Fine Motor Skills board on […]
[…] so get ready! If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy Word Formation with Play Dough and Weaving Word Webs. You can find all of these, as well as our favorites from around the web on our Preschool board on […]
[…] Weaving Word Webs inspired by Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White […]
[…] Weaving Words Webs by Playground Parkbench […]
[…] activities, you might also enjoy 10+ Read Aloud Chapter Books and Activities for Preschoolers, Weaving Word Webs, a Charlotte’s Web Inspired Activity and Color Magic with Mouse Paint. You can find all of these and our favorites from around the web […]
This is super cute. Thank you for this great idea.
This makes an adorable unit study for early elementary ages.
Thank you – and thanks for stopping by! Feel free to share other ideas for this book – would love to see them!
[…] Weaving Word Webs by PlaygroundParkbench […]