Did you ever notice how two egg carton cups joined together look just like a spider body? Paint them, add pipe cleaner legs, faces and an elastic thread and it becomes a bouncy puppet on a string. This makes a fun DIY toy for Halloween and it always feels great to be up-cycling something in craft don’t you think?

You will need:

• Egg Cartons
• Hole puch
• Paints – we used acrylic paint
• Pipe Cleaners
• Googly Eyes
• Hat Elastic
• Dowel rods, or sticks

How To:

1) Cut your egg carton into sections of two cups joined together

2) Paint them. The egg cartons are often dark in colour & you may need 2 coats depending on which brand of paint you are using – my kids slapped it on so thick that one was enough for them though.

3) Use a hole punch to punch two holes in the egg carton in the sides of the joining piece in between the 2 egg cups, one on each side. Thread 4 pipe cleaners through the holes and bend into the shape of spider legs. For “stripey” legs twist 2 different colours together & then thread them through.

4) Decorate the spider with a face and stripes or spots if you want them. For the mouths you can use the existing gaps in the egg carton that are already there when you cut them up. I did find when adding that big red pom pom nose it unbalanced the puppet a bit because it makes the front half of the egg carton heavier than the back.

5) Stick googly eyes in place.

5) Poke a hole in the top of the middle in between the 2 egg cups with a skewer, then thread hat elastic through & tie a knot underneath. Tie the other end to your dowel rod.

Now you have a bouncy sipder-on-a-string puppet. Dangle it over your sister’s shoulder while she’s watching T.V. in the dark. Eeeeeek!

Isn’t Miss R’s happy spider cute?

This red one turned out a bit TOO scary looking I think.

My kids adored playing with these spider puppets, DIY toys are the best!

More fun Halloween ideas:

• Create some colourful tie-dyed bat and pumpkin suncatchers
• These egg carton monster treat holders are so fun
• Make your own bubbling brew for pretend play
• Or try this kid-made witch’s potion
• Make balloon monsters with our free printable monster parts
• The kids might like some funny monster jokes in their lunch boxes

Have you seen our Halloween board on Pinterest? There are so many spooky ideas that you can draw inspiration from.