Below you’ll find an easy craft spider project. This Tarantula is made from just pipe cleaners that are twisted around soda tabs.

Not only is this craft delightfully easy and budget-friendly (just black pipe cleaners and a soda tab!), but it’s also packed with sneaky skill-building. As kids twist, wrap, and shape their spindly-legged spiders, they’re strengthening fine motor muscles and practicing creative problem-solving — all while having a blast. Plus, it’s the kind of open-ended activity that works beautifully with any fall, Halloween, or insect science unit.

This quick win of a craft doesn’t require fancy supplies or advanced prep. Just lay out some materials and let the magic happen. Kids love the challenge of threading the legs through the soda tab “body,” and you’ll love watching their confidence grow as they personalize each creepy crawler.

Another fun option, add brown pipe cleaners into the mix and have students twist them with the black to make a two-tone spider that can look a LOT like a tarantula. Or challenge them to make more body parts, like a distinctive abdomen. There are all kinds of options when the supplies are inexpensive AND easy to use.

Materials for a Craft Spider

Aluminum can tabs
Pipe cleaners
Scissors

Step by Step Directions for a Craft Spider

Time needed: 15 minutes

Make a Pipe Cleaner Spider

Gather supplies of scissors, a soda tab, and five pipe cleaners. Cur four of the pipe cleaners in half.
Place a pipe cleaner in one side of the tab, fold in half, and TWIST, OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Don’t stop until it is REALLY STIFF.
Repeat this step to add three more legs to one side of the soda tab.
Now start adding legs to the other side of the soda tab.
Repeat until it has four legs there too. When finished, twist all the legs again. Having a loose twist keeps you from being able to bend and pose the legs.
Take a regular pipe cleaner and begin to wrap it around the tab.
Rotate and wrap until the pipe cleaner is all used up.
Bend the knees of the spider and have fun playing with them.