Spinning a web of fun and learning, the Spider Bottle Cap Counting Board transforms everyday items into a fun activity for your little one! Ever wondered how to transform everyday items around your home into a captivating and educational game for your little one? Look no further! With a splash of creativity and a sprinkle of craftiness, we’re about to dive into a world where spiders aren’t spooky, but rather, a source of numeric fun. Get ready to bring those crawling critters to life, not with eight legs, but with the magic of bottle caps!
Crafty Tips for a Web-tastic Experience
- Story Time: Weave a fun tale about the spider’s web and how each spider found its home. Stories make learning so much more engaging!
- Wand Wonders: Make a game out of who can pick up the spiders the fastest or challenge your preschooler to pick up a specific number of spiders.
- Safety First: Always supervise the little ones while playing, especially since bottle caps can be a choking hazard.
Skills Learned in This Activity
This isn’t just a craft; it’s a mini-classroom on cardboard:
- Counting Capers: With each spider, your child practices their counting skills in the most fun way possible!
- Motor Skills: Using the magnetic wand to pick up spiders refines fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
- Number Recognition: Matching the number of spiders to the numbers written helps with number recognition.
- Creative Imagination: Drawing and imagining spiders as friendly critters fosters creativity and dispels fears.
WILL YOU SET UP THIS SPIDER BOTTLE CAP COUNTING BOARD? PIN IT FOR LATER!
Materials Needed
- A piece of cardboard
- Black Sharpie
- Metal bottle caps
- A plastic bottle
- Hot glue gun
- Magnetic wand
- Packing tape
- Dry erase marker
- Scissors
Craft Your Spider Counting Board
- Web Wonderland: Start with your piece of cardboard and use the black Sharpie to draw a spider’s web. The more sections, the more counting fun! On the spider web use the marker to also draw small circle spiders the same size as the bottle caps. Inside the circles write dots representing the numbers you want your child to work on. (You can also modify this activity for letters or even shapes). Don’t forget to draw the eight legs around each mini spider.
- Cap Spiders: On the metal bottle caps, use the Sharpie to write the number matching the dots on the cardboard.
- Prepare the Bottle tower: Take a plastic bottle and cut the top off using scissors. In one corner of the cardboard secure the bottom of the bottle using a hot glue gun. Place all the metal bottle caps inside the bottle.
- Wipeable Writing Board: In another corner of the board, stick down a small piece of clear plastic packing tape. It should be large enough to write down a number. This is where your child will trace the numbers they have just placed on the board using a dry erase marker. To erase the number simply use a damp paper towel.
- Magnetic Magic: This is where the game gets even more exciting! Invite your child to use the magnetic wand to pick up the bottle cap spiders from the bottle. Try to get one at a time. Find and match it to the correct number of the board. Then have them write the number on the cap on the wipeable writing area!
So, the next time you’re sipping a drink and about to toss away that bottle cap, think of the friendly spiders waiting to teach and play. The Spider Bottle Cap Counting Board is more than a game; it’s a web of learning, laughter, and love, spun together with everyday magic. Let’s count the fun, one spider at a time!
Age Suitability
This activity is good for toddlers aged children 3 years old and up with adult assistance.
Mess Level
The mess level for this activity is low.
Difficulty to Create
Medium.
Toddler and Preschooler Curriculums, Books & TV Show!
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
The Best Sensory Play Kits for Kids
Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.
Our Sensory Play Kits are some fun and easy ways to keep your child engaged while at the same time using sensory play to nurture their mind!
Shop our ready made play kits here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Spider Bottle Cap Counting Board
Materials
- A piece of cardboard
- Black Sharpie
- Metal bottle caps
- A plastic bottle
- Hot glue gun
- Magnetic wand
- Packing tape
- Dry erase marker
Instructions
- Start with your piece of cardboard and use the black Sharpie to draw a spider's web. On the spider web use the marker to also draw small circle spiders the same size as the bottle caps. Inside the circles write dots representing the numbers you want your child to work on. (You can also modify this activity for letters or even shapes). Don't forget to draw the eight legs around each mini spider.
- On the metal bottle caps, use the Sharpie to write the numbers matching the dots on the cardboard.
- Take a plastic bottle and cut the top off using scissors. In one corner of the cardboard secure the bottom of the bottle using a hot glue gun. Place all the metal bottle caps inside the bottle.
- In another corner of the board, stick down a small piece of clear plastic packing tape. It should be large enough to write down a number. This is where your child will trace the numbers they have just placed on the board using a dry erase marker. To erase the number simply use a damp paper towel.
- Use the magnetic wand to pick up the bottle cap spiders from the bottle. Try to get one at a time. Find and match it to the correct number spider on the board. Then have them write the number on the cap on the wipeable writing area!
WILL YOU SET UP THIS SPIDER BOTTLE CAP COUNTING BOARD? PIN IT FOR LATER!
