Sugar Chalk Spider Webs

Sweet Pea is 43 months old.

From: When we made sugar chalk drawings, I had the idea that the same technique would work perfectly for spider webs and have been eagerly waiting for Halloween to give it a try.

Material:

• 1/3 cup Sugar.
• 1 cup Water.
• Bowl.
• Whisk.
• 1 or 2 pieces of chalk.
• Several pieces of purple or black paper.

Procedure:

• Whisk 1/3 cup of sugar into 1 cup of water until all of the sugar has dissolved.   Let your tot help if he knows how to use a whisk.

• Put the chalk into the sugar water and let it soak for several hours.  (Overnight works best, but 3 days is too long.)
• Remove the chalk from the sugar water and shake off any excess liquid.
• Draw 4 large lines that cross in the center of the paper.  Create the same pattern on all the remaining sheets of paper.

• Sit next to your tot and slowly demonstrate how to draw a spiral that starts in the center of the paper and continues all the way to the edge of the paper.

• Give your tot a piece of paper with intersecting lines on it and help him draw a large spiral on it.

Observations: Sweet Pea had lots of fun with this and so did I.  She struggled with the spiral at first.  I love how her tongue is sticking out in the picture below.  She always does that when she is concentrating extra hard.  🙂  After a couple of practice pieces though, she got onto it and was able to draw the spiral without my help.

I would recommend this activity for an older tot, but I think a younger tot would have too much trouble trying to draw a spiral.

This was so much fun!  I love the way our spooky spider webs turned out.

Notes from the Trenches: When you first draw with the chalk, the lines may be almost invisible, but they should quickly turn bright white as they dry.  If, as you are drawing, the lines start becoming thin and scratchy – as if you were just drawing with regular chalk, you probably need to put the chalk back in the solution to soak for longer.

An older child would be able to draw the intersecting lines by himself, but Sweet Pea couldn’t manage it yet.  Also, an older child would be able to stop at each line to make a more accurate spider web shape instead of just spiraling around the paper.

When we did sugar chalk drawing the first time, Sweet Pea loved dipping the chalk back in the sugar solution each time and since she had done it that way before, she was unwilling to try the activity without being allowed to dip her chalk in the sugar water.  However, there are 3 reasons not let your tot have the bowl of sugar water.  First, it will make a huge sticky mess when he spills it.  Second, he will continually lick his hands throughout the entire activity and lastly, the chalk doesn’t draw as well when it is very wet from repeatedly being dipped into the solution.

Rating: 3 Stars * (Fun, Easy, Frugal)