Outdoor Play - The Spider Cave Maze

Creepy Crawly Spider Cave Fun

  Try not to get caught in the web!

Spiders hanging from all around.

This Outdoor activity was a great physical fun way to get active, get moving, have some imaginary pretend play and build on those all important gross motor skills. Dimples mastered the way he moved his body to trick the hanging spiders, creep, crawl, duck down low and climb around the web without getting caught. He had to stretch his legs and balance as he climbed through and move in all different directions as the spiders danced around above his head trying to get him.

 

Over the past fortnight, as Dimples has been enjoying some Spring time outdoor play, I have been carefully spinning an intrinsic Web. I initially started with 2 posts, a large hoop and some wool. I strung the hoop in the centre and weaved the web around it, locking it on and securing it with wool up to the 2 posts that i had firmly whacked deep into the ground.

Then I randomly added some connecting bits of wool so it resembled a web.

I hung a very large, prickly spider down through the hoop and Dimples made a fun game of jumping through the hoop without getting touched by the Spider.

This went on for many afternoons and he enjoyed it so much that I decided to belt another post into the ground so that there were 2 connected walls (in the shape of a right angle). 

With the second one, I used a small hoop that he can through balls through and i left a open space on the bottom so that he can crawl under.

Dimples chilling out under a spiders web

 Dimples spent lots of time playing in his web, trying to jump through the hoop and crawl under the web without getting caught by the spiders. It was a great imaginary game he had going on.

I would rest the large spider up in the web, and just as he went through I would tap the post so that the spider swung down, launching itself towards Dimples. He thought it was hilarious and wanted more. The way the spider quickly swung down after him must have been so realistic from his view and he would excitedly squeal that he had tricked it, and that he was too quick for it, and "You missed me! ha ha!"

It didn't end there!

 

A large Hoop is on one side of the structure, with a very large hairy spider covering it.

I added one more side so that there were now 3 web walls and one open side. With this web, i just used wool, making sure a majority of the web was down the bottom and some was up the top, i then strung the connecting centre pieces of web (wool)  so that there was a large gap pulled open. Large enough that Dimples could climb through.

With the left over wool I strung it up over the top, zig zaging and connecting all areas like a web roof. Some pieces were up higher to a near by Shade Umbrella.

I dangled 30-60 cm pieces of wool randomly through out the roof of the web and near the openings and hung plastic and rubber spiders and scorpions.

 

Jumping through the hoop without getting touched by a spider can be tricky.

We made a few games up with the maze, one where Dimples had to use it as an obstacle course, climb through the hoop duck under the other side, through a ball through the small hoop and carefully climb through the other web opening without touching the web all the time staying clear of the spiders.
Another where I would shake the top of the web so that all the spiders shook around like crazy and he was a distressed fly, trying to find his way out of the web with out getting eaten by the spiders.
Then he got some stuffed toys to join in and he would try and throw them through the large hoop without hitting the spider that dangled over the centre.
Dimples loved the Spider Maze so much that we left it up for the Halloween Party we had over the weekend and all the kids enjoyed jumping through it and tangling things in the web.
They kept busy and active manoeuvring around so that the spiders couldn't get them.

Room to crawl under the webs... WATCH OUT!

 

I couldnt capture the entire web in one photograph so this is the design of the 3 sides with the back wall completely open.

 

 

Happy Outdoor Adventures :)