Make and Talk activity for Halloween

October 2024

Talking to children about their grief can be difficult, especially when trying to find a ‘good’ time to do this. Our friends and partners Winston’s Wish suggest trying to talk to a child about their grief while doing an activity as a way to address difficult feelings and emotions. 

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As Halloween and half term holidays approach, Winston’s Wish are sharing their Spooky Spider Web craft and guide to help you start those all-important conversations. 

This craft activity gives you the opportunity to start conversations around fears and emotions. Children often become fearful of lots of different things during their development years, and for a grieving child it is normal to develop a fear of death. Spiders can also be a common fear, so this activity gives you the chance to talk about fears without it coming out of the blue. 

You may not know the answer to their questions or how to respond to their answers, so it’s best to be honest. Say that you’ll think about it and come back to them later and keep your word. It’s important that you do give them an answer so a child knows they can trust you.

Making a spooky paper spider web

You will need:

• Paper 

• Scissors

• String or thread

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Start with a sheet or A4 paper and lay it flat on a surface

2. Fold the top right corner diagonally across the paper to align the edges together (the corners won’t meet but the folded section should create a perfect triangle)

3. Trim off the excess paper below the triangle

4. Fold the triangle in half 

5. Fold in half again

6. And then fold once more to make a cone shape

7. Use safety scissors to trim off the excess paper. Now you should have a triangle that has two very long sides and one short side

8. On the short side, cut a curve or an arc from edge to edge

9. Cut out thick rectangles across the triangle – these rectangles will create the lines of the web! Just make sure to only cut from one of the long edges and don’t cut all the way across.

10. Gently unfold your triangles to reveal your spider’s web!

11. Feed some string (to hang the web) through one of the holes on the outer edge of the web and loop it back to tie a knot. 

Making a paper spider

You will need:

• Black paper

• Scissors

• Glue

• Googly eyes (optional)

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Using black paper, cut a small circle and one larger oval shape – these will be the head and body of your spider!

2. Cut four long thin rectangles. They should be much longer than the oval body – these will be your legs.

3. Glue the circle onto the top edge of the oval shape.

4. Take your four long thin and glue them across the oval shape so they hang off each side of the spider’s body.

5. Make a fold by bending halfway along the thin rectangles to make the shape of the spider’s legs.

6. Then fold or crease the parts of the legs that are closest to the body to make sure your spider can stand up!

7. If you have googly eyes, you can stick them onto the head or draw them on.

8. To attach the spider to the web, feed the legs through some of the holes on the web.

9. Hang it up and you’ve got yourself a spooky spider web. 

It’s good to pepper your questions between the steps to give the child in your life the opportunity to think while they do, and give you answers after they’ve had time to think. 

Where to get support

Winston’s Wish is a charity that helps children, teenagers and young adults (up to the age of 25) find their feet when their worlds are turned upside down by grief. 

If you are an adult supporting a bereaved child or young person who is struggling with their grief, please call Winston’s Wish at 08088 020 021 (8am-8pm, weekdays) or email ask@winstonswish.org. They will be able to offer guidance, information and support.