Creepy Halloween 'Gum Ball' Spiders!

Ugh. Gum balls. Generally detested by those unfortunate enough to have a Gum tree in their yard. But last night these annoying little seed carriers got a creepy Halloween makeover at our Cub Scout den meeting!

Halloween means many things to many people, and some parents may not appreciate crafts involving witches, skeletons or monsters, so this creepy looking spider is something that can be universally enjoyed by all the boys and parents. After all, what boy doens't like bugs and spiders?

I can't take full credit for this craft idea, I did see it somewhere else but for the life of me can't remember where. Just something that stuck with me in one of my many late night web surfing marathons. Without the ring they are a neat decoration to put on a table or in those fake cobwebs that are so popular for spooky home decorating. But I decided that this craft would make an awesome Halloween themed neckerchief slide, and I think it went over quite well with the boys!

New! Scroll to bottom for printable directions...

Step One: Go to your backyard or local park and spend 30 minutes bent over with a plastic bag looking for the narliest, spikiest gum balls you can find. You will need 2 balls for each child or decoration you are making. Add three bonus points if you get your kids to help on the hunt, add two bonus points if your kids are outside playing while you are hunting, add 5 bonus points if you stay outside to enjoy the fall weather even after you've collected enough gum balls for your craft. Oh, you didn't know we were playing a game? Silly me, perhaps you should be...

Step Two: Use hot glue to glue two balls together. Because of the spikes, this may take a lot of glue. Let set before going to next step.

Step Three: This is optional, but I liked the effect. Take the glued sets of gum balls outside and spray paint them black or whatever color you are making your decorations. Other fun choices would be a spooky purple, ugly green, or Halloween orange. Take a short walk around the neighborhood to look at the chaning leaves while you wait for the paint to dry.

Step Four: This is the remaining prep work to do before the meeting if you are making a Cub craft. You'll need a bunch of chenille stems, the type that has four puffy sections per stem. For my craft I used black so we'd all look the same, but feel free to use other festive colors. These you will cut up between each fluffy section. You will need 6-8 of these pieces per spider, so plan your purchase accordingly. If you are turning the decorations into a Cub neckerchief slide, you will also need some regular straight chenille stems (pipe cleaners). Cut those in half and make into circles about the size of two fingers by twisting the ends together.

Step Five: Give each boy a set of glued gum balls, 6-8 cut chenille fluffy pieces (we used six to save money and supplies, even though its not authenticly arachnid), and a circle shaped piece if you are making slides. Also put out a container of assorted googly eyes. I used two on mine but some of the boy's spiders ended up with odd numbers of eyes and look all the better for it!

Step Six: Let the boys figure out which way their spider will look best, then find holes on the sides of the balls where the seeds were. Put a dot of craft glue in the hole and push in a puffy stem to form a spider leg. Do this a few more times on each side. Bend the legs so they look spider-ish. Glue on eyes towards the top and the chenille ring to the back (if using). We found the craft glue didn't work so well on this part, so each kid brought their creation up to an adult who was manning a hot glue gun and instructed her where to put the pieces.

Let dry and they're ready to wear! Since this was one of our early Wolf den meetings, we left the spiders on the tables and went outside to practice flag folding and flag ceremonies. The boys being boys, they got a big kick out of trying to creep out their parents and friends with their spooky creations. The craft goes very fast (you really do most of the work at home, the boys stuff is very easy), so its perfect for fitting into a busy fall meeting schedule. I can't wait for our boys to show up at the end of the month Pack meeting wearing their creepy six-legged pets on their necks!

Below is the supply list for 10 spider creature slides. If you make this creation yourself, please let me know how it turns out or send me a picture! I'd love to see other scary critters!



Spider Slides (makes 10)


20 large prickly gum balls
5 regular chenille stems (pipe cleaners), black or color of your choice
15 chenille stems with the four fluffy parts (or 20 if doing 8 legs)
Package of assorted small googly eyes
Hot glue
Craft ("Tacky") glue
Spray paint - OPTIONAL

Download printable directions here!

(Free Adobe Acrobat Reader required for viewing)

Happy Halloween!

A Successful End to a Successful First Scouting Year

This past weekend culminated in the official graduation of our Tiger Cubs into the Wolf Cub Scout program. It was a proud moment for all the Cub families, and especially proud for me to have helped them get this far.

But first on Saturday, the day before the graduation, we met a group of our fellow Pack families at Dutch Gap Boat Landing in Chester for the annual James River Clean Up Day. For something I meerly was able to 'advertise' via email, we had an impressive group of 36 people registered to participate in the event, and the vast majority of them actually showed up! I was quite pleased with how our Pack was ready and willing to take part in the cause, and VERY pleased that about half the participants were from our own Tiger families. For the parents of our boys to be so committed and involved really speaks for the future of the boy's continuing on with the Pack. It was quite hot, even at 9am when we got started, but the boys were so pleased to be scrambling around the river banks with their friends that I dont' think they even noticed the heat! It was a great day and a great turn out, and thankfully we wound up finishing much earlier than the 1pm scheduled time. A local Boy Scout troop even grilled us some much-needed lunch before we all head home for the day. Or to the pool, in our case!

After that eventful morning and afternoon, I hung out at home to finish up a bunch of details about the upcoming Graduation on Sunday. I had been working on the special howling wolf neckerchief slides for a week or two and they were all painted and ready, but I couldn't help but give them a few extra sprays of clear coat to try and help protect the finish. I was very pleased with the way they all turned out, and judging from the thanks and compliments I've recieved, i think the boys and parents were pleased as well! The slides were a surprise gift and were a BIG hit! I also made some additions to what I would say during the crossover, rewrote an opening ceremony I found online to suit the occasion, and came up with some stuff to say about the Year of Celebration patches that all the boys would be getting that day. Yes, it was a lot of work, but graduation only comes once a year and I think it should really mean something to the boys, so I went out of my way to make it special.

On Sunday, in 164 degree heat (I have been known to exaggerate a little sometimes, but not this time!), we held the graduation and crossover ceremony. Our Tigers, who have almost no real flag ceremony experience, did a great job with the opening after only one hasty practice run. I had to put the biggest boys in charge of holding the flags, because BOY those things are heavy! They did a great job, all of them, and I was very proud at their willingness and accomplishment!

The graduation moved along nicely, probably thanks in part to the heat. We presented our Tigers with their awards (including some that had earned the Leave No Trace patch with the previous day's environmental service) and gave the boys the picture frames they had decorated at the last meeting, filled now with a photo of their Den. Then we had all the parents stand on one side of a makeshift bridge with the new yellow neckerchiefs and howling wolf slides while the boys stood on the other and removed their orange Tiger neckerchiefs. Then each crossed over and their parent helped them don their new neck wear. At the end I had the new Wolves, parents and the whole Pack welcome the boys into the Wolf Den with a big howl. Cheesy maybe, but it sure made everyone smile!

After the rest of the Dens crossed over and the special 'thank yous" were given to some of our valuable committee chair people, we were all sweating buckets and ready for the pool. Well, ready for cake and ice cream, THEN the pool. Having the graduation on the pool grounds to be immediately followed by a pool party was the perfect idea for a great ending. I don't think I've ever had cold water feel so good, and I don't think either of my kids got out of the water for longer than it took to jump back in again.

Looking back to last September I can hardly believe that I hesitated to take on the role of Leader. Yes, we had a rocky start while we were all still figureing things out, and yes, it has been a very large commitment for my time, but it is one of the most rewarding and exciting things I have ever done. I am so proud to be a part of shping these boys' lives and would not miss this experience for the world. I'm so happy to have had such a great ending to an overall successful first year, and am truly looking forward to even better ones to come.

The Last Tiger Den Meeting

Last night was our last Den meeting as Tigers. This weekend our boys will graduate into Wolves. Its amazing to look back on some of the pictures of our boys from just last fall and see how much they've all grown. I feel like I've grown a lot along with them, and have finally found my footing in this mystical world of Scouting. I've gotten to know the boys and the parents pretty well by now, and am so proud to have all of them on this journey with me. We're all learning a lot together and having a really fun time doing so!

A few weeks ago I was trying to think of something to give the boys at graduation for them to remember their year as Tigers by. At first I was having trouble coming up with an idea that wouldn't break the bank, but then lightning struck and I decided to have them decorate a picture frame and fill it with a photo of them and their Den friends. At the last Pack meeting, when they were all dressed up in their best uniforms, I took pictures of each Den together. They all look so adorable! I then got plain wooden frames from the craft store for $1 each and used my Cub Scout candy molds to make plaster casts of the Cub Scout logo. I also used a different candy mold to make tiger paw prints. I glued one of each of those onto the wooden frames and they were ready to decorate.

At the meeting, we first met inside to talk about some things we'll be doing over the summer, like working on requirements for the BSA Centennial patch and the Geology pin stuff that I have planned out. Its going to be a action-packed summer for the new Wolf Dens! We then marched outside to the picnic tables to work on our craft. No matter what we're doing, I think the kids always enjoy it more when its done outside. I broke out the majority of my paints and craft supplies for the decorating table. The boys really went to town with the frames, they all became little works of art in no time!

After they were finished with the frames we played Clothespin Tag. By the time I got the rules explained and clothespins distributed to the boys, the parents had already nearly finished cleaning up all the craft stuff. It never ceases to amaze me what incredible parents we have in our Dens. They are always so willing to jump in and lend a hand, often before I even think to ask! I'm so very thankful that I don't have to be one of those Den leaders that constantly grumbles about the parents not being involved! They even helped carry all the supplies and frames to my car (I took the frames home to assemble them with the photos, which the kids haven't seen yet).

It was a great last meeting. The kids had a good time and I'm really looking forward to presenting their pictures to them on Sunday. I think they'll be a hit, and more special than just some token I bought and handed to them. I'm also incredibly excited about our summer program. Hubby says I am trying to relive my childhood through these kids, and that may be a little true, but I'm also just so happy to be able to share my knowledge and passions with a new generation. I hope they are as excited to be with me as I am to be with them.