A few weeks ago Micah asked if we could make a “remote control bat” to scare mommy and grandma on Halloween. While I was up for a creation, and a bat sounded like fun, the whole aerodynamics bit seemed complicated. Fortunately I was able to negotiate him to a land creature. At that point I figured if I found a small remote control car and some black pipe cleaners we could handle the rest with supplies at hand.
Even with Prime shipping I was almost too late, but I managed to find a reasonably priced 3 inch car that arrived on Friday. Which meant the Halloween morning activity was “figure out how to build a spider around the car. Enter black felt and our trusty glue gun. First we found an extra cap from a long gone plastic container (fun fact: Lauren and I bought this container in a Kampala Nakumatt). to make for a proper bulge on his back we broke off the tops of two plastic spoons and glued them on top of the lid. Then we covered the whole thing with a piece of black felt. Pipe cleaners made for some fuzzy legs, and then we made a spider head from black duct tape and googly eyes.
Next step: mounting the car. The wheels were oversized so that the car could do “cyclone mode” (which the kids loved). So we needed to improvise a mounting column. Fortunately we are flush with cardboard. After a little work with my favorite two kids creation tools (Xacto knife + glue gun), we were all set!
The boys were really happy to surprise mommy, grandma, and cousin Miri with their big spider coasting into the hallway. Here’s them practicing their piloting skills:
