Be inspired by Spiders to prevent a thief from stealing Halloween treats.
Spiders! Oh no!
Although I have never been afraid of spiders, I must admit that finding a poisonous redback in my shoes in Queensland did make me jump back. The redback spider is a beautiful black spider with a big red stripe on the abdomen. A bite can be serious to humans, but there is an antivenom.
We have a series of books about Australian Animals, and the section about spiders is not as well-thumbed as the other books. But sitting safely in England, reading the book, I found the most interesting information about these little creatures. And I thought they provided a nice inspiration for celebrating Halloween differently. So slowly the idea behind Spooky – Math, STEAM – Biomimicry, Writing Prompts took shape.
Photo: Toby Hudson
The idea for making a spy camera grew from a video by the artist and creative workshop instructor Carla Sonheim. Artists can use a visual random approach to create a piece of art. Pablo Picasso identified parts of human faces and then changed the sizes and the way these parts were put together to create a face. This approach resulted in portraits where the person is seen both in profile and from the front.
What if this approach was used to draw a dog?
You could make a painting of a dog by cutting out the following six dog parts:
a. an eye
b. a second eye, three times larger than the first
c. a nose or a snout
d. an ear
e. a tail
f. a leg or a paw
After this, you draw six random dots on a piece of paper and then you glue two parts of the dog onto the paper. Then you turn the paper 90 degrees and you glue down another two parts. Finally, you turn the paper again and glue the remaining two body parts. This approach helps to break your “thinking pattern” about what a dog should look like. You are placing the parts at random and without relation.
Now the fun bit starts, where you twist and turn the paper and really look and try to “see” a dog. When the dog emerges, you grab a crayon and add lines to finish it.
I used this approach to reinvent an orange juice machine.
So how can you reinvent a spy camera and also make it a little bit spooky to suit a Halloween project?
We thought about the best way to catch a thief who was trying to steal Halloween treats.
And after much thinking, we decided that the best way was to prevent the crime from happening, and since this innovation is inspired by Halloween, of course, we are going to scare the thief away. And what better way than using a Spiderlicious thing?
We drew ideas from amazing facts that we found when reading about spiders.
- A spider’s web is very strong.
- The wraparound spider has a broad abdomen, which is so flat that the spider can wrap itself around a twig. This helps them escape the attention of predators.
- The spider is flattened and spread out… splat-shaped.
- Many spiders build webs to help them catch prey, but some spiders prefer to hunt for their prey in other ways. The jumping spider pounces on its prey, and it spins a safety line so it can climb back home if it fails to catch prey.
- Spider webs are strong and flexible. They bounce back to their original shape.
- The jumping spider has several eyes – four big eyes in front and four smaller eyes on the top of their head.
Then we cut out shapes:
a. an eye
b. a second eye, three times larger than the first
c. a third eye
d. a fourth eye
e. a web
f. a splat-out shape
We drew six random dots on a piece of paper, and then we glued two parts of the spider onto the paper. Then we turned the paper 90 degrees and glued down another two parts. Finally, we turned the paper again and glued the remaining parts.
After that, the tricky part began, and we needed a bit of imagination to try to see a way to prevent a thief from stealing the Halloween treats.
Our idea involved using a spy camera that was flat and could blend into the environment. Just when the thief was going to steal the treats, the camera changed and revealed its shape and a giant spider web was released down onto the treats so the thief could not steal them.
Biomimicry for young children mixes careful observations of animals and plants with imagination and a touch of magic. Using creative tools is a wonderful way to teach children to use a creative approach to thinking. In this example, the tool was a creative random visual approach to thinking.
_(8728157059).jpg){kind=link}
Save
Frequently Asked Questions
What is biomimicry?
Biomimicry is the practice of looking to nature for solutions, then applying what we learn to design and problem-solving. Instead of inventing from scratch, it means studying how plants, animals, and ecosystems have already solved a challenge — like staying cool, collecting water, or absorbing carbon — and adapting that strategy for human use.
How does biomimicry help address climate change?
Nature has been adapting to extreme conditions for billions of years, so many organisms already hold working solutions to problems we now face at a larger scale — cooling buildings without electricity (termite mounds), collecting water in drought (the Namib beetle), protecting coastlines from storms (mangrove roots), and capturing carbon (corals, forests, kelp). Biomimicry means studying those solutions and applying the same principles to human design.
How can children get involved in biomimicry?
Children don’t need special training to think like a biomimicrist — just curiosity and a habit of asking “how does nature solve this?” Simple ways to start include a backyard scavenger hunt for nature’s patterns, a “design-an-animal” challenge for a changing climate, or building a small model (like a passive-cooling structure or a water collector) inspired by something they’ve observed outdoors.
Is biomimicry only for scientists and engineers?
No — biomimicry is as much a mindset as a profession. Anyone can practice it by observing nature closely and asking design questions. Professional biomimicry practitioners apply it in architecture, materials science, and engineering, but the same core skill — careful observation followed by “what if we built it that way?” — is exactly what this post’s classroom and family activities are designed to build in children.
Åsa Jomård
In 2015, Åsa completed a course in Biomimicry: A Sustainable Design Methodology at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. With over 10 years of experience exploring nature for inspiration and as a former member of Ben, Biomimicry Education Network, she brings both academic background and creative teaching experience to her work. Her materials seamlessly integrate stories, nature observations, and design challenges, making them perfect for inquiry-led learning in early primary contexts.
AI was used as a Thinking Partner.
One thought on “Spooky Spiderlicious Spycamera – Halloween-Inspired Biomimicry for Young Children”