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North Bellmore School District

Inspiring Confident, Passionate Learners

October 30, 2026

Spider Web Craft Promotes Collaboration at JGD

Three people sit on the floor, holding a paper plate with black lines drawn on it.

Buddies at John G. Dinkelmeyer Elementary School celebrated Halloween while also working on their leadership skills. Students from Melissa Halarais’ fifth grade class recently visited their kindergarten friends in Jennifer McGovern’s class.

Together, they took on a STEAM challenge to make a Halloween spider web craft. Using a paper plate and yarn, their objective was to create a home for a plastic spider.

The teachers noted that the activity fostered the sixth habit of the Leader in Me initiative, Synergize. The habit focuses on creative collaboration and students learn that working together can allow them to reach an outcome greater than what they had in mind.

Children craft with paper plates and black string at a blue table in a classroom. A person paints geometric designs on a paper plate while another person observes nearby.

Two people work together on a craft project at a classroom table. Three people stand together, one holding a paper plate with yarn artwork in a classroom.

Two children work together at a table with craft supplies and paper plates. Two people showcase a paper plate decorated as a spider web with a plastic spider.

Three people pose together in front of a colorful bulletin board, one holding a paper plate. A group of people displaying art projects made with paper plates and string.