How To Make A Cereal Spider

I do not think I have ever intentionally eaten bugs or insects, but I know that I have more than likely eaten some teeny tiny flies while out on my bike or walking my dog, when I was much younger. Of course some bugs are a delicacy in some countries and are full of nutrients and eaten as part of people’s daily meals, but they are not something that I am in a hurry to try for myself!

However, did you know 47% of children have put creepy crawlies from the garden into their mouths, and  yet 71% will not eat a plate of greens! Nestle carried out some research which revealed the challenges mums and dads face in ensuring their children get the vitamins and minerals they need. Worms, caterpillars and snails topped the bugs list that kids were willing to try.

To mark these findings, Nestle decided to ask Prudence Staite, renowned food artist, to create a giant caterpillar made out of Nestlé® Cereals to show how nutritious cereal can be. It looks amazing!

The cereal Caterpillar has been taken on a tour of the UK,  to show there is there is an easier way to get a whole bowl of good stuff into our children than eating a creepy crawly! Indeed a bowl of cereal contains  the right amount of fibre, vitamins and minerals your child needs to start their day off the right way, and without the need to hunt in the garden first!!

I was asked by Nestle if I could make a cereal creature, and they sent me some goodies with which to make my creepy crawly.

After some deliberaton, I decided to make a spider because I often wonder if I have ever swallowed any in my sleep!!!

To make a cereal spider you need:

1 box of mini shredded wheat
300g mik chocolate
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp butter + extra for greasing
1 large pyrex glass bowl
6 Cookie Crisps
8 pipe cleaners
Cheerios
8 cocktail sticks
1 black pipe cleaner
1 square of milk chocolate

Then you need to:

Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a pan over a gentle heat until melted
Meanwhile place the shredded wheat in a processor and blitz to make shredded wheat strands (you may need to do this in several batches).
Place the shredded wheat in a large mixing bowl and pour over the chocolate sauce and mix well to coat all of the cereal
Grease the glass bowl with some extra butter
Pour in the chocolately shredded wheat and press down to maker sure it fits into the bowl well
Place into the fridge to chill
Meanwhile, thread the Cheerios onto the 8 pipe cleaners and bend each end of the pipe cleaner over to stop the Cheerios falling off
After a couple of hours, carefully remove the shredded wheat from the bowl by sliding a knife around the perimeter and then turning out on to a board or plate
Attach the legs into the side of the shredded wheat body by sticking cocktail sticks into the  body, and then stick the cheerios onto each one
Then melt the small square of chocolate and use it as a glue to stick the cookie crisps onto the face, to make the eyes
Take one black pip cleaner and cut off two pieces to make fangs, and poke through the body under the eyes
That is it – your Spider is ready for ermmm Spider action!

I have to say that researching what the faces of spiders look like on google images was not a pleasant experience, and even though this spider was not real it still freaked me out a little!!

I was sent some items with which to create a cereal creep crawly for the purpose of a blog post