Spinning Spiders by Melvin Berger
Spider’s Lunch by Joanna Cole
Are You a Spider? by Judy Allen

What is an arachnid?

The word arachnid is a Greek word that means spider, but spiders are not the only creatures classified as arachnids. They share the classification with scorpions, mites and ticks. All arachnids have two body segments and eight legs.

• Difference between an arachnid and an insect – Arachnids have four pairs of segmented legs (eight total), which can grow back if broken. Insects have six legs. Arachnids have two body parts, insects have three. Many insects have antennae and can fly. Spiders have no antennae and no wings.
• Life-cycle of a spider – egg, spiderling (term for young spider), adult spider.
• Where do spiders live? – Everywhere. Some even live in lakes and ponds.
• What do spiders eat? – Insects, but some tropical species are large enough to eat minnows.

Materials:
Paper
Ink pad
Pencils
Crayons

Procedure:
1. Teach the class the song “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”
2. Pass out paper and let the kids draw places they would like to see a spider go up.
3. Help them put their thumbs on the ink pad and make two prints that form the spider’s body.
4. Let the children draw in the spider’s eight legs.
5. When everyone has finished sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider again, but substitute the places students have drawn for the water spout.

Questioning:
When was the last time a spider surprised you?

While the preschoolers are doing this activity use this opportunity to talk about the number of parts and legs a spider has compared with insects. Also, the spider has an exoskeleton making the outside of the body hard, which can be compared to the Styrofoam balls.

Materials:

Three Inch Foam Balls cut in half
Mini Stix
Chenille Stems cut in half
Craft Paint – Black
Wiggly Eyes (Remember, spiders can have up to 12 eyes!)
White Glue
Paper Fasteners
Elastic Cord
Craft sticks

Procedure:

1. Give each student two halves of a foam ball and let them paint it black.
2. Use the mini stix to connect the two foam body sections
3. When the paint dries add the pipe chenille stem legs and glue the wiggly eyes on.
4. Fasten a long piece of elastic string to the paper fastener and insert into the back of the spider.
5. Tie the other end to a craft stick.
6. Let students have a spider parade around the room.

Kids
Open floor space
Music

Procedure:

1. Select two children to start the game and ask the rest of the children to pretend they are the sticky silk web.
2. Ask the sticky silks to lay on the floor, twisting their bodies like parts of a spider web.
3. Instruct the sticky silks to touch the child next to them with a hand and a foot, making a continuous web.
4. The two children selected at the beginning start the game by carefully walking around the web to music.
5. When the music stops, the two children standing touch the nearest child to them and that child becomes the next to walk the web.

Black Yarn cut into 6-foot pieces
Cardboard
Crayons
Tape

Procedure:

1. Cut the cardboard into 8-inch squares
2. Cut ½ inch slits every 1 to 2 inches around the outside of the cardboard
3. Let the children color their cardboard
4. Pull the end of the yarn through one slit and tape it to the back of the cardboard
5. Let the children weave the yarn through the slits until the project looks like a spiderweb

Ask the children if making a spiderweb with no hands would be easy. Ask how they could use their new web to catch food if they had to.

Final closure

Discuss the physical features of spiders and how those features help spiders catch their food. Then explain that spiders help farmers by eating the “bad” insects. Ask why the class thinks most people are afraid of spiders and if they’ve learned anything in class that changed their opinion about spiders.