This one appeared when I went to do laundry in the house we were renting last summer... It doesn't look all that especially big except that his EYE was big enough to reflect the flash. Ew.
However, during October, some of my favorite activities are with those darn things! They are cute on worksheets. Not real spiders on worksheets- cute clip art spiders on worksheets.
I am going to do lots of spider activities this coming week, but I kept finding such treasures, that I wanted to share them with you before I do them in case you want to use them now, too. I will share some things I do with my class, then LOTS of FABULOUS spider freebies I found. I shared some of a few years ago, but things change- some go way, and LOTS of great new freebies appear thanks to some wonderful TPT teachers!
I guess I should start with
It is a sweet book, and I could take a lesson from it... I know.
I also, of course, love The Very Busy Spider.
I use this book to remind my children that during center time I am a very busy teacher, working with a group, so non-emergency questions will have to wait until I am done with the group. If my spider is on my board or table, I am very busy. My friend Betty sent me a precious little spider card that I am using now. I found this little hexagon spider beanbag to make from Sewing and Beyond. How cute is he?
Jessica, from The Littlest Scholars shared these adorable Retelling Puppets to go along with the story!
Jessica Williamson has a fun little data activity to get the kids started and see just who is and is not afraid of spiders!
First Grade Blue Skies has a great Very Busy Spider Beginning, Middle, End Writing Prompt FREEBIE at her TPT store.
We always marble paint with white paint, and add fingerprint spiders with eight legs.
I love to have the children learn to draw spider webs with chalk. I draw a hexagon or an octagon on a paper with white chalk. (This sample is yellow. My real ones are in school now. Forgive the yellow web!) This year I am using hexagons, because we need to teach that shape. I sort of prefer octagons because it looks better and spiders have 8 legs, so it helps to reinforce that. Either one is fine.
The children get a piece of chalk and draw a dot in the middle of the shape. Next, I have them draw four circles, each one gradually getting bigger, around their dot. Last, they connect the dot to one of the vertices. Ta da ! A perfect web and a great little drawing activity.
Here is the octagon web. I do like that better.
We use these as work mats with a spider ring. I have the children practice their positional words with the spider ring. We put him inside, outside, over, under, above, and below the web. We put him beside, on top of, underneath, between, in front of, and behind other spiders.Cindy Conley made a Spider Position Words Student Reader FREEBIE that would go right along with this beautifully!
Faith Rucker shared a fun activity for sorting and graphing those colorful spider rings!
Greg Smedley (Smedley's Smorgasboard) shared these great Spiderweb Counting Cards! He has a wonderful Research and Writing Spider Unit at his TPT store!
There are so many cute spider snacks. I have always made spiders from a prune and eight pretzel sticks. How mean am I? Most of the kids haven't even had a prune before. I describe it as a big raisin. Sort of... They actually like these. Really.
Almost Unschoolers has a tastier looking spider treat- because... caramel sauce... yum.
Sweet Treats and More shows how to make these darling webs on her blog ( and says they are easy... but I have made seen enough Pinterest fails to wonder about that. )
Of course there are these bad boys that may beat out a prune...There are lots of non-food spider activities, too, by the way!
Here is a fun version of the Itsy Bitsy Spider, called the Isty Ditsy Spider (Bitsy's little brother... :) by the Learning Station! So much fun for the kids to try with a partner!
Mom Endeavors shared this precious spider craft:
Doodle Bugs Teaching shared this adorable Silly Spider Art Pattern.
AND a free Spider Number Matching Game! KidSparkz is AWESOME!
Graphics from the Pond has this great clipart at her TPT store.
Growing in PreK made a great Six Silly Spiders Dice Game FREEBIE! How fun is that?!
Jennifer Hier has a Counting Spiders Emergent Reader FREEBIE that would be so much fun for this unit!
These Spider Sums, from My Fabulous Class, look like lots of fun and a great center!
Meaghan Kimbrell shared a fun Spider Roll and Cover game.
K is for Kinderrific has a cute Spider Cut and Match Numbers FREEBIE.
Schoolalicious has a fun Spider Counting Book.
Lighting Fires of Learning has a cute Spider Number Puzzle.
Karen Murphy has a cute Cut and Paste Number Order activity.
Elizabeth Riker shared these cute Spider Ten Frames.
Anna Watson shared a cute Five Little Spiders Book, great for writing subtraction problems.
This Halloween Math Grid Game by Sharon Oliver would be great counting practice for a math center!
Catch That Spider from A Kinder Kindergarten is great for numeracy practice!
Katie Broome shared a fabulous Spider Facts Booklet FREEBIE at her TPT store. This is a wonderful non-fiction mini-unit for spiders.
Melissa's Lil' Learners shared a fun Spider Emergent Reader for practicing those sight words!
My Happy Place shared a Graphing Freebie which would work perfectly for an opinion writing activity!
My kids would LOVE these Webs and Spiders Coloring Sheets from The Creative Classroom. The kids have to fill the room with webs and spiders. How fun!
Kathryn Garcia shared a fun Spider Match-Up activity for upper/lowercase letters!
The Kid Zone has lots of spider freebies and is a great site for some non-fiction spider study. You can check out the Kid Zone Spider Activities, the Online spider jigsaw puzzles. and the Itsy Bitsy Spider Book:
Kathryn also shared a cute Spider Number Line for the children to make.
Klever Kiddos shared a fun Spider Sightword Game.
Reading Is Love shared a fun Spider Sight Word Game.
Peachie Speechie has a fun Spider Smush activity that makes practicing letter recognition lots of fun!
Read, Sing, and Write has a cute Spider Writing Activity.
I like Jasmine McClain's All About Spiders worksheets!
Scissors and Crayons shared some fun Spider Activities!
I love this Web Reading CVC Activity from Simply Fun in First!
Jodi Waltman shared this Spiderweb Can-Have-Are Map. I always love her things- especially because my maiden name is Waltman!
Kindergarten Lifestyle shared this We Learn about Bats and Spiders packet.
Johanna Tackitt shared this cute Describe a Spider "Web."
How about these Web Fixer-Uppers from First Grade and Flip Flops?
Miss Kindergarten Love has a great Mini Spider Unit.
Amy Lemons shared this darling Spider Craft and Poem!
I love these Spider Hats from Mrs. Payton!
This Free Mini Book is from Education to the Core.
Babbling Abby shared these great Editable Spider Activities.
It really isn't an oxymoron! You can have fun with spiders. Thank you to all these wonderful people for sharing these amazing activities. Don't forget to leave super wonderful feedback if you download them from TPT. Everyone loves happy feedback, and knowing you enjoy their products!
I'm supposed to be doing report cards but for some reason I'm blocked from the web site so I thought I'd check my Facebook page. Who cares about report cards...How can I fit in a cool spider unit!!!! Thanks..(I think!) Sally in CA
ReplyDelete:) Those report cards will still be there! Spiders move really fast! :) I hope you found some fun things to do with your class! Good luck with those report cards!
DeleteOh my!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You rock!! Thanks for letting me have a spider Saturday!!! You are so wonderful to share your findings!!! Now I sorta feel bad I vacuumed 2 up this morning!!!! lol
ReplyDeleteDon't feel the least bit bad... I squashed one on the rug this morning. He knew better than to be so close to me in bare feet... Maybe I did this post because I felt bad. Who knows?! :) Have fun!
DeleteWow, Carolyn, so much spider fun! Another great blog post. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dan! Thanks so much for commenting!
DeleteThanks Dan! Thanks so much for commenting!
DeleteWhat a great collection of activities ~ Thanks for sharing! I love the spider webs on construction paper ~ Spiders truly are fascinating (when they're no where near me). :) Anne
ReplyDelete