Spiders and Webs

Along with some Halloween activities this week, we've also been learning a little bit about spiders.

"Spider Eyes" Sensory Bin and Counting

The first part of this activity is scooping up the googly spider eyes from the bin.

Some students were engaged with that process alone, and spent their time just exploring the bin. 

Some students took it a step further, and brought their eyes to the spider building table. 

Earlier in class we talked a little bit about the number of legs and eyes that spiders can have. Many spiders have 8 eyes, but that number can vary depending on the species. It was fun to see the different ways that the students made their spiders.

Spider Web Marble Art

This is one of my favorite art processes. Just dip the marble in paint, and roll it around to create a unique web.

Later we added some spiders. 

Spider Web Lines

Spider webs have been another fun way to think about lines. We explored the straight and curvy lines in spider webs on the chalkboard table. I drew the outline of the web, and the students filled in the rest. 

This inspired one student to try making his own web with the chalk outside. 

Spider Web Yarn 

I had planned to make several different spider webs out of yarn in the classroom to use for a spider hunting/counting/sorting activity, but it was hard to find places that would work.

So I changed my mind, emptied out this shelf, and set out several different strings for the kids to explore on their own. They worked hard to create their own spider webs. 

Book: The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

This is a simple and fun book that shows the process a spider might go through to spin their web. I love that the lines of the web are raised, so that students can explore the lines in a tactile way.