Very Busy Spiders

Spiders and their webs were the topic of conversation this week.

We took a look at the characteristics of spiders in the book, Spiders by Gail Gibbons. 

A sensory bin was filled with spiders of all sizes and colors. They all had 8 legs, though. We used tweezers and spoons to pick them up, as we sorted through them.

We had a giant spider web in our play yard. We played and sang to the tune of "Five Little Ducks"-

One little kid went out to play,

Along a spider web one day.

He (She) had such enormous fun.

He (She) called for another little kid to come...

Two little kids went out to play...

We made spider webs just like the spider in The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. 

using a round cake pan and marbles dipped in white paint. We rolled the marbles round and round to create our webs. We each chose a spider to place in 

our web.

We sang and read a book by the same title 

We dipped spiders in paint and sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" as the spiders climbed, jumped, slid and danced on our papers. 

We used spiders, water and "water spouts" to do an experiment. We took turns having our spiders "climb" up the water spout. We poured water through pipes to represent the rain. As the water rushed down the spouts, the spiders were washed away. We did it over and over again, placing our spiders in different places each time. 

A giant chalk-drawn web in our play yard, provided us with a chance to practice our balance. So that spiders don't get caught in their own webs, they walk on the diagonal " silk strings" that go across the web. The ones that go around are the sticky ones. We walked on the straight lines with some little spiders, careful not to get caught in the web. 

Black playdough, pipe cleaners, straws, beads and googly eyes were set out as an invitation to play...

We dramatized Little Miss Muffet sitting on a tuffet after reading a book by the same title. 

Of course each of us brought our own characterization to the drama! 

We couldn't learn about spiders without looking for a real spider to observe. Because we have had so much rain, most of the spiders and their webs have "washed away". We found one in our play yard just in time to end our week of spiders...