Welcome to our awesome unit on none other than spiders! Would you like some free printable books for kids about spiders? Read on!
We are not making it a scary or spooky subject (even though I am personally terrified of them).
It was so much fun (especially because I made sure that it did NOT involve real spiders)!
In this post, we will show you what we learned about spiders, what we did and you can download a free printable coloring and activity book that your children will love!
So sit back and enjoy this post. And rest assured, no spiders will jump out of the screen! 😉
Books about Spiders
We had an amazing stack of books about spiders!
We read both fiction and non-fiction book. All of them were fun and engaging. Here is our list:
Fiction
The Cobweb Curtain: A Christmas Story
The Eensy Weensy Spider Freaks Out! (Big-Time!)The Very Busy SpiderItsy Bitsy Spider (Kate Toms Series)Be Nice to Spiders
Non-fiction
Amazing Spiders (Eyewitness Junior)Are You a Spider? (Backyard Books)Spiders Near and FarSpiders and Their Web SitesSpiders
Our favorite book of all was Be Nice to Spiders (fiction). We focused on that one.
We liked it the most because it shows how helpful spiders are in the world and why we shouldn’t immediately resort to getting rid of them.
Activities & Crafts
Since there was no way on earth that I would be ok with playing or using real spiders that are bigger than my pinky toenail, we opted to use spider replicas to play and to come up with some activities.
One of the activities was to use glow in the dark rings and my children were trying to throw the rings to land around the spiders, almost like playing ring toss in the dark.
The second activity was simple. It was simply to draw spider webs on card stock.
Then, we made the spiders’ heads and bodies out of play dough and used pipe cleaners for legs.
My children played with them, pretending that they were spinning webs, that they were catching insects and that they were sleeping on the web.
It was cute. I wish I had gotten video of it.
Next, to learn how to draw spiders and spiderwebs in a step-by-step format, they drew them using this book: The Usborne Step-by-Step Drawing Animals.
He loves this book! It includes all kinds of animals, though, not just spiders. We just found the page to do it in our unit. 😉
We also watched The Magic School Bus “Spins a Web” from the complete series.
This was super interesting and fascinating. I highly recommend it. It will bring a lot of information home for your children.
Free Printable Books for Kids about Spiders
By the time we got to this activity, we had read most of the non-fiction books.
I felt that my children had seen enough spiders (different kinds, from different places and in different colors) to fill out the coloring and activity book creatively.
I created this coloring and activity book for my children and they LOVED it so much!
They are already on their second printing of the book because they wanted to do it again! That is fantastic! I think your children will love it, too.
In it, I included some drawing, some coloring, some writing some reading and even some math.
It practices guided art (following instructions or copying a spider) and creative art (making up a name for a spider, writing a mini story about spiders and drawing a spider from memory).
Simply print the book out (on a single page or double-sided) and cut. Staple together as a book.
There is no particular order for the page. They aren’t numbered.
If you have several children and are planning on working on these together, then I suggest you do put them together in the same order. 🙂
More Spider Fun
Terra by Battat – RC Spider: Tarantula – Red Infrared Remote Control
Furry Spider Costume for Kids Small (6)Rtudan Original Spider Scare Prank Box, Hilarious Wooden Scare Box,Handmade Fun Jokekockuu 46pcs Realistic Plastic Spider Toys Fake Spider Prank Prop Joke SpidersThe Very Busy SpiderUNDERWRAPS Kids’ Toddler Baby’s Spider Belly, Black/Green, Large (2-4T)
Take a look at some more wonderful spider posts!
Spider Web Color Wheel Craft – by Artsy Momma
Itsy Bitsy Spider Activities by Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading
The Very Busy Spider Craft and More Spider Activities by Living Life and Learning
Glittery Spider Webs by Simple Fun for Kids
Silly Spider Craft by Easy Peasy and Fun
Counting Spiders Preschool Math Game by School Time Snippets
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Kristina says
Wow! You had tons of spider fun!! The “ring the spider” game with glow sticks sounds very fun!
Meeghan says
Cute! I pinned to my letter S board. 🙂