Are you kids afraid of spiders? Some are fun and some are scary, so craft a cute spider with your kids to teach them how incredible these creatures are. They have so many legs and crazy eyes, so there is plenty to talk about when teaching your kids about spiders. This craft is also about the letter S, so don’t forget to teach them about it too! If your kids are still afraid of these little spiders, you can play Itsy Bitsy Spider for them.
Skills
Types of skills can include math, science, fine motor, dramatic play, social and emotional. Here is how this craft applies these skills:
Math
Add in math concepts by having your child count the number of legs on the spider.
Fine Motor Skills
Your child will learn how to use their fine motor skills to pick up and glue the legs on the spider. Not only that, they will peel and place the sticker eyes on their spider. They will also fold the legs back and forth like a fan (accordion fold).
Dramatic Play and Social/Emotional
Use this spider during the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” song. Your child can pretend to be spider hiding or crawling around with their peers in different environment setting scaring each other off. This opportunity will give your child to understand their peers’ reactions and feelings about spiders.
Boundaries
Make sure you supervise your child when using small items, scissors and other sharp items.
Materials
You will need the following items: construction papers, sticker eyes, pencil crayons or markers, scissors, and glue.
Scissors, markers, pencil, and glue
Steps
Create your spider template. In doing so, find a circle and trace it on a construction paper with a pencil. (Keep in mind the size of your spider.)
Next, draw four straight lines on construction paper from one end to the other end. The lines should be approximately 1 centimeter apart from each other.
Depending on the child’s cutting skills and with your supervision have them cut on the line. Have the child fold the strips in half and cut it. There should be a total of 8 strips. Place the strips aside. This will be used for the legs.
Then, have the child peel and place the sticker eyes just above the center of the circle.
Have the child fold the strip of papers back and forth like a folding fan to create the legs. (You may need to show and help them.)
Finish off the craft by having the child glue the spider’s legs on the back of the circle. Let’s see how many legs the child ends up using.
Modifications
Have fun with the child. Make it “their” spider. Let them be creative.
Have the child choose the color of the construction paper and trace the circle template on the chosen color. It is their spider, let them choose the color for the body and the legs. Some like the legs to be a different color from the body.
Let the child decides how many legs they want on their spider. Some may want eight and some may want more than eight or less than eight.
Improve the fine motor skills and have the child draw in the eyes using a marker or chalk. Or provide tissue papers and have the child crumble it to make the eyes. Use googly eyes instead of sticker eyes.
Instead of using paper for the legs, use pipe cleaners!
The Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Up The Wall!
One by one, the kids craft their spider. One by one, they climb in a line, up the wall. One by one, we have some fun! Enjoy!
To the top!