There are many things that make a spider different from an insect, but one major one is their life cycle. In today’s simple craft, we’ll bring the spider life cycle to life in a hands-on way your child can refer to again and again throughout our Insects + Spiders Unit, or any time they want to learn a little bit more about these fascinating creatures.
What you need:
- paper + access to a printer (don’t have one? we like this model)
- our spider life cycle printable
- 1 sheets of cardstock (one white and one color)
- a brad
- glue stick
- 8 googly eyes (optional)
- crayons, colored pencils, or markers (optional)
What to do:
Start by printing the template, printing the first sheet on a colored piece of cardstock and the second on a white sheet of cardstock. Cut out the pieces.
If desired, let your child color in the life cycle pictures.
Layer the circle pieces with the plain circle (the back of the spider’s body), then the life cycle circle, and finally the cut out circle (the front of the spider’s body) on top. Put the brad through the center of the circles to hold all the pieces together.
Glue the head onto the front of the spider’s body and the legs onto the back piece of the spider’s body, like this:
You can fold the legs to give them a wiggly appearance, if desired.
Finally, add the googly eyes.
As you learn about spiders in our unit or read through The Spider: The Disgusting Critters Series by Elise Gravel (or you can listen to this read aloud—the book starts at about 3:00), use your spinner as a hands-on way to help your child understand the life cycle.
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