Spider Activities for Preschool Students

Spiders are creepy and crawly and the perfect theme for an October preschool lesson plan.

Weave a Spider Web

Give each student a sturdy paper plate that you have cut slits all around at one inch intervals and tape a long piece of black yarn to the back. Invite the children to pass the yarn through the slits and weave it back and forth across their plates for webs. If you need to, tie on more yarn. When the web is complete, give each student a small plastic spider (plastic spider rings work really well) to attach to their plates.

Make Fingerprint Spiders

Using a black ink pad, have your students make the body of a spider with their thumb and the head of the spider with their pointer finger. Let them draw eight legs from the spider with a black marker. Le them make as many spiders as they want on their piece of paper.

Spider Web Painting

Cut a piece of black construction paper to fit inside of a shoe box or gift box. Dip a marble in white paint and drop it onto the paper. Roll the marble around by tilting the lid. Repeat as many times as desired to create a spider web. When the painting is dry, add a spider sticker or glue on a plastic spider. These can also be done with black paint on a white paper background.

Spider Snacks

Give each student a large marshmallow and eight pretzel sticks. Let them push the pretzels into the marshmallows to make a spider. Attach raisin eyes with peanut butter or cream cheese.

Paper plate spiders.

Use black paper plates or have children paint white paper plates black. Give children large googly eyes and eight strips of black construction paper or eight black pipe cleaners for legs. Let them glue their eyes and legs onto the plates. Punch a hole into the plates and hang from the ceiling or attach the spiders to a giant web drawn onto a bulletin board.

Spider Songs

The following song is sung to "The Farmer in the Dell."

The spider in the web,
The spider in the web
Spin, spin, oh watch him spin,
The spider in the web.

The spider eats a (bug name)
The spider eats a _________.
Spin, spin, oh watch him

And this song is sung to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot."

I'm a little spider, watch me spin.
If you'll be my dinner,
I'll let you come in.
Then I'll build my web
to hold you tight,
And gobble you up in one big bite!