GREAT BIG GIANT SPIDER

This cooperative spider makes a fun October decoration indoors or out. Have your children stuff a black plastic trash bag with crumpled newspaper to create a giant spider body. Cut eight strips from another black trash bag and help the children tape them to the spider body for legs. To complete, use reflective tape or aluminum foil to create the spider's eyes.

SPIDER WEBS

For each of your children, cut slits around the rim of a sturdy paper plate 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. (Tie on more yarn as needed.) As a final touch, give the children black pompoms to glue onto their webs for spiders.

 
SPIDER COUNTERS
Make counters for the number 8 with your children. For each child, draw eight thin lines on a piece of paper to represent single spider webs hanging from a ceiling. Have the children stamp one thumbprint at the bottom of each web for a spider body. Then have them draw eight legs on each spider. Together, count the webs, the spiders, and the number of legs on each spider. Then label each paper with an 8.
 

SPIDER LANGUAGE FUN Recite "Little Miss Muffet" and let your children act out the rhyme. Teach your children the fingerplay "Eensy Weensy Spider." Fashion a spider puppet for each child by taping a small strip of paper stamped with a spider print around his or her fingertip. Make up some spider stories