Discovering Spiders
Over the past two weeks, we have been learning all about spiders, and what an exciting exploration it has been! At the beginning, some of us felt a little unsure about spiders. They seemed mysterious and maybe even a bit scary. But as we started learning more, we discovered that spiders are actually fascinating little creatures.
We began our learning by sharing stories and songs together. One of our favourite songs to sing was “Insy Winsy Spider.” We loved acting out the spider climbing up the water spout with our fingers!
During our group times, we also enjoyed reading some wonderful books about spiders. Our favourite was “Zoe’s Webs” by Thomas West. This story helped us see how clever and interesting spiders are, and it sparked lots of conversations and questions.
We learned how to identify a spider. We discovered that spiders have:
- Eight legs
- Two main body parts
We carefully looked at pictures in our beautiful reference books and practised spotting these features. Soon, many of us could confidently tell the difference between a spider and other insects. We were amazed by how many little spiders we discovered at our preschool, especially hiding in our garden. We especially loved the tiny wee Spiderlings (baby spiders).
One of the most important things we learned was about keeping ourselves safe. We talked about how we never touch spiders. Instead, we look carefully with our eyes only. Some spiders can bite, and if that happens, we might need to visit the doctor. Being safe and respectful of animals is an important part of our learning.
At first, some of us felt a little afraid of spiders. But as we talked and learned together, we discovered something interesting:
Spiders are actually more afraid of us than we are of them!
We learned that spiders often camouflage themselves so that they cannot easily be seen. This helps protect them from predators like birds. To understand this better, we played a fun game where we hid (camouflaged) little spiders of different colours in different environments. It was amazing to see how difficult they were to find!
Our learning inspired lots of creative artwork. We created beautiful crayon and dye pictures, and many of us painted and drew spiders using our reference books to guide us. The teachers have been absolutely delighted with the number of amazing spider drawings being created.
We even noticed something very special — many of the spiders were drawn scientifically correctly, with their eight legs coming from the head/thorax area of their bodies!
We also spent time marvelling at spider webs. We talked about how spiders cleverly spin these webs to catch their dinner. The delicate patterns and designs amazed us, and we began to see just how clever these tiny creatures are. Frank also taught us all that spiders (particularly young ones) can even grow new legs if something happens that causes them to lose one.
By the end of our exploration, we all agreed on one thing:
Spiders might be small, but they are truly fascinating little creatures!
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