Spiders! Pre-K and Family Storytime

What a great week to read about spiders in all my programs! 

See what I did with the toddler groups here
See what I did with the baby group here

Pre-K:
28 kids
4 siblings
22 adults
(This is time time of year attendance goes down - Fall Break, cooler weather, etc - which is a GREAT time to do really hands-on activities with the kids). 

Memory Box:  Cow from The Very Busy Spider

Books: 

Aaaaarrgghh! A Spider! by Lydia Monks: This spider just wants to be a family pet!  Every clever attempt to win the family over (dancing, bathing, catching flies) is met with a chorus of, " Aaaarrgghh! A Spider!" 

This makes for a very loud, interactive read.  The spider in the book is a bit small, so Fluffy the Spider* took center stage and acted out all the lines.

*Puppeteered by Miss Lesley in Pre-K ST and Miss Erica in Family ST

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle: The farm animals keep trying to play with the spider, but page after page, she is just too busy building her web.

As I read this book, a library co-worker* helped build a web using the prop below.  The piece of black flannel is about 3 feet wide.  The outline of the web is comprised of white yarn glued to the felt.  There is a piece of Velcro glued at all the junctions.

*Olive, Allison, Lesley, and Erica all stepped in on different days

As the spider starts spinning her web, my co-worker used yarn that sticks to the Velcro points to build the web one strand at a time.

Web in progress

 

Completed Web

 

 

Flannel:  "The Spider Catches a Fly"

After reading The Very Busy Spider, we decided that the spider needed help catching more bugs.  Each child was handed a laminated bug with Velcro on the back with the instructions to just hold their bugs and wait.

After going over which bugs they each had, they brought them up in groups to stick on the spider web as the adults sang:

The spider catches a fly
The spider catches a fly
Hi ho the dairy-o
The spider catches a fly

 

 

Movement / Music Activity: "Spider on the Floor"

There are several versions of the song.  I love the one by David Polansky.

 

** Correction!  If you listed to the sample I previously included, that is not the version I like. This is the version I like by David Polansky sample here

 

Tying the plastic ring spiders to yarn beforehand gives the spiders a great little bounce!

 

 

Rhymes:

"Litte Miss [or Mister] Muffet"

Little Miss Muffet
sat on her tuffet
eating her curds and whey (pretend to eat)
Along came a spider (wiggle fingers beside you)
and sat down beside her
and frightened Miss Muffet away! (JUMP up!)
 
"Itsy Bitsy Spider"

 

The kids sang along using the plastic spiders from the activity earlier as I showed the pictures in this book by Lorianne Siomades.

Letter(s) of the Day:
Fluffy the Spider lays amazing eggs!  I truly don't look at them beforehand.  I cover my ears and close my eyes while the children take a peek and then the shout out WORDS that start with that letter sound.

I then guess the letter on the egg based on their word clues;

G- grape, gorilla (words that helped me guess)
D- dog, daddy (words that helped me guess)
B- ball, bunny (words that helped me guess)

My Hair Accessory:

 

Miss Erica All Ready for Evening Family Storytime:

Yes, Miss Erica has managed to dress for EVERY theme since starting Family Storytime with me.  She is a black widow today, complete with red hourglass and spider web tights.

 

Family Storytime:  This weekly program is designed for children ages 2 to 7, but all family members of all ages are welcomed.  We do lots of activites to get children of all ages involved!

 

Thursdays @ 6 pm

 

NO EVENING FAMILY STORYTIME ON HALLOWEEN, OCT 31st