Spiders!
Working on this guide turned me into someone who loves spiders, so consider yourself warned.
“I don’t know how the first spider in the early days of the world happened to think up this fancy idea of spinning a web, but she did, and it was clever of her, too. And since then, all of us spiders have had to work the same trick.”
—E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web
October seems like a good month for spending some time with spiders, don’t you think? If they give you the creepy crawlies, well, it’s almost Halloween. And if you’re curious about them, they’re easier to spot in the fall. Whenever I see a spider in my house or in my yard, I remind myself that they do the important job of eating unwanted pests, like mosquitos and flies. Thank you, spiders! Even if you opt out of any up-close spider encounters, there’s plenty here for you, no spider contact required. Choose a book or two, pick an activity that looks fun, and give spiders a chance!
What you’ll find in the Spiders Guide:
10 Spectacular Spider Books
Snack Time: Pretzel Spider Bites
Invitation to Play: Paper Plate Web Weaving
Invitation to Play: Sticky Doorway Spider Web
Plus songs, poems, games, and more ways to play. Download the guide to dive in!
Guides are available to all subscribers for 1 month after they come out, and then they’ll go into the archive which is available to paid subscribers.
10 books about Spiders to read with your kids.
My kids and I enjoyed all of these books, but I was surprised at how much they enjoyed Spiders of the World - they loved just flipping through and finding a super cool looking spider and having me read about it. Do you have a favorite spider book? If I missed it, share in the comments below!
Are You a Spider? by Judy Allen
Bear’s Scare by Jacob Grant
Walter’s Wonderful Web by Tim Hopgood
Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Janet Stevens
Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan
The Lady and the Spider by Faith McNulty, illustrated by Bob Marstall
Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks
Next Time You See a Spiderweb by Emily Morgan
The Spider Weaver: A Legend of Kente Cloth by Margaret Musgrove, illustrated by Julia Cairns
Sophie’s Masterpiece by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Jane Dyer
Spiders of the World by Norman I. Platnick
As always, I’ve linked to Amazon for the sake of convenience, but I highly recommend supporting small businesses through Bookshop.org, or buying gently used books from AbeBooks, ThriftBooks, and eBay. Or better yet, stop by your local public library and see what they have to offer.
Spider videos to watch with your kids.
🕷️ The Spider Dance by Milena Sidorova (YouTube, 2 minutes)
🕷️ Timelapse: Spider Weaving Its Web (JM Niester, 1 minute)
🕷️ Jumping Spider High-Fives (The Dodo, 3 minutes)
Download the guide for more fun spider videos!
A spider poem.
Torn
by Mary Oliver
I tore the web
of a black and yellow spider
in the brash of weeds
and down she came
on her surplus of legs
each of which
touched me and really
the touch wasn’t much
but then the way
if a spider can
she looked at me
clearly somewhere between
outraged and heartbroken
made me say “I’m sorry
to have wrecked your home
your nest your larder”
to which she said nothing
only for an instant
pouched on my wrist
then swung herself off
on the thinnest of strings
back into the world.
This pretty, this perilous world.Spark some wonder.
I’m warning you… these links might turn you into a spider-appreciator. The other day when I was driving, a little jumping spider appeared on my steering wheel. Did I squash it? No. Did I roll down the window and fling it out? Nope. I let it crawl on me until I could safely stop the car and let it out. I wasn’t even a little bit afraid. I thought it was cute! Spending time getting curious about spiders can do that to a person…
➵ Read: Gossamer Silk, From Spiders Spun (New York Times) “In his research into textiles, he had long been intrigued by the alchemical, almost occult tales of attempts over several centuries to harvest spider silk for weaving, an endeavor that, as he has written, always seemed to be ‘imbued with metaphor and poetry, with nightmare and phobia.’”
➵ Watch: Studio Visit with Tomás Saraceno (Berlin Art Link) “Essentially blind, spiders image the world through the tremors they send and receive through their webs, functioning as an organic and specialized instrument for transmission. A material extension of the spider’s own senses and mind: accessing this umwelt, the installation invites participants to see, hear, touch, and for a moment exist within this web of linked perceptions and proximal worlds.” (More information and images HERE, and NY Times article about Saraceno HERE.)
➵ Listen: Boris the Spider (by The Who, 3 minutes) This song is kind of hilarious, and good timing for Halloween. It may or may not be appropriate to share with your kid - give it a listen first and see.
➵ Read: Do spiders dream? (National Geographic) “‘Occasionally, there are things happening that I can only explain with the theory of them having a nightmare,’ Rößler says. ‘They’ll be peacefully dangling, legs curled in neatly, when suddenly all the legs get extended at the same time, like aah!’”
➵ Watch: Flying spiders! (BBC Earth) Despite having no wings, spiders have been found two and a half miles up in the air, and a thousand miles out to sea. How do they do it? By using the Earth’s electric field. Watch the BBC Earth video or read this piece from The Atlantic to learn more. Nature is so cool.
➵ Watch: Why spider silk is stronger than steel (Interesting Engineering) “Although each strand of spider silk is much thinner than a strand of human hair, it has, pound for pound, a stronger tensile strength than many types of steel.”
➵ Listen: There. I Fixed It., Prologue (This American Life) “Ira Glass talks to Sam Ashner, whose debilitating fear of spiders was ruining his life. So he opted for an extraordinary treatment — the nuclear option — to deal with it.”
➵ Read: Arachnophilia: Spiders in Art and Folklore (Sotheby’s) Take “a look at some of ways people and cultures have contended with all the captivating and formidable characteristics of the polarizing eight-legged creature.”
➵ Watch: Robots made of dead spiders (Cleo Abram) “It looks terrifying, but it’s a step toward noticing all kinds of nontraditional materials in robotics.”
➵ Look: Macro Photos Capture the Dazzling “Mirror Spider” with Its Changing Mosaic of Reflective Panels (My Modern Met) “The Singapore-based photographer has concentrated his macro lens on this small creature whose midsection is cloaked in silvery, mosaic-like panels that reflect light. From certain angles, it looks like it’s wearing fabulous, tiny sequins.”
“The spider is a repairer. If you bash into the web of a spider, she doesn’t get mad. She weaves and repairs it.” —Louise Bourgeois
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Sayonara, jumping spider!
Love, Kathryn
Love this! It would have been wonderful to have this when Stephanie was young; she was terrified of spiders and of course her bedroom was their favorite place.