Spider Theme

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Thematic units for preschoolers usually center around one topic. There are tons of creative preschool themes you can try in your classroom or homeschool this year! This spider theme is fun to do year round, but it’s truly perfect for October. 

I’ve pulled together everything you’ll need to teach a spider theme with your preschool learners. You’ll get spider facts for preschoolers, book suggestions, themed snack ideas, preschool spider printables that focus on early learning skills, craft activities, and more. Keep reading to discover how a spider theme can bring fun and learning to your preschool lesson plans this year.

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Preschool Spider Printables for Early Math Practice

There are many different early math concepts preschoolers should master before kindergarten. This spider theme is a great way to make learning early math skills fun for your preschoolers at home and in the classroom. I’ve put together some preschool spider printables to help your early learners practice some of the most important math skills.

Spider Coloring Page Activity

Check out my spider coloring pages to help your preschoolers learn to recognize colors, build concentration, and explore fine motor skills. This cute spider coloring activity works well with sensory bins or as a movement activity to get your preschoolers out of their seats too.

For more counting practice, the spider counting movement activity is a great place to begin. Another idea is to practice counting plastic spiders with your preschoolers. Want more fun counting printables?

Preschool Spider Printable Counting Practice

Try my Make 10 preschool spider printable. It’s a cute way to practice counting to 10, one to one correspondence, and place value with preschoolers. You’ll get my printable spider web and printable double sided spider counters. 

Hide spider counters in a sensory bin for even more fun, or just use activity tubs to set up this spider counting activity in your math center for all kinds of learning fun. If you like, you can use the plastic spider rings from the fine motor activity for even more fun with this make 10 printable. Here’s how to play this Make 10 spider game: 

1. Cut around both the black and white spiders and glue them together so that one side has a black spider and the other side has a white spider.
2. Place all 10 spiders in a tub and shake them.
3. Spill the spiders onto the web and count how many are black, and how many are white.
4. Record your answers on the included spider web worksheet.

If your preschool kids aren’t ready to make 10, I have a variation for them to try simple equations for 5 with this spider theme activity. Plus, you’ll love how easy it is to include in your preschool and kindergarten math centers.

Spider Activities for Preschool

Sight Word Spider Learning

I have a few more free spider activities for preschool up my sleeve. I have been introducing a few sight words a week to my little one and this spider activity has really helped them to stick.

It’s a simple sight word game, which I’m big on! Simply hide the spider behind a sight word and your little ones will guess which word it is behind. It helps practice the words again and again, and with sight words, repetition is key for success!

Alphabet Spider Printable

If your preschoolers aren’t ready for sight words, try out my spider printables for alphabet practice. This printable pocket folder game is a great way to help preschoolers learn to identify letters and letter sounds.

Get my free printable spider letter activities for early literacy practice and have fun learning letters and sight words with arachnids this Fall!

Spider Math Activities

Celebrate Halloween with this cute spider activity for kids. These free spider web numbers will teach your preschoolers counting, number recognition and fine motor skills this Halloween.

Your students will love identifying each number and placing the right amount of spiders on top of each mat. Use mini erasers, spider rings, pom poms, or the spider printables included in this spooky printable set.

Spider Movement Activities

I love adding movement activities to all my preschool themes. It’s important to get young learners up and moving throughout the day. Movement activities encourage healthy physical activity, help preschoolers develop motor skills, and make learning fun.

Songs and Fingerplays

Singing songs together and learning spider finger plays are great ways to add movement activities to your classroom while stimulating cognitive growth with music. Check out some of my favorite spider songs and finger plays:

• Itsy Bitsy Spider
• There’s a Spider on the Floor
• My Little Spider

These songs and fingerplays are great for helping kids build motor skills, practice counting, and get up and moving in the classroom and at home. Want more ways to practice gross motor skill building in your classroom? Check out my Spider Hunt Gross Motor Activity.

Spider Gross Motor Activity

This spider hunt is a free printable activity that will get your preschoolers up and moving around the room as they hunt for spiders and build number recognition and counting skills too.

To play, you’ll hang printable spider web cards around the room. Each spider web contains a certain number of spiders. 

Encourage preschoolers to run around the room (or crawl like spiders for even more fun!) searching for spiders. They’ll need to count the spiders in the web and color the correct number on their corresponding worksheet. It’s an exciting activity that’s filled with movement and math learning fun!

Fine Motor Activity with Spider Theme

You can practice fine motor skills with a preschool spider theme too. I’ve got a fun hands-on activity for incorporating sensory play while building fine motor skills with your preschoolers. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Spaghetti noodles
• Play dough or modeling clay
• Plastic spider rings 

This activity is perfect for centers in a preschool classroom or added to a sensory table with homeschool learners. In addition to building fine motor skills, your preschoolers can practice counting, sorting, and STEM building skills as they work to stack spiders on the spaghetti noodles in this spider theme fine motor activity.

Spider Themed Snacks To Share

There are tons of benefits to theming snacks in your preschool classroom. Themed snacks can help reinforce all the lessons you’re learning by giving your preschoolers a fun memory to go with what they’ve learned. It’s a creative way to engage reluctant learners too.

Plus, you can use snacks to encourage healthy eating habits with your preschoolers and talk about important topics like nutrition. Check out one of my favorite spider theme snacks for preschool learners:

Cheesy Pretzel Spiders

Ingredients: 

• Mini Babybel cheeses 
• Small pretzel rods

Steps:

1. Unwrap a mini babybel cheese. This is the body of the “spider.”
2. Stick small pretzel rods into the sides of the cheese circle to form “legs” for your spider.

It’s simple enough or kids to make on their own and delicious too! This cheesy spider snack is a great way to reinforce some of the things you’ve learned about spiders while eating healthy too.

Preschool Spider Crafts

Crafts are fun for kids of all ages. Many adults like crafting too. These preschool spider crafts are ideal for early learners because they are easy to complete and provide lots of opportunities to practice important skills like cutting and pasting.

Spider Name Craft

Spider crafts are a great way to introduce your new preschool theme to students. This spider name craft is the perfect Halloween craft and activity to decorate for the Fall. Create a spider and web and learn your name this Autumn in a fun and hands-on way.

Counting Spider Craft

Check out this preschool spider craft that’s sure to get your early learners interested in learning all about arachnids. Plus, it’s a fun way to help your early learners build fine motor skills, practice counting, and learn to identify colors:

Spider Counting Craftivity from ABCDee Learning

Handprint Spider Craft

Want more spider crafting fun for your preschool learners this year? Try making handprint spiders to decorate your room or share with loved ones. Here’s what you’ll need:

• White or colored paper
• Black finger paint
• Googly eyes

This activity can get a bit messy, so you might want to consider some art smocks for your preschoolers as you get started. Cover your preschooler’s palms in washable black finger paint. Then, have her press her left hand down on the paper with the fingers facing left. 

Next, your preschooler can press her right hand down with the palm overlapping the left palm print and the fingers facing the right side of the paper. The result will look like a spider with 8 legs! To complete your fingerpaint spider, add googly eyes and give it a name.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider Nursery Rhyme Craft

Here’s another fun spider craft for kids. Teach the classic nursery rhyme song The Itsy Bitsy spider with this cute poem and spider craft.

Your students will love putting this spider craft together and completing the nursery rhyme sequencing activity!

Spider Facts for Preschoolers

Did you know not all spiders make webs? It’s true! Jumping spiders, wolf spiders, and crab spiders do not make webs. Rather than trapping their food in webs, they pounce on prey.

Learning interesting spider facts is a fun way to teach preschoolers about amazing arachnids. Plus, it’s a great way to build early literacy skills too. Check out these books filled with spider facts for preschoolers to learn more in your classroom or homeschool this year:

• National Geographic Readers: Spiders by Laura Marsh
• Spiders: Photos and Fun Facts for Kids by Isis Gaillard
• All My Friends Are Spiders by Alice Cussler
• Spiders and Their Webs by Darlyne A. Murawski
• Spiders from Usborne Beginners by Rebecca Gilpin

Spider Questions for Preschoolers

After you read a few of these amazing books about spiders together, try asking some of these spider questions for preschoolers. Asking questions about what you’ve read helps build reading comprehension skills. 

• What body parts do all spiders have?
• How many eyes do spiders have? 
• How are spiders different from insects?
• How do spiders make webs?
• Where can I find spiders?

More Fun Spider Activities for Kids To Try

If you’re looking for even more free spider activities to try with your preschoolers this year, check out some of my other favorite preschool spider crafts and free spider printables for kids:

Spider Web Hunt Printable

If you’re looking for another fun spider activity for kids to try this Halloween, you won’t want to miss this spider web hunt alphabet game. It’s a great way to incorporate letter recognition and fine motor skills while learning this Fall.

Easily slip these spider letter cards into a sensory bin or hang them around your classroom for added gross motor fun. Then have your students search for each letter and color it in on their worksheet. Isn’t it such a fun way to learn the alphabet?

What’s your favorite way to explore and learn about spiders with preschoolers? Know any interesting spider facts for preschoolers? Share your ideas in the comment section. I can’t wait to read them and teach them to my preschool learners too!

Halloween Activities for Kids

Need more Halloween activities for kids? Check out these fun Halloween activities and stay busy learning all season long!