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A very busy spider web

This week we are Bug crazy as part of Week 1 of the Virtual Book Club Summer Camp – if you are Instgram you can check out some of the other fun activities that we are doing as we share throughout the day. I’m very excited to share this fun activity with you to go with the book The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

Don’t worry if you haven’t signed up for the Virtual Book Club Summer Camp you still can it’s fine to work at your own pace over the summer but we will be sharing the ideas every week for the next 4 weeks on different topics.

On to our activity to go with the book The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. We’re getting you active and very busy like the spider making your own spider’s web.

What you need to make your own Very Busy Spider Web

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

Yarn (50g ball or more)

How you make you own Very Busy Spider Web

We started off by reading The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle and then went on a web hunt in the garden.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

Complete with a bug finder to look at the spiders we found in more detail we found spider’s webs and spiders and then we got to make our giant very busy spider web.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

This is spider web making on a grand scale – we used 4 anchor points out in the garden our garden chairs but you could use what ever you have to hand and put them out at 4 corners just like the posts on the fence in the book. I tied the yarn around one of the legs of the chair and J and T set off going backwards and forwards between the legs spinning their web.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

With a toddler and a preschooler they needed some direction on where to go next but were soon into the swing of things. Once the spokes were done it’s time to spin the spiral going over and under each spoke in an ever increasing spiral from the centre point of the web.

The Very Busy Spider

With a spider’s web on this scale there is lots of jumping over the web and/or crawling under forming your own mini spider’s web obstacle course as you go.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

Once had our spiders web made we played Spider and the Fly with J being a spider and T being a fly being caught in the web and the reversing the roles.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Inspired by this Eric Carle book based activity then check out more Eric Carle books that we recommend for Toddlers and Preschoolers.

There was a lot of fun to be had being caught in the web and captured by the spider.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

I’m the last stop this week for Virtual Book Club Summer Camp but if you want to keep up to date on all of our Virtual Book Club activities, make sure you check your email activity planner or stop by our Virtual Book Club Summer Camp page or VBC Summer Camp Pinterest Board.

Check out the week’s activities so far

Some Fizzing Caterpillar Science over on Toddler Approved from Tuesday

Some Grouchy Ladybug Crafts and Activities over on The Educators’ Spin On It from Wednesday.

More Spider Themed Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Incy wincy Spider Sensory bin for toddlers
Incy Wincy Spider Themed Sensory Bin
Spider Web construction with straws and play dough a fun preschool engineering project
STEM Spiderweb construction

Although not inspired by The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle this Incy Wincy Spider Sensory Box is great to do alongside the activity – watch that rain go down the spout and the sun come up.

Make spider webs on a much smaller scare with our STEM Spider Web Challenge for tots.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Author
Cerys Parker

Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.

5 Comments

  1. The spider web is fantastic and I think it would be great at a Halloween party.

  2. I love this idea, thanks for sharing! We have the book already and a free afternoon so I know what we’ll be doing 🙂

  3. I used to play such a game, not exactly this way, but it was so hilarious and fun. And cobwebbing is a cool opportunity for kids to develop their fine motor skills and the brain. And I guess adults can develop their brain as well, because it’s not so easy to make it for the first time. Thank you for the idea!

  4. Love it. Just picked up this book from the library, thank you for the idea.

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