Pre-K Spiders Science Unit: an Animal Study

How do we feel about spiders? Are you “Team Spiders Are So Helpful, I Love Them!” or “Team Get Them Away From Me!”? Whichever team you’re on, bring science to life with this Pre-k Spiders Science Unit Study! Fun for students with a spider life cycle worksheet, activities, & more!

No matter how you feel about REAL spiders, you’re guaranteed to LOVE everything about this Pre-K Spiders Science Unit and engaging little learners in animal studies. Share this unit during Halloween season in October to make it extra fun!

Fall and October are the perfect time for science; it’s nice enough outside to make real-life connections to your studies. Plus, Halloween is the best time to engage students in exploration and interactive lessons like this spiders science unit.

If you’re looking for other fall fun, you can check out our 21 Stem Ideas for fall or our other science units on bats and pumpkins! You can get all of these units and SO much more as part of our Endless Science {Growing} MEGA Bundle for Pre-K! And if you want even more spiders, I love incorporating these spider counting mats into my math center and using little plastic spiders for the kids to count with. This spider counting activity with cooked spaghetti is also super fun for the kids!

Pre-K Spiders Science Unit and Activities

With a week-long lesson plan, our Spiders Science Unit needs very little prep and is appropriate for learners at the preschool level all the way through first grade. 

In this Spiders science unit for our youngest learners, you’ll have everything you need to teach an engaging, hands-on, science unit study. Students will learn about the spider life cycle, the parts of a spider, and so many fun facts of these creepy, crawly creatures in this spiders unit study.

Our science units come packed full of everything you could possibly need to teach a successful unit. Not only does this unit come with spider projects, spider crafts, and everything else you need to help your students with the study of spiders, but it also comes with tons of teacher resources, just for you!

Inside you’ll find: 

This study of spiders for prek learners is jam-packed full of resources for teaching and learning all about spiders. The unit includes:

• Unit Overview covering all that is included in the unit
• Lesson Plans for the week
• At-Home Letter to send to families
• Teacher Guide to give you all of the background knowledge you need
• Science Center Ideas
• Science Questions to help you lead discussions throughout the unit
• Book, Video, and Song Lists 
• Spider Facts Powerpoint and Posters
• Spider Nonfiction Emergent Reader
• Question of the Week to engage students and pique their interest at the start of the unit
• Parts of a Spider Posters 
• Parts of a Spider Worksheets
• Spider Life Cycle Posters
• Spider Life Cycle Worksheet/Hat
• Spider Fingerplay
• Spider Web Stem Challenge
• Marble Spider Web Craft

Plus all of these bonus materials too!

• Writing Center Cards and Papers
• Spiders Facts or Animal Research Craft
• Definition Posters
• Types of Spiders Posters
• Word Wall
• Positional Words Emergent Reader
• Spider Bingo Game
• Spider Math Center Games
• Circle Maps
• Glitter Spider Web Craft

Materials needed for the Spiders Science Unit: 

We know how valuable your time is, so we always try to base the activities in our units on what you might already have hanging around the classroom or at home. You’ll find more materials listed within the unit depending on which crafts and projects you choose to complete! Some of the materials you will need to prepare for the Spiders Science Unit:

• Copy Paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Coloring Tools
• Construction paper
• Paint 
• Marbles

Using the Pre-K Spiders Science Unit: an Animal Study

Once you have purchased and downloaded the Pre-K Spiders Science Unit, we recommend printing the posters on cardstock and laminating them so you can use them year after year. There are multiple activities, crafts, and projects included in this science unit, meaning preparation will vary depending on what you choose to do with your students! First, check out some of the teacher resources that come in this unit.

Spiders Unit Overview

Our unit overview shows you a small glimpse of EVERYTHING that comes in your Pre-K Spiders Science Unit with suggestions on when and how to use each resource.

Spiders Science Unit Study Lesson Plans

These week-long lesson plans provide you with an outline of when and how to use all of the materials in this unit. The lesson plans are merely a suggestion to help you get started since we know that everyone fits science into their school day or week differently. Simply pick and choose what is best for you and your students using the lesson plans and the provided unit overview.

Spiders Science Unit Home Letter

Parents love knowing what their child is learning about at school and students love to share with their families! Use this provided home letter to print (they come two-to-a-page,) cut, and send home with your students to clue families into the latest happenings in science.

Teacher Guide for Pre-K Spiders Science Unit

Do you already know everything there is to know about spiders? Yeah…me neither! That’s why each one of our science units comes with a teacher guide! Our Spider Teacher Guide is filled with facts and information about spiders to get you up to speed before you start to teach the unit to your students. Plus, it’s always good to have extra fun facts for those kids that will want to know everything and more about spiders.

Science Center Ideas and Science Questions

If you’re like me, you probably struggle to make sure that you are constantly changing out materials to keep your science center engaging for your students. Use our suggested ideas and questions to make an interactive center that perfectly correlates with the Spiders Science Unit! Plus, we provide you with curated lists of questions to spark discussion, creativity, and critical thinking in your littlest learners. You can use questions from our Spiders-specific questions list and/or our general “Science Talk” questions list.

Collections of Spider Songs, Videos, and Books

In your download, you’ll receive curated lists of songs, videos, and books that can be used with your students throughout the science unit. You can pull from these lists anytime you need to start a new lesson, fill some time, or transition to another activity! Best of all, the lists are clickable and take you right to the link to watch, listen, or purchase the book.

Spider Facts PowerPoint and Posters

Our Spider Facts PowerPoint can be displayed on your screen/board. Also included are the Spider Facts Posters that match the PowerPoint and can be printed, laminated, displayed, and saved for years to come. Students will love learning all of these fun facts about spiders. And don’t forget, if you need some more background knowledge or have kids that want to know even more about these 8-legged creatures, make sure to check out the teacher guide in the unit for more information!

Nonfiction Spiders Emergent Reader

After introducing spiders to your students with the Spider Facts PowerPoint and Posters, use this “What can a Spider Do?” emergent reader to help students identify the most important facts about spiders. Filled with real-life pictures, this emergent reader can be used in whole-group or small-group settings and is perfect to place in your reading center for students to explore on their own. Kids love taking their spider emergent readers home to read to their family.

Parts of a Spider Posters and Worksheets

Teach students all about the different parts of a spider with these posters and worksheets. The posters include both real-life and clipart options and come with matching labeling worksheets, plus fun glyphs to have students review the parts of a spider while also practicing their listening skills!

Spider Life Cycle Posters

These posters are perfect for teaching your young students all about the life cycle of a spider. With real-life and clipart options you can use the different stage definition cards to have students put the life cycle in order after reviewing the posters that show the entire cycle. Students will especially love getting to make a fun hat to show what they know after learning about the spider life cycle. Our kids love building their hats from this spider life cycle worksheet.

Spider Fingerplay and Question of the Week

Our youngest learners love songs and rhymes! This spider fingerplay will have your students singing, dancing, and smiling each time you do it! I love to use fingerplays as transitions throughout the day after the kids get the hang of them. With your Spiders science unit download you’ll also receive a Question of the Week header. I love to start every unit off with a question that piques the interest and curiosity of my students. The kids also love to go home and ask the same question to their families and report back the next day. The question of the week is a great discussion starter and can also be a good way to tie in graphing!

Marble Spider Web Craft

Using a marble with paint is one of the oldest tricks in the book! But have you ever done it with the intent to create a spider web painting? I love this craft because it can be pretty much mess-free and is so simple to do! I like to do it with a few students at a time at my table while the other students work in their centers.

Spider Web STEM Challenge

After learning about spiders all week, give students a chance to explore and create on their own with this STEM challenge. Using materials like dental floss, kidney beans, and clear tape, students will try to make a spider web that can hold an “insect,” or in this case, a bean! Students can work individually, in partners, or in small groups to complete the challenge.

Definition Posters

When teaching a new subject, it’s important for students to gain an understanding of the different vocabulary words that they’ll be hearing throughout the unit. Use these definition posters to teach students the simplified definitions of some spider-related words that you’ll be referring to during the week. With real-life photos, these posters are one of the first things added to my “print, laminate, and save” pile! 

Word Wall Cards

And speaking of vocabulary, I love displaying the words that we’ll be using while discussing spiders in different places around the classroom. These word wall cards are perfect for doing just that! Stick them on the board, in a pocket chart, or on a ring and allow students to review and familiarize themselves with them.

Spider Facts or Animal Research Craft

If you are looking to dive a little deeper when it comes to spider crafts, then this Spider Facts or Research Craft is for you! Use our provided template and directions to help students create this adorable spiders project. Then, if you have students that need a bit more of a challenge, you can use one of the spider facts or spider research options for students to add to their craft. With several different options, this project has a little something for everyone!

Positional Words Emergent Reader

I love to use emergent readers in my small groups, and if they are related to other skills and topics that we are learning then it’s a double win for me! This Positional Words Spider Emergent Reader will have students practicing reading while also displaying their knowledge of the words “on,” “in,” “under,” and “over.” Students can either glue one of the provided paper spiders on each page or draw their own. 

Glitter Spider Web Craft

With our preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students, we are always looking for ways to sneak in fine motor practice! Using the provided spider web template or drawing your own, students can trace a spider web with glue and shake glitter over it while it’s still wet. The end result is stunning, sparkly spider webs that will make a great bulletin board or Halloween decoration for home!

Spider and Spider Facts Circle Maps

Have you ever used circle maps with your students? They’re a type of graphic organizer and can be used with drawings or words. I love to make one as a whole group at the start of the unit and then again at the end to see how much the kids have learned. They are also great for your older students to use as a starting point when collecting facts and information about spiders.

Spider Math Center Activities 

Quick! Get the laminator or the page protectors and make a few copies of these easy, almost no-prep, math centers that go along perfectly with the Pre-K Spiders Science Unit. Students will love seeing what they’re learning about in science being represented in other aspects of their day, and you’ll love getting to break out the plastic spiders, spider rings, mini erasers, and/or googly eyes! These centers will be a hit in October!

Writing Center Cards and Paper

After purchasing the unit, you’ll find writing materials to place in a center throughout the week-long unit or to even use as a whole group activity. You’ll receive horizontal and vertical papers with and without lines, plus writing cards in both lower and uppercase letters, with pictures so that your young students can identify the words. This is a great way to spark creativity and practice vocabulary and I love to see the drawings and stories (verbal or written) that they come up with!

Spider Bingo Game

Bingo in the classroom is so fun! Use this bingo game, available in color and black & white, as a fun Friday activity, a way to culminate the unit, or even as a Halloween party game! Bingo is also easy to have a parent volunteer come in and run. I love to use counters as the pieces to cover up the pictures on the bingo cards, but lots of people use paper or anything else they have on hand. It may even be the perfect use for those little mini-erasers that we all love to buy so much!

Types of Spiders Posters

As a bonus, we threw in these different types of spiders posters because we just KNOW there will be kids in your class that want to see these creepy creatures up close! Another great thing to print, laminate, and save for the following year just like the other posters. 

Download the Pre-K Spiders Science Unit Now!

If you think this is the perfect hands-on science unit for your elementary classroom, purchase now and it will be emailed INSTANTLY!  Grab it from one of our stores: 

A Dab of Glue Will Do Store 

A Dab of Glue Will Do Teachers Pay Teachers 

Your students will soon be spider experts after learning all about them! They may very well be on “Team I Love Spiders!” after this!