Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Two

Today, make paper plates spiders. Let the students make their spiders as “wild and wooly” as they would like by choosing different colors of paint. You can precut black legs by cutting strips of construction paper…a paper cutter (guillotine) is the best way to do a large supply of these. Give each child eight legs, of course, plus a paper plate and cutout eyes and mouth (the object here is to look cute and silly, not realistic!). Let them use their Boardmaker symbols to request the color of paint that they would like to use, as well as using their PECS to request the tools that they need to complete their project. Have them paint their paper plate and glue on the legs and facial features. It sounds simple, but you will truly get some unique renditions of a spider! Remember; don’t direct the students to put their spider body parts in certain places. It’s important that each child’s art is his or her own, not yours! For students who have physical disabilities, this is a little more difficult as they usually do require hand-over-hand assistance, but my motto in doing art with my students has always been “let the chips fall where they may.” You will be amused by all the adorable, if slightly wonky, results that you will get!

For science today, bring in a large toy spider, as realistic as you can find. If you can get more than one, that’s even better. Pass the spiders around in a shoe box with a hole cut in the top that is large enough for a child’s hand to fit through; have the students reach into the box and try to guess what’s inside. Once they have all had a chance, take off the top to reveal your creepy-crawly friend. Have the students count the legs and examine the spider. Talk about his different body parts and the way that he looks. If you can obtain a hanging web, you could put a spider in the web for students to look at throughout the day. Show pictures of some of the things that spiders eat (you can read a book about them if you would like). Have the students cut out pictures of spiders and make a spider collage; this also addresses fine motor skills.