I read the following books from this month’s list as the basis of the activities below.
The Spider Lady: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid World War II Army
by Penny Parker Klostermann, illustrated by Anne Lambelet
Have you ever heard of the woman who harvested spider silk to help U.S. efforts during WWII? I hadn’t until I read The Spider Lady. This book explores how Nan Songer developed a fascination of spiders. It then follows her path to delivering spider silk that was used for the crosshairs in many different military devices.
The Secret World of Spiderwebs
by Jan Beccaloni, illustrated by Namasri Niumim
To learn how different spiders use webs, read The Secret World of Spiderwebs. Using impressive illustrations, this book provides detailed descriptions of how spiders spin their webs. This includes both the architecture of the various webs and the biomechanics needed to spin them. The spiders in the book come from a wide variety of locations around the world.
Spiders: We’re Not Scary, We’re Amazing
by Ruth Owen
Like the previous book, Spiders: We’re Not Scary, We’re Amazing covers a wide variety of spiders from around the world. This book provides lots of information, fun facts, and amazing photos of spiders. It also includes some thoughts on where the fear of spiders comes from.
As with every other month, there are many different activities that would pair well with these books. Here are a few.
Spin Some Webs
When people think of spiders, their first thoughts are often of spider webs. In fact, several of the books I read focused on spiders’ webs. There are some great activities surrounding spider webs, ranging from art projects to engineering challenges. Here are links to some activities you may want to try.
Spider Web Engineering Challenge lesson plans from Georgia Youth Science & Technology Centers: https://gystc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Spider-Web-Engineering-STEM-Challenge-Lesson-Plan.pdf
Designing Like a Spider activity guide from Hofstra’s Center for STEM Research: https://www.hofstracsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Designing_Like_a_Spider_Activity_Guide.pdf
How to draw a spider web: https://artprojectsforkids.org/drawing-spiderwebs
Watercolor spider web art:
- https://letslassothemoon.com/spider-web-art-project
- https://virtualbgc.org/halloween-art-project-wax-resist-spider-web-painting
Search for Spiders
One of the best ways to learn about the natural world is to see it for yourself. I’ve encountered many different spiders as I wander around my native plant-filled backyard. Here are some resources to use, preferably in a naturalized area like an outdoor classroom.
Spider Web Scavenger Hunt: https://www.primarythemepark.com/2017/09/spider-web-scavenger-hunt
This activity guide from the Lawrence Hall of Science in California is great to use while searching for spiders: https://lawrencehallofscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Spider-Exploration-1.pdf
Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources has this great collection of spider activities for a variety of ages: https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Documents/Learn-at-Home_SpiderActivities.pdf
(If you don’t have an outdoor classroom, here’s a guide that helps with creating one: https://npsnj.org/native-plants/schoolguide – while designed for New Jersey, it can be modified based on your location.)
Create a Food Web
Create a food web around a local spider. This will require a fair amount of research. Review how to evaluate sources to determine whether or not they are trustworthy.
First, find a spider that is local to your area. Here are some resource ideas for finding a local spider:
- Use a spider seen in the wild.
- Use iNaturalist – enter your zip code and filter on arachnids. This will show you sightings from your location.
- Search for your location on this website: https://spideridentifications.com. A search for New York took me to this page: https://spideridentifications.com/spiders-in-us/spiders-in-new-york – you can see other states listed on the right
List several things your spider eats. You may be able to find this information on the Animal Diversity Web – https://animaldiversity.org – or you may need to search for other sources.
When searching for information about species, it’s best to use the scientific name as several species may share a common name. For instance to search for information regarding the grayish jumping spider I saw in my yard (you can see this on iNaturalist), I would search for “Phidippus princeps.” This page from Bugs With Mike, an enthusiastic amateur entomologist, provides lots of information and includes additional sources: https://bugswithmike.com/guide/arthropoda/chelicerata/arachnida/araneae/araneomorphae/salticidae/phidippus/princeps
For each thing your spider eats, try to determine at least one thing it eats.
List a few species that prey on your spider species. (This might include other spiders. Some spider species will eat other spiders within their own species.)
Lay out this information on a piece of paper using drawn or printed images for each of the species identified. You can see an example food web here: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-a-food-web.html. The Alabama Wildlife Federation has a food web activity and presentation here: https://alabamawildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/uploadedFiles/File/OC_Field_Investigation-Create_a_Food_Web_Interactive_PowerPoint.pdf
Compare Spider Sizes
The size of spiders varies widely. Peacock spiders (a type of jumping spider) can fit on a person’s fingernail. The goliath bird-eating tarantula is about the size of a dinner plate.
Create a visual that shows how different spiders’ sizes compare.
Where in the World
The spiders covered in the books are from all over the world. Print out a world map. Pick out some of your favorite spiders from the books and color in the different areas where those spiders are found. Use a different color or other visual representation for each spider.
Janet Slingerland has written over 2 dozen books for young readers. To find out more about Janet and her books, check out her website: http://janetsbooks.com
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