Spider Web Shapes

What You Need:

• Construction or cardstock paper
• Plastic spiders with a flat bottom
• Paper straws of any color
• Glue
• Scissors
• Spiders and Their Webs worksheet (optional)
• Spider stickers (optional)

What You Do:

1. Help your child cut the straws so they are about 1-2 inches long. Make sure to have at least 35 pieces.
2. Create practice shapes with your child using the cut paper straws. For example, you can make triangles, rhombuses, or quadrilaterals.
3. Ask your child questions about the shapes they create, like: 
   • How many sides does this shape have? 
   • Is this a shape if the ends of the straws do not meet? (No, because shapes are closed figures.) 
   • How many points do the straws meet at in this shape? (Triangle = 3, Rectangle = 4)
4. Show your child a picture of a spider web and how the same shape repeats but gets larger as the web gets bigger. You can even watch about a minute of this cartoonish video that shows the way a spider makes a web.
5. Have your child choose a shape to repeat as they create their own spider web. They can choose whatever shape they would like, as long as it has straight sides like the sides of the straws.
6. Encourage your child to make a spider web with the straws by starting in the middle of the paper, creating a shape, and adding more shapes in a circular fashion. (Optional: your child can make a web the same way shown in the video.)
7. Have your child glue the pieces onto a sheet of paper as they add shapes.
8. Help your child glue the plastic spiders to the web. Additionally, feel free to add spider stickers.
9. Discuss with your child some of the features of the shapes used in the finished web. Ask questions like:

   • How many sides do the shapes have?

   • If you joined two shapes together, would it be the same shape or a different shape?

   • Would the spider web look the same if you used all different shapes in your web?

   • How is your web the same or different from a real spider web?

   • What other shapes can you use to create a new web?

You can continue your child’s learning by listening to the informative All About Spiders interactive reader. Work with your child to complete the Spiders and Their Webs worksheet, or let your child do it independently. Relate the facts your child learns from the worksheet, or the reader to their own spider web creation.

Helpful Hint: When the glue dries, plastic straws will not stick to the paper. It’s best to use paper straws.