Spiders!

I love the Eency Weency Spider in all it's versions! I needed a cute interactive spider set to go with this theme.  Here's a set of rainbow spiders and a rainbow spiderweb I made a few years ago. I used the variegated yarn from Walmart and some white pipe cleaners to make my web. I put a dab of hot glue at each joint and a piece of velcro to hold the web on the board. The colorful spiders are a diecut. I cut 4 of each color. Unfortunately, their legs are a little thin and sometimes a spider loses one in the hands of an enthusiastic toddler. LOL! I made up a rhyme to use with the set, Rainbow Spiderweb.

Here's a cute, paper plate craft for a Home Extension. I bought the black plates at the Dollar store and we cut crepe paper strips for the legs. We used paper hole reinforcers for the eyes and cut out the mouth for some spidery fun! We also added a long string so that the kiddos could make their spider jump and dance! Rainbow spiders can be a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

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That 'Bugs' Me!

Springtime is upon us! at last!! This year I'm even glad to see the bugs that come with it. LOL!  As part of our emphasis on ECRR, I made a set of letters to introduce our buggy theme. There are so many great picture books to use with a bug theme; I Love Bugs! by Emma Dodd; and another good one is Philemon Sturges' I Love Bugs!; or In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming. For the toddler/2 yr. old set we are using a popup book, Big Bug, Little Bug by Paul Stickland. 
I have a file folder rhyming riddle to use that I posted last year, The Lovely Ladybug. I have another set that was inspired by Mrs. Andre's Library blog. It's a cute little rhyme by Jean Warren @ Preschool Express; 'Four Little Bugs'. I tweaked the ending a little. Instead of the last 2 lines "They got stuck, all in a bunch. And along came spider, in time for lunch!"  I changed it to "then came a spider with berries to munch, So they all sat down and had some lunch!"   I used Google images for all the pieces, laminated them and added a small piece of velcro to the back and the center front of the web for the fruit. I put the velcro at the tail end of the bugs so that it would look as if they were on the web.  Bugs are a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime!    

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Eeek! A Spider!

We're beginning to plan for the fall and of course that means...Halloween! When I think of Halloween I think of creepy things and one of those creepy things is...duh, duh, duh...Spiders!  I have some not-so-creepy spiders that I like to use with the younger, easily creeped-out kiddos at storytime. I have a 5 whats-it rhyme that I adapted from Preschool Express. Jean Warren had written it as Three Little Spiders.  I used some flannel pieces from other sets along with my ADORABLE little spiders. I placed the *item and made one of the spiders fall with each verse. I added back the spiders for the last verse.   I also changed the last line to be a Happy Halloween rhyme.  You can see that some of my * items didn't match the rhyme...but I'm making some more pieces that will!...or, you can just name the *items that you have.  Either way...Fun is about to happen!!

Five Little Spiders

by Jean Warren (adapted by Kathryn Roach)

Five little spiders climbing up the wall.

Along came a *grey squirrel and made one spider fall. 

Four little spiders climbing up the wall.

Along came a * little mouse  and made one spider fall.

Three little spiders climbing up the wall.

Along came a * hoot owl  and made one spider fall.

Two little spiders climbing up the wall.

Along came a * black cat  and made one spider fall.

One little spider climbing up the wall.

Along came a * Jack-o-lantern  and made one spider fall.

Five little spiders landed on the ground.

They said, "Happy Halloween!" and then didn't make a sound. (shhhhh)

Sorry for the quality of the pics. The spider's legs are made of metallic pipe cleaners. I used google eyes and half of a large circle sequin for the mouth.  I sandwiched the legs between two ovals with a LOT of glue!  These guys make me Happy!