Talk About It: Why Are Spiders Helpful?

The big idea: Spiders help us by catching bugs.

Spiders are helpers! Many spiders catch flies, mosquitoes and other bugs that eat our plants or bother us. Gardeners and farmers are happy to see them, because spiders keep pests away without any sprays. Spiders are not insects. They have eight legs and two body parts, and they spin silk to make webs.

Questions to ask

• "What do you think a spider eats?"

• "Why would a gardener be happy to see a spider?"

• "How many legs does a spider have? Let's count to eight."

• "Where have you seen a spider web? Outside? In a corner?"

Show it in one minute

Go on a web walk. Look for webs on fences, bushes and porch corners, especially in the morning when dew makes them sparkle. Remember the rule: we look with our eyes, not our hands. Spiders like their space too!

Keep it going

Draw a garden together and add a spider web in one corner. Then add the bugs the spider helped catch, and count them.

Want to learn more?

• Spiders: An Undeserved Bad Reputation, from Virginia Cooperative Extension

• Predatory Spiders, from University of Maryland Extension

• Spiders: Spooky or Cool? Teacher's Booklet, from the Maine Department of Agriculture

Shop these items

Find the books and supplies from this week in one place. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

• Today's book: Bear's Scare by Jacob Grant

• Shop everything for Week 7: Spiders

• Starter supplies: the basics we use most weeks

• See every week in our Amazon storefront

More for this week: see all our Spider activities, Letter G activities and Number 7 activities.