For our two year olds, I used large spiders. For the three year olds that share our classroom (they meet on alternate days), we had small spider rings. Do your toddlers and preschoolers love the fingerplay The Itsy Bitsy Spider? If so, they will love acting it out at the block center with a real drain spout and lots of pretend spiders! Add blocks and other building materials and it will become a popular area during your centers time. When I moved up to this classroom eight years ago, I acquired a train table that someone was going to give away. What I didn’t realize at the time was how much we’d use this table, and not just for trains! In fact, we use it more with other materials than we do trains and I cannot imagine our block area without it.
The Itsy Bitsy Spider Block Center
Before I get started, I first must share how this all came to be. Many years ago, as I was wandering the aisles at The Home Depot, I saw the rain gutters and drain spouts and – like a true early childhood education teacher – thought about how we could use them in our classroom. We’d already had years of experience with rain gutters, as we used them for cars outside. But a drain spout? Somehow The Itsy Bitsy Spider came to mind and, of course, I had to give it a try. I first used it in our sensory bin, which you can read about here: The Itsy Bitsy Spider Sensory Bin And then a few years ago I moved it to the block area where it was even more popular. That’s what this post is about, and I have photos from a couple of different years, so the placement of things might be a bit different depending on the photo. But basically we used:
Supplies
Shortened drain spout, taped to a large see-through block for durability Spider web placemats Assorted spiders Orange blocks Bug tongs Containers
Plus, it’s just fun! This seemed to be the challenge that many of the children loved. And yes, we had a couple of blockages because of that, but we figure it out! We don’t limit how many children can be at most of our centers and it’s amazing how they can figure out how to make room for another friend, or decide it’s too crowded and come back later. Other spider activities:
Spider Cutting Cards Tape Resist Spider Web Golf Ball Painted Spider Webs Itsy Bitsy Spider Puppet Spider Counting Cards Egg Carton Spider Craft
If you just want the spider props that the children can hold, I have them here on the blog. If you would like the entire set (spiders, spout, rain, sun), it’s in this packet: Song and Rhyme Props Vol. 1.
Here is my Privacy Policy
