This Counting Spider Legs activity is an excellent way to help preschoolers practice their counting, number recognition, and fine motor skills. It's a fun and spooky activity that's perfect for Halloween or any time of the year!
What you need:
- Spider Legs pages
- Black clothespins*
- Scissors
*If you don't have black clothespins, you can color some wooden clothespins with a black sharpie or paint.
Cut Out the Spider Legs Pages
Once you have all the materials, it's time to cut out the spider legs pages. Using scissors, carefully cut out each spider from the page.
Read the Numbers and Count the Legs
After cutting out the spiders, it's time to give them legs! Each spider on the page will have a number. Read the number out loud to your preschooler or have them read it themselves. Then count the number of legs the spider should have and add a clothespin to the spider's body.
For example, if the spider has the number "4" on it, you'll need to add four clothespins to the spider's body, where the legs should be. This will help your preschooler practice their number recognition and counting skills.
Practice Fine Motor Skills
This activity is a great way to practice fine motor skills. Children need to be able to grip and manipulate the clothes pins, which helps to develop their fine motor skills. This can be especially helpful before they begin to write or draw. So, encourage your preschooler to use their thumb and pointer finger to open and close the clothespins. This will help develop their pincer grasp.
Even and Odd
Once your preschooler has mastered counting and adding clothespins to each spider, you can make this activity more challenging by talking about even and odd numbers.
What spiders have the same number of legs on both sides? These are even numbers.
What spiders don't have the same number of legs on both sides? These are odd numbers.
Talk about different situations, like sharing french fries, candy, or carrot sticks.
You can ask them to group the spiders that have even and odd numbers, which will help them practice their sorting and categorizing skills.
Math
You don't have to go into depthwith this and many preschoolers won't be ready for math but you can point out that you can make a basic math problem with the spiders.
If you have a spider with 5 legs, 2 on one side and 3 on the other, you can say, 2+3=5. Start with the lower numbers and work your way up.
Remember to make it fun and interactive and encourage your preschooler to ask questions.
Happy counting!
Xx Jeni
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