Montessori-Inspired Spider Math Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now 

Many young children are frightened of spiders ... and many young children love spiders. Spider activities can be helpful in either case. Of course, Halloween is another good reason for spider activities. 

So, today, I'm sharing ideas for free spider printables and Montessori-inspired spider math activities. I had a post here in 2013 with Montessori-inspired spider activities using free printables. I couldn't resist adding some more spider activities today except with the focus specifically on spider math activities. And I have a post at Living Montessori Now with free spider printables. 

You'll find many activities for preschoolers through first graders throughout the year along with presentation ideas in my previous posts at PreK + K Sharing. You'll also find ideas for using free printables to create activity trays here: How to Use Printables to Create Montessori-Inspired Activities. 

At Living Montessori Now, I have a post with resource links of Free Printables for Montessori Homeschools and Preschools.  

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.  

My Spider Counting Book Free Printable: Spider Counting Book from Fun-a-Day 

My Spider Book (Image from Fun-a-Day)

For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray, washable stamp pad, and Crayola Twistables for drawing the spider legs. Use a stapler or whatever form of binding you like to make a book. 

Younger children could just make one page if they prefer. This printable is simply cute ... and so are the fingerprint spiders. So this is a great activity for young children with a fear of spiders.


Spider Counting and Transferring Activity

  Free Printable: Spider Numbers (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber) 

For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray, plastic spiders, toast tongs, and Bambu large condiment cup to hold the spiders. There are 72 spiders in the package, so there are plenty for this and the DIY spider cards and counters. 

This activity works well for younger children who are working on counting and transferring skills. Just choose one number and the corresponding number of spiders. 

 

My 2¾-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, loves transferring objects with tools like toast tongs. She thought this was lots of fun. 

For our floor work, we always use a Montessori Services hemmed work rug. 

DIY Spider Cards and Counters Free Printable: Spider Numbers (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber) 

For this activity, I used a a Multicraft tray, 55 plastic spiders, and a Melissa & Doug wooden box to hold the spiders. 


 

I like to lay out my numbers and counters in the traditional Montessori way of rows of two counters with a left-over counter centered below the bottom row. This gives a visual impression of odd and even. For more about creating DIY numbers and counters and a link on how to present the lesson, check out my DIY Cards and Counters post.  

Spider Web Lacing 1-25 Free Printable: Spider Web Lacing 1-25 from Making Learning Fun 

For this activity, I used a bamboo plate holder and black yarn (7" x 25 plus a bit more). One of the plastic spiders could be added to the finished web. 

This is an advanced lacing activity but very cool!  

Spider Skip Counting Puzzles

  
Free Printable: Spider Skip Counting Puzzles by Kim from Life Over C’s at Creative Family Fun 

For this activity, I used a pencil box to hold the puzzle. There are a variety of puzzles in the pack, so pick the level appropriate for your child or students.  

Roll and Draw Spiders Game Free Printable: Printable Roll and Draw Spiders Game from Childhood 101 

I like that this is a mixture of math, science, and drawing. I think this would make a nice multi-age cooperative game by having one game board where the younger children can count the dots and older children can draw the spiders.  

Spider-Themed Puzzles for 2-Digit Addition Free Printable: Spider-Themed Puzzles for Double Digit Addition from Life Over C’s 

For this activity, I used a multicraft tray, piece of felt, golden beads from Alison's Montessori (you could use the tens and colored bead bars if you prefer), a Montessori Services basket to hold the tens, and a smaller container I have for the ones.

  

(Note: The layout doesn't show the step of putting the tens and ones together to find the total.) I would have the child complete the puzzle after adding the beads as a control of error (way to check the work).

More Free Spider Printables

Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free spider printables from around the blogosphere: Free Spider Printables and Montessori-Inspired Spider Math Activities. And be sure to subscribe to my email list if you'd like to get an exclusive free printable each month (plus two more awesome freebies right away): Free Printables.

Helpful Post with Animal Classification

Montessori Animal Classification

Halloween Posts at Living Montessori Now + Halloween Pinterest Board

• Montessori-Inspired Pumpkin Activities, Homeschool Halloween
• Montessori-Inspired Pumpkin Unit
• 25+ Montessori-Inspired Halloween Activities
• Halloween Grace and Courtesy, Montessori-Inspired Friendly Ghost Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Halloween Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Skeleton Activities
• Free Spider Printables and Montessori-Inspired Spider Activities
• 20 Pumpkin Phonics Activities
• Free Halloween Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time
• Halloween Activities for Montessori-Inspired Themes and Parties
• Montessori-Inspired Pumpkin Hammering for Toddlers
• 20+ Pumpkin Hammering Activities for Preschooler
• Free Skeleton Printables and Montessori-Inspired Skeleton Activities
• Kids’ Halloween Activities Pinterest Board

If you'd like to focus on manners with children, please check out my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy! It's written for anyone who'd like to feel comfortable teaching manners to children ages 2-12. I'm also one of the coauthors of the book Learn with Play – 150+ Activities for Year-round Fun & Learning!

Happy fall! :)

Deb Chitwood is a certified Montessori teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England. Deb taught in Montessori schools in Iowa and Arizona before becoming owner/director/teacher of her own Montessori school in South Dakota. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who lives in San Diego with her husband of 41 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and toddler granddaughter live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.