This printable spider craft is a fun way to teach students the math skill of decomposing numbers. Plus, it makes an adorable Halloween bulletin board display. Read on to learn more!
Decomposing numbers is a fundamental math skill where students learn how to break down numbers into their parts. This printable spider craft is a great way to help younger kids visualize the number 8 and its parts! Kindergarten teachers will especially love using this free printable template to teach this skill.
In addition to decomposing numbers, young children will practice scissor skills as they cut out the different craft pieces to create the spider’s body. Little hands will also develop their fine motor skills with this fun Halloween craft.
Easy Spider Craft Materials
Kids of all ages will enjoy making a Halloween spider craft! Before you get started here are a few of the materials you will need. Affiliate links are included for easy shopping, or you probably already have many of these items in your classroom already!
- Decomposing Number 8 Spider Craft Free Template
- Googly eyes
- Glue stick
- Black paper
- Red paper
- Yellow paper
- White paper
- Spider’s web for display
Spider Body
First. students will create the body of the spider. Simply cut a circle out of black paper to create the spider’s body. You could also paint a paper plate with black washable paint too!
All of the template pieces are available in this product, Decomposing Number 8 Spider Craft.
Spider Legs
You will need two different colors of paper for the spider legs. For best results, I recommend using red and yellow paper to coordinate with the two-sided math counters that are often used to teach this math skill. Students will need a total of 8 spider legs, some of them should be red and some of them should be yellow. Here are all of the different spider leg combinations that students may create:
- 8 yellow legs, 0 red legs
- 7 yellow legs, 1 red leg
- 6 yellow legs, 2 red legs
- 5 yellow legs, 3 red legs
- 4 yellow legs, 4 red legs
- 4 yellow legs, 4 red legs
- 3 yellow legs, 5 red legs
- 2 yellow legs, 6 red legs
- 1 yellow leg, 7 red legs
- 0 yellow legs, 8 red legs
I recommend having young children create the number 8 in different ways using two-sided math counters first. That way they can understand all of the different ways to create the number 8.
Students will use a glue stick to glue the legs to the back of the spider.
Part-Part Whole Mat
A part-part-whole mat can also be glued onto these fun spider crafts and this reinforces number writing.
Simply use the free template included inside the Decomposing Number 8 Spider Craft. A black and white and colored option is included to print on white paper.
Students will write the number of red legs and the number of yellow legs that their spider has as well as the total number of legs. This will reinforce the math skill of decomposing numbers.
If your students are still learning about the numbers 1-10, check out this post: Printable Activities for Numbers 1-10.
Spider Eyes and Smile
Finally, these cute spider crafts will need eyes and a smile. If you are using my template pieces, spider eyes, and a smile are included! Just print the spider eyes on white paper and the spider smiles on red paper.
If not, you can use googly eyes on the paper spiders and create a red mouth using paper or pipe cleaners.
Glue the eyes and smile onto the spider’s body using a glue stick.
Printable Spider Craft Display
After students have created their cute spider crafts, it’s time to display them!
It’s easy to find large spider webs this time of year at dollar stores or grocery stores. They are inexpensive and look great on a bulletin board or classroom door. Students can even draw their own spider web on black paper to display their craft.
You can also add other Halloween crafts, fun facts about spiders, or a short summary of what you are learning to the display.
More Halloween Printables:
Halloween is a fun time of year for young children! Here are a few other fun Halloween printables that kids of all ages will enjoy:
Halloween Pocket Chart Activities
Halloween Count and Write the Room
Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Learning Activities
Free Printable Spider Templates
In conclusion, this printable spider craft is a great educational activity to help students understand the number 8. With all of the simple craft pieces available for free, why wait? Download this printable spider craft template today, gather your materials, and have so much fun teaching this lesson to your students!