Spider Classroom Transformation

Ever had a spider visit your classroom? We did! This amazing and realistic spider skeleton stopped by for spider theme day and it was incredible! Our spider skeleton brought some webs, toy spiders, and a fun spider backdrop to share. My students loved learning about spider body parts by labeling our skeleton! Our spider visitor even left with a whole new look!

How to Transform Classroom

I have only done a couple classroom transformations in my first grade classroom, but I must say that student engagement is at an all time high on these days. My students ate up every minute and enjoyed all of the activities. I threw this classroom transformation in early October, but it could be done any time of year since we learn about animals and life cycles in our first grade curriculum. Special thanks to Oriental Trading Company for providing all of the items for our spider theme day for free! I was not paid to write this post, but I included links to products in case you want to purchase for your class. I hope you enjoy reading all about the fun we had during Spider Theme Day!

I wanted to kick off the day with an activity that would keep little hands busy while introducing them to the spider theme. So, as my students entered the classroom, they were greeted at their desks by these friendly jumping spiders. They were able to observe the spiders, count the body parts, and have a little fun before we dove into our day of learning.

I noticed a couple of my students were a little afraid of spiders, so we made this poster together. Each student placed a spider on the side of the chart that represented their choice.

Teach Students About Teamwork

You guys… I found my absolute favorite activity to teach my students about team work. Working as a team can be HARD, and this little activity taught the importance of team work in a big way. I gave each table group a ball of Stretchable Spider Webs. The goal of the activity was to work together to stretch this ball of cotton into a spider web that stretched evenly across the entire set of desks.

My students quickly learned that if one person pulled harder on the strand than the others, then the spider web would tear and become long strands.

It was the perfect message to drive home that all students must give equal contributions to their team in order to successfully complete a task.

After we finished our collaboration task, we inspected this GIANT spider that I received from Oriental Trading Company! It was so fun adding the labels to the body parts and looking at all the spider features.

Teach Math During Your Theme Day

We then broke into math workstations to complete these math worksheets from my Halloween Math Worksheet Pack. I loved throwing in some spider themed worksheets to match our theme for the day!

Teach Phonics During Your Theme Day

We also reviewed our cvc words using this Roll and Read CVC Worksheet. Each student rolls a die, reads the word, and places a counter on the word after it is read. Then, the student keeps rolling until all the words are read. Some students played in partners while other students played independently. Even though my Roll and Read Games are designed for use all year long, all I had to do was throw in some spider mini erasers to go with our spider theme day!

Spider Art During Your Theme Day

Nothing was more exciting for my littles than getting to bedazzle the spider at the end of the day. I filled paint palletes with washable tempura paint for my students to use to paint the spider. The paint went on so easily and made a huge statement.

Then, I gave my students liquid glue to use to add sequins, glitter, pom pom balls, and jewels to the spider skeleton. This was not a sight for sore eyes.

Teach Writing During Your Theme Day

To close out our incredibly fun spider theme day, I had my students write in their journals about what they would do if they were a spider for the day. I also gave an alternate choice where students could write about what they would do if they walked into class and found out that their teacher was a spider. This was a great activity for fast finishers, too.

Spider Theme Day Snacks

As if we hadn’t had enough fun already, I handed each student a “spider egg sack” (a.k.a. a powdered sugar donut hole) to eat as they exited our classroom. It was the perfect ending to an already fun day!

If you decide to do your theme day around Halloween, then check out this post: How To Survive Halloween as a Teacher

I hope you are feeling inspired to try out a classroom theme day in your own classroom! I love hearing about your classroom ideas, too! Send me a message on Instagram @theprimarybrain to share your own classroom victories and ideas!

This post may contain Amazon affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my affiliate links, which helps to support The Primary Brain blog. As always, I only recommend products that I love and all ideas shared are my own.

Written on October 29th, 2019 by Laurin Brainard