In our Creepy Crawlies class this month we talked about the differences between insects and spiders. Spiders are not insects, they are in a group of invertebrates called arachnids and have eight legs and two body parts versus an insects’ six legs and three body parts.

This month, you can try to preserve a spider web. Explain to your child that a web isn’t really a home for a spider, it usually acts as a trap for catching small insects that the spiders eat. Not all spiders spin webs and webs can vary greatly. The most familiar in this area are the orb webs made by garden spiders, which you can find on fences, window frames and on garden plants.

Preserve a web (first checking by tapping gently on the web that it is unoccupied!) by mounting them on black paper that has been sprayed with hairspray. Place the paper in a cardboard box before spraying it to protect the area around you from the spray. Work quickly because the hairspray needs to be slightly tacky. If you want the strands of the web to stand out, sprinkle them first with talcum powder. Spray the paper with a protective coating once you get home.