We seem to have a great many spiders in our house and our daughter, who is otherwise a fan of creepy crawly critters, shrieks at the sight of them. When I came across the book I am highlighting this week, I thought it would either ease her arachnophobia a bit, or she'd refuse to hear it at all. Luckily she loved it.

Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks, author/illustrator, introduces a lovely spider who desperately wants to be a family pet.  This clever spider tries everything it can to impress it's desired family. She is a great dancer, she is very clean, she can even feed herself.  What more must a spider do?  The book is illustrated with bright, lively images, full of expression and charm and is a heartwarming read.

In honor of the book, and our upcoming Holiday, we decided to make creepy crawly spiders from egg cartons.  I thought they would make cute Halloween decorations. Our daughter, however, became immediately attached to them and insisted they were her pets (named Lucy, Jojo,and Spike). I even had to make flies from leftover chenille stems so her spiders would have something to eat.

To Make Your Spider Pet

You will need:

egg carton

black paint and brush

glue

black chenille stems

red construction paper

wiggle eyes

Paint the underside of a pulp egg carton black.  Once the paint is dry, cut out one cup for each spider you'd like to make.  Pierce four holes for legs on each side of the cup.  Insert a chenille stick in each hole and bend upward to shape the leg. Cut small circles from red construction paper and glue them onto the spider.  Then glue your wiggle eyes onto the red circles.  If you don't have wiggle eyes, you can make your own eyes with small cirlces of black and white paper.