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Blue sky, yellow flowers, and a black and yellow spider on the cover of a curriculum about spectacular spiders.

NaturExplorers curriculum cover with example pages laid out.

Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 1 customer rating

Spectacular Spiders

$28.00

Spiders don’t have to be scary when you study them with confidence and curiosity! With nearly 30 guided nature walks and over 60 engaging indoor activities, this curriculum helps your family learn about spider webs, anatomy, behavior, and their important role in nature. Colorful notebooking pages make it easy to record discoveries and observations, while flexible lessons make it simple to teach with multiple ages.

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Spider Nature Study Doesn’t Have to Be Scary!

Whether spiders make your skin crawl or spark your curiosity, they’re some of the most important (and misunderstood) creatures in nature. Spectacular Spiders helps your family learn about them in a fun, hands-on way that builds understanding rather than fear.

Explore Spiders Safely on Nature Walks

With nearly 30 creative nature walk ideas, your family can discover spiders at your own comfort level.
You’ll:

Observe spider behavior in safe, natural settings
Identify spider webs and learn how they’re made
Discover the hidden habitats where spiders live
Notice how each species plays an important role in God’s creation

Whether your kids are eager explorers or a little spider-shy, these activities make it easy to enjoy meaningful outdoor science.

Engaging Indoor Lessons and Activities

When you come back inside, the learning continues with nearly 60 hands-on, kid-friendly lessons that make spider study exciting for every age.
Try fun, flexible ideas like:

Building 3D spider models
Setting up a simple, safe spider terrarium
Exploring arachnid anatomy and silk-spinning
Observing predator-prey relationships
Learning about spider defense mechanisms and life cycles

Each activity encourages scientific thinking and real-world observation without feeling overwhelming.

A Complete Learning Experience

Spectacular Spiders includes everything you need for a rich, adaptable unit study.
You’ll find:

17 colorful notebooking pages for nature journaling and reflection
Bible connections that point to God’s creative design in nature
Flexible lesson plans for all ages and learning styles
Opportunities for group or individual learning
A clear understanding of the difference between arachnids and insects

Perfect for homeschool families who love learning through nature!

Turn Fear into Fascination

Even if you’ve avoided spider study in the past, you’ll be amazed at how much fun this one becomes.
Children (and parents!) finish the lessons seeing spiders as fascinating helpers rather than frightening pests.

You’ll Love This Study If…

You want your children to see spiders as fascinating, not frightening
You’re looking for ready-to-go lessons that blend science and nature study
You appreciate a curriculum that’s easy to use with multiple ages
You’d like to include Biblical connections without heavy prep
You prefer meaningful, hands-on learning over worksheets
You’re ready to add excitement to your fall homeschool plans

Enjoy Spider Nature Study Today

Embrace the adventure of spider exploration with Spectacular Spiders!
Learning meets fascination, and fear transforms into appreciation—one web at a time.

Charter-Friendly	No
Format	PDF
Grade Level	1st-8th Grades
Is Printing Necessary?	Some
Suitable for Black and White Printing	Yes
Pages	59

Frequently Asked Questions

Inspirational literature suggestions
Background information for the parent or teacher concerning the main focus of the nature topic
An abundance of creative nature walks
Follow-up hands-on activity ideas
Writing and research ideas that encompass several subject areas
References for Bible study, artist study, composer study and poetry tie-ins
Child-friendly internet links and book lists for further study
Ideas for adapting the material for younger and older children, as well as ideas for groups of children
Several colorful, prepared notebooking pages
General nature study suggestions

The NaturExplorers series was written with 1st-8th graders in mind. The curriculum activities are adaptable for all ages, though; specific ideas are included for incorporating your older and younger students. We have personally used NaturExplorers with children from three to fifteen, with all ages (even adults) drawn in almost magically.

Yes! Most of the ideas can easily be used with groups of children—traditional classrooms, homeschool co-ops, summer camps, after-school programs, 4-H programs, and more. Additionally, there is a small section of ideas written specifically for groups.

Any homeschooler using any homeschooling style will find NaturExplorers guides useful. Charlotte Mason homeschoolers will love the ideas for tying in poetry, artist and composer studies, and the living literature lists to enhance learning. Those who use unit studies will be excited that most of what they need for a full unit study is already here. Unschoolers will appreciate the ability to implement ideas at just the right time easily. Project-based homeschoolers will be excited at many project ideas that meet many learning styles. Traditional and Classical homeschoolers can pull as little or as much from the ideas as they desire.

New homeschoolers and teachers will appreciate the thoroughly laid-out ideas, while veteran homeschoolers and teachers will be thankful that the ideas are already pulled together and ready to use.

It depends entirely on how you decide to use the curriculum. Since the guides are extremely flexible, you might spend a week, two weeks, a month, or more immersing your family in one topic – much like a unit study. If you need nature walk ideas, you might spend one month or one year on a single topic. Either way, you’ll have plenty of ideas to keep you busy!

The beauty of each study is its adaptability. You can pick one nature walk and put the book down, or take nature walks repeatedly focusing on the same nature topic and not run out of new ideas for a long time. The nature topic can be used as a full-fledged, science-based unit study if desired. Besides math and phonics, you will find ideas for virtually every other subject. Some of the guides even include a hands-on math idea or two!

No need to worry! The NaturExplorers curriculum is not dependent on the literature suggestions. You are free to find other books on the same topic or leave extra reading out completely.

This answer varies depending on the part of the world in which you live. A sample list provided below is most appropriate for those who enjoy each of the four seasons in their fullness. Keep an eye open in your area; you’ll soon see which topics are most appropriate during a particular season.

Spring

Animal Signs
Beautiful Birds
Captivating Clouds
Constant Conifers
Delightful Deciduous Trees
Everchanging Erosion
Frogs and Toads
A Fungus Among Us
Hard as a Rock
Incredible Creeks
Peaceful Ponds
Remarkable Rain
Wonderful Wildflowers
Nature Study Through the Holidays: Easter

Summer

Animal Signs
Beautiful Birds
Butterflies Flutter By
Captivating Clouds
Constant Conifers
Delightful Deciduous Trees
Everchanging Erosion
Flying Creatures of the Night
Frogs and Toads
Fruits and Nuts
Hard as a Rock
Incredible Creeks
Peaceful Ponds
Remarkable Rain
Spectacular Spiders
Wonderful Wildflowers

Autumn

Animal Signs
Beautiful Birds
Butterflies Flutter By
Captivating Clouds
Constant Conifers
Coping with the Cold
Delightful Deciduous Tres
Everchanging Erosion
Fruits and Nuts
A Fungus Among Us
Hard as a Rock
Incredible Creeks
Peaceful Ponds
Remarkable Rain
Spectacular Spiders
Wonderful Wildflowers
Nature Study Through the Holidays: Advent

Winter

Animal Signs
Beautiful Birds
Captivating Clouds
Constant Conifers
Coping with the Cold
Delightful Deciduous Trees
Everchanging Erosion
Hard as a Rock
Snow and Ice

No way! While each NaturExplorers guide focuses on a particular topic, the lessons are not dependent on any particular things within that topic. For instance, if you can access any flower anywhere in the world, you can use the Wonderful Wildflower guide. Or, if you have access to any deciduous tree, you can use the Delightful Deciduous Trees guide.

You’ll find plenty of indoor learning suggestions, including hands-on activities, kid-friendly research projects, booklists, and more. However, much of the curriculum relies heavily on experiencing nature through creative nature walks. While you could still use the guides without taking the nature walks, you may want to consider the Nature Study Made Easy series instead.

No, the NaturExplorers series looks at nature through the lens of creation-based science and includes some Bible lessons.

You can always email a picture or story to me at [email protected]. Better yet, share pictures of your adventures on social media and tag me @ourjourneywestward!

In regards to the downloadable curriculum and freebies on Our Journey Westward:

When purchasing a downloadable product, you are purchasing a license to use the product, not the product itself. The license is not transferable.

Each download is meant for single family use. You may keep a copy of the e-file on personal devices and print the file for personal use.

Please Don’t:

Share or link to the e-file directly; link to the blog post or product page instead.
Alter the e-files in any way.
Sell, distribute, or give away the e-files in any way.
Host an e-file on your website or upload it to a shared website.

A teacher of a co-op or classroom may use an e-file with her students. She may keep a copy of the e-file on personal devices and print it in its entirety for her use. She may make multiple copies of student pages as necessary.

She may not share the e-file with other teachers, even if they are team teachers. Each teacher needs to purchase her own copy of the curriculum file.

Please Don’t:

Share or link to the e-file directly; link to the blog post or product page instead.
Alter the e-files in any way.
Sell, distribute, or give away the e-files in any way.
Host an e-file on your website or upload it to a shared website.

Some folks enjoy creating additional notebook pages, worksheets, charts, etc., to accompany the NaturExplorers studies and other Our Journey Westward publications. The pages you create must only be used with your children and may NOT be sold for profit or shared with others (online or otherwise) as free enhancements, go-alongs, or otherwise.

While Our Journey Westward is pleased you enjoy our products and wish to create derivative materials, doing so without authorization violates copyright law. In other words, it is considered theft of intellectual property rights. We trust that you will understand the importance of this and thank you for your cooperation.

If you wish to create derivative materials for sale or as freebies, please contact us to discuss possible permission.

If unsatisfied with a PDF product, your entire purchase price will gladly be refunded. We only ask that you please request a refund within two weeks of purchase and delete the file from your computer. Thank you for respecting these terms. Please contact us for a refund that meets these criteria.

The following curricula meet the requirements of charter schools to remain neutral on religion.

The following professional development materials remain neutral on religion.

1 review for Spectacular Spiders

Rated 5 out of 5

Jennifer Grunmeier –

I love the versatility and possibilities with this unit study! There are a number of activities and ideas to use with multiple ages – hands-on, art, literature, and so much more! Little kids as well as the big kids will enjoy learning about spiders in a way that will peak their interest, whether it be through research, making a diorama, or observing them outdoors in their own habitat – Spiders really are spectacular!