To say my boys were fascinated with this (large and creepy) spider is an understatement! I spied it on one of our outdoor plastic chairs. It just kept crawling around the back of it, back and forth.
The boys didn’t try to pick it up, but they did try to get it to crawl onto a stick, which of course it didn’t do (much to my relief!) I am all for my boys being interested in science and creepy crawlies, but hairy spiders just freak me out!
After watching this spider for at least half an hour, we looked up spiders in our bug book and on the Internet. While outside we observed that this spider was a little hairy, had eight legs and looked like he had bulging eyes. We discovered from the bug book and Internet that spiders have eight legs, two body segments and that they cannot chew. Their legs are attached to the front segment of their body, and they have 48 knees! Also, the hair on their legs pick up vibrations and smells from the air.
All of this is way too much information for me and way more than I could tell my boys about spiders, but the boys loved it! I’m so glad that I can use the Internet as a learning tool with my boys! I’m just worried that I’ll find them trying to dissect one!
I found your blog through Wordless Wednesday–I, too, am outnumbered in my family with my husband and three(!) boys. My first two are 19 months apart, so I bet we have a lot in common…
My boys call that kind of spider a 'jumping spider'; they catch them and observe them in their bugcatcher, but I'm not a fan and always make sure the bugcatcher is an outside activity. 🙂