Silky the Spider's Busy Day
*A
story for young children*
Once
upon a time, in a quiet little garden, there lived a spider named Silky.
Silky
had eight legs. Can you count them? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight! Four legs on one side and four legs on the other side.
Silky
used her two front legs to feel things, just like you use your fingers to feel.
Her front legs were extra-long, so she could reach out and touch everything
around her.
---
One
warm evening, when the sun was going down, Silky got ready to build something
wonderful.
"Time
to make my web!" she said.
But
first, Silky needed her special silk. Do you know where spider silk comes from?
It comes from inside the spider's body! It starts as a liquid, like water, and
when it comes out, it turns hard. Isn't that amazing?
Spider
silk is very, very thin. Thinner than your hair! But it is super strong. It can
hold 4,000 times what Silky weighs. That's like you are lifting 4,000 of your
friends!
---
Silky
climbed up high. She found a good spot between two branches.
First,
she made a long line. She pulled it tight and stuck it to a twig.
"Perfect!"
said Silky.
Then
she made more lines. She made a big frame, like a square. Then she made lines
going this way and that way, like a wheel with spokes.
Next,
Silky went round and round and round, from the middle to the outside. She made
a beautiful spiral.
"Now
for the sticky part!" said Silky.
She
made one more spiral, but this time she used sticky silk. This silk would catch
her dinner.
When
she was all done, her web looked like a beautiful wheel with sparkly, sticky
strings.
---
"Wait
a minute," said Silky. "If my web is sticky, why don't I get
stuck?"
Good
question!
Silky
is very smart. She runs on the dry strings. She stays away from the sticky
ones. Also, her feet have oil on them, like when you put lotion on your hands.
The oil keeps her from sticking.
So
Silky can run all over her web without getting stuck. Whew!
---
Now
Silky waited.
A
little fly came buzzing by.
*Bzzzzz.
Bzzzzz.*
The
fly did not see the web. It flew right into the sticky strings!
*Boing!
*
The
fly was stuck.
Silky
felt the web wiggle. She ran over on her dry strings. Now she had dinner!
---
But
Silky had to be careful. Bigger animals wanted to eat HER!
Sometimes
a bird came. Sometimes a wasp came. Sometimes even a frog came!
When
Silky got scared, she did something clever. She let go of her web and dropped
down, down, down on a special silk string. It was like a lifeline!
She
landed on the ground and ran away fast, fast, fast.
"Phew!"
said Silky. "That was close!"
---
When
Silky wanted to rest, she made a special silk string called a dragline.
Wherever she went, she left this string behind her.
If
she fell, she could climb right back up the string.
It
was like having a safety rope. Like when you hold onto a railing so you don't
fall.
---
Silky
lived a happy life in the garden.
Every
day she found food. Every day she was careful of her enemies. And one day, she
would make a special silk blanket to wrap up her little eggs.
The
eggs would hatch into tiny baby spiders. And they would grow up and make their
own webs, just like Silky.
So,
the next time you see a spider web sparkling in the sun, remember Silky.
Remember
how hard she worked. Remember how strong her silk is. And remember — spiders
are amazing!
---
*Did
you know? *
-
Spiders have 8 legs
-
Spider silk is stronger than it looks
-
Spiders don't get stuck in their own webs
-
Baby spiders are called spiderlings
…
All About Spiders!
Spiders
belong to a special family called **Arachnids** (say: ah-RACK-nids).
Arachnids
are different from insects. Can you remember how?
**Insects
have: **
-
6 legs
-
3 body parts
-
Some have wings
**Spiders
(Arachnids) have: **
-
8 legs
-
2 body parts
-
No wings
So,
if you see a little creature with eight legs, it is NOT an insect. It is an
arachnid!
---
**Other
arachnid cousins include: **
-
Scorpions
-
Ticks
-
Mites
They
are all in the same family as spiders!
---
**Fun
Facts: **
-
There are more than 40,000 kinds of spiders in the world!
-
Spiders live everywhere — even in very cold places and very hot places
-
Most spiders are tiny, but some can be as big as your hand
-
Spiders help us by eating bugs like mosquitoes and flies
---
So,
remember: eight legs mean arachnid!
And
Silky the Spider is proud to be one. 🕷️
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