Doing a "talk" at school...help please?!

[Mandy Clinch]

Mentioned to Charlies teacher about the show and she didn't realise we had T's and has asked me to take them in on friday and do a talk. It's reception class, so 4 and 5 year olds. Obviously NO handling will be taking place at all, but i want to really get these kids interested. Do any of you know of any good downloads/pages i could print off to take in? Or any suggestions as to how i can fire their enthusiasm? I will have about half an hour.

I am determined to change their minds as most of them cringe when you mention the word "spider"!!
In 25 years they will be at the 50th anniversary show, i am a woman on a mission

[Joanna Pendleton]

Haha, what a mission!

I did my talk to Yeli's class today. Took them in some pics to colour in, and on the same site there was some worksheets that might be more appropriate for Charlie's class!

Two kids elected to sit out and not look at them, one kid burst into tears as soon as she saw Kama so the others defo weren't for her. I didnt have to talk much to them as most of them are too young to sit still and listen, but I'll find you the link to that site to give you some idea's. They were all fascinated, though a little disappointed when I said the couldn't hold them, and one girl was very annoyed at being informed that she couldn't stroke Rio lol. They wanted to know about how they ate and I explained a very little bit about anatomy but mostly they just wanted to look at them which took a while in itself as I had to walk round them all so they could get a good look.

They all loved them, quite a few said they'd like one and 2 (including Yeli's best friend at nursery) were busy trying to persuade their parents to get one, with Yeli's help ("it's as big as my hand and very friendly, look here's a picture of an OBT I want"), when I went to collect her!

Maybe we'll be seeing a bigger representation from Liverpool in the next few years!

I defo agree we're a two woman recruitment team for the T keepers of the next 25 years though!

J x

[Colin D Wilson]

You need lots of visual interactive stimulus for pre-school / reception classes.
Things to pass around for them to hold i.e.
Pop a couple of moults into some clear boxes (selotaped round the join), the small ferraro boxes are great.
laminate some good quality drawings and photos for them to pass around and have a laugh with.
take a big cuddly spider in and point out all the parts, using simple terms first then actually give them the proper term and make it a "repeat after me" type of thing...they'll suprise you how much they take in and recall later.

Colouring competition is a good one, pass out some line drawings and ask them to colour a specific spider (i.e. b smithi) you would have shown them a picture and told them to remember it's colours so they'll have fun remembering what it looked like...tell them there's a prize for the best one ..again you'll be surprised at the recall of some kids.

Handling is one point to make sure they are aware that the spider may become hurt, if you tell them it could bite then their interest will change (saying this it's not a good idea to have a handling session with children as we all know), children will normally have more consideration for an animals welfare if you maintain it's a little "scared" of them.

for those that want to stroke it, if you explain what the urticating hairs are for and mention that the hairs on its back are very much like stinging nettles then they'll all respect your wishes not to touch as most children have had the experience of a nettle by that age.

I've always made sure i ask questions like "where do you think spiders live" and then after the normal shouting answers tell them about terrestrial / arboreal / fossorial etc (in simple terms first)
ask them what they think they eat?...do they drink?....do they lay eggs like a chicken or have babies like a dog or cat? then explain each bit as you go along.
asking questions makes it a "joining in thing" and not someone standing there talking at them.

It's normally as much fun for the talker as it is for the kiddies if done right.

[Mike_Strick]

Reception age is the perfect time to get in before the phobias. It's amazing how much rubbish gets fed to them in the year or two that follow. We regularly do school visits and the difference in attitude is always surprising.

Younger kids always want to know the name of each animal, so make sure you think some up if you haven't already named your spiders! This also helps to personalise them and make them more accessible.

Half an hour is not very long. Don't try and pack in too many different examples as there won't be time for everyone to see them and ask questions. See if you can get an assistant to help show them round the kids (make sure the kids stay sitting, and you and your assistant bring round the spiders other wise you get instant crowding and chaos.

At that early age, basic anatomy and feeding habits is probably about as technical as you want to get.

We always encourage them to want to rescue spiders they find in the house or classroom, so it's worth taking a glass and card and a demonstration 'captive' (either a house spider or a plastic one). Knowing what to do about them can help overcome fear very quickly.

There's lots you can do, you'll learn from each visit you do. Enjoy it - it's always rewarding. Feel free to PM me if you need more advice.

[Mandy Clinch]

Wow, thank you so much for the help.

Half an hour isn't long but i think the teacher is worried about attention spans wandering. The head teacher cornered me today and i think she would like me to perhaps do every class so that's really exciting. A few molts would be a good idea but i got rid of my g.roseas as it was very tatty, but will definately take on all your other suggestions and ideas. It's a shame that parents pass their phobias on to their children. Same thing happens with dentists etc...

Like you say though, 'catching' them at this age is ideal. Hoping some of them will go home and re-educate their parents!

Thanks again and i will let you all know how it goes

[Joanna Pendleton]

Mand - colouring pages - some stupid ones and some ok - http://www.coloring.ws/spiders1.htm

Should be links to the other activity pages too on there.

The kids at Yeli's nursery were a bit younger but some education was managed. Was just impressed by how much they loved the Ts and how cute/fab etc they thought they were!

x x x