STEAM Storytime with Walter’s Wonderful Web

Halloween is right around the corner, and preschoolers love to celebrate. Learn about different shapes and spiders with this Storytime STEAM activity inspired by the book Walter’s Wonderful Web.

Use books to create fun and hands-on ways to challenge children’s thinking and problem-solving skills with Storytime STEAM activities for preschool.

STEAM is the combination of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.

STEAM activities help promote essential 21st-century skills, which is important in preparing our children for an unknown future.

Storytime STEAM is a collection of STEM activities inspired by your favorite picture books.

STEAM Question: What type of web shape can you create? 

Objective: Students will construct a web, based on shapes, inspired by “Walter’s Wonderful” Web by Tim Hopgood. 

Materials:

• “Walter’s Wonderful Web” by Tim Hopgood.
• Variety of building materials (craft sticks, pipe cleaners, wikki sticks, straws, etc.) 
• Play dough or clay
• Pictures of shapes and webs (included inside the Member Lab)

Teaching Strategy:

Read “Walter’s Wonderful Web”. Discuss the different shaped webs in the story. 

Explore the different materials for constructing your web. What material will you use to create your web?  

Discuss the different shapes on your table or board with a classmate. What type of shape will your spider web be?

Create your spider web using your chosen materials. 

Share your spider web creations with your classmates. 

Guiding Questions:

What happened to Walter’s webs in the story?

What was your favorite shaped web that Walter made in the story?

How was Walter a hard worker? What do you work hard at?

STEAM Experience:

Science: Research spiders in nonfiction books. What is a spider web made of? 

Technology: Time how long it takes to “spin” or build your web. Take a picture of your web for your family.

Engineering: Construct a web with other open ended building materials. 

ARTs: Fingerpaint a web. 

Math: What shapes do you observe in the webs?

Click here for more Halloween-inspired STEAM Storytime Activities.