A full page of web, one friendly spider, eight legs accounted for. Best for kids who are ready to slow down and follow a line.
A large round web fills this page, with spokes running out from the middle and rings crossing them all the way to the edge. In the center sits a friendly spider with eight legs and two big eyes. The lines are thin and close together near the middle, which suits ages six and up and rewards a sharp colored pencil more than a thick crayon.
What an orb web actually is
Most of the round webs people picture are orb webs, spun by orb weavers. The spider lays out dry spokes first, then walks back over them laying sticky thread for the rings. Many orb weavers rebuild the whole thing after a night of catching nothing.
- Silk is strong for its weight, and a single strand can stretch a long way before it breaks.
- Not every spider builds a web. Jumping spiders hunt on foot and use silk mostly as a safety line.
- Silk comes out of spinnerets at the back of the body, not from the mouth.
Coloring and printing tips
- Keep the web pale gray or leave it white. A heavy dark center makes the spider disappear.
- Colored pencils handle the inner rings better than wax crayon, which tends to bridge the gaps.
- Print at 100% scale. Squeezing the page onto A4 without fit to page crowds the inner rings into a blur.
- For a window display, color the background dark and leave the web paper-white against the glass.
- Set out one copy per child at a party table; the web keeps hands busy while the room fills up.
If you like this one, the bat coloring page shares the same mood, and the pumpkin costume kid makes a good follow-up. The whole set lives on the Halloween coloring pages page.
