Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2020 i Spider Magazine Stories, Games, Activites and Puzzles for Children and Kids

“HEY, DANDELION! RUDYARD!” Doodlebug Pinkley said, catching up with his sister and their cousin. “I just saw something really weird.” Doodlebug and Dandelion’s mom had brought them to Woody-Woods Park for a nature hike billed as “an afternoon of fascinating fun.” Doodlebug had found the fun kind of boring though. He’d slipped out of line to look for insects along the edge of the trail, but had spied something much better. “What?” Dandelion said, totally uninterested. The hikers’ guide was explaining why two rare treetop bristlebirds were braiding each other’s long tail feathers. Dandelion and Rudyard couldn’t look away. “Listen, listen, Dandelion!” Doodlebug insisted, huffing and puffing with impatience. “I just saw a little green man crouching behind a bush. I said, ‘Hey!’ and he jumped.” Now he had their…

HARRY WAS AFRAID of the wind. It whistled under his door. It made the iron fence hum eerie music. The wind followed Harry home from the school bus. It blew off his hat. At night it made the trees creak in the woods near his house. It made sheets drying on the line sound like thunder. “How can anyone be afraid of the wind?” asked Harry’s friend Emma. Harry shrugged. But it didn’t change the way he felt. Harry’s friend Liam thought being afraid of the wind was a waste of time. That didn’t help Harry either. Harry’s friend Antony didn’t make fun of Harry. “You’ll get over it, Harry,” he said. Sometimes that made Harry feel better. But not for long. On windy days Harry stood at his window…

Emily Lynagh, age 9 San Carlos, California Thanksgiving Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving,Here it comes.The party is today,This should be fun. The food is ready,Warm and sweet.Pie for dessert,What a treat. I can’t wait, I can’t waitFor food galore.There’s enough foodTo feed a family of twenty-four. The party is startingRight now.Here comes the first guest,Wow oh wow. The party is over,What a success.I’m starting to think thatThanksgiving is best. Lucy Coryell, age 9Mount Vernon, Maine Bells, bells everywhereChristmas cheer is in the air,pudding, punch, Christmas cakesnow’s the time to celebrate!Glittering lights strung on the tree,each one glowing warmly.The snow outside is falling slowly,but inside we’re nice and cozy,sipping hot cocoa from a mug,thinking of all the things you love.On this shining Christmas daynow’s the time to laugh and play! Mary Busch, age 9Laurel,…

W hat You' ll Need: What to Do: 1. Cut a piece of embroidery floss about the length of your arms. Tie a bell to one end and thread on a few beads. 2. Tie the embroidery floss to the stick so the beads hang down a few inches. Wrap the other, longer end around the stick and tie to fasten. 3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with different colors of floss until the stick is covered and has several bells attached. 4. Cut one more piece of floss about a foot long. Tie each end to the stick to make a hanger. Hang on a tree or fence outside and wait for the wind to blow. Listen! Do you hear a fairy?…

TOP O’ THE MORNIN’! Welcome to Larry the Leprechaun’s Diner. Today’s special is rainbow pancakes, topped with a dollop o’ gold. What You’ll Need: 2 cups of your favorite pancake batter 6 small bowls red, yellow, and blue food coloring skillet spatula liquid gold (syrup will do) What to Do: 1. Divide batter evenly among 6 bowls, one for each color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. 2. For red, yellow, and blue batter, add one drop of food coloring at a time and stir. For orange, mix red and yellow; for green, mix yellow and blue; for purple, mix blue and red. 3. With an adult’s help, heat a lightly greased pan on medium-high. Pour batter for one colored pancake onto the pan. Flip pancake when the batter…

Hi, Spider, You’re my favorite buggy. I love the comics at the bottom of the page. Please adopt Sausage. He is a dachshund who eats pizza and mango. Eleanor, age 6 Durham, North Carolina Dear Spider, I like to read. What is your favorite book? Mine is Harry Potter. My imaginary unicorn likes to eat candy and gives rides. Bree, age 9 Marion, Massachusetts Hello, Everybuggy, I love your mags! Ophelia, what’s your favorite color? What is your favorite book? Me? Harry Potter! I loooooove Harry Potter! Sarah S., age 8 Nashville, Tennessee Dear Bree and Sarah, I like the Harry Potter books, too, but my favorite book is Charlotte’s Web. Ciao! Spider Dear Bill the Pill Bug, Can you please adopt Larug? He is a tall troll and he…

What You’ll Need: kite patternscissorstransparent taperulerspool of strong threadsewing needlesmall paper clip What to Do: 1. Cut off the page with the kite pattern on it. Cut the large square apart from the section of narrow strips. Set the strips aside. 2. Pick up the large square. Fold along the dotted line marked with a 1, keeping the dotted line inside the fold. Now fold along dotted lines 2 and 3, keeping the dotted lines outside the folds. Lastly, fold along dotted lines 4 and 5, keeping the dotted lines inside the folds. Crease each fold, then open the kite partway, so it looks like a fan. Set the kite aside. 3. Pick up the section of strips and cut them apart along the solid black lines. Tape the strips…

THERE WAS ONCE a cheerful old woman named Tessie who lived by herself in a tiny cottage outside of town. Tessie was very poor, but she earned a living by doing simple chores for the farmers’ wives around the village. They paid her with a small meal, a cup of tea, and a few coins here and there. That was enough for Tessie. She was a happy old soul who didn’t seem to have a care in the world. Tessie had a long walk home after work, so the housewives always sent her home early. They didn’t want  her to meet up with the fearsome Hedley Beast that lurked about at night. It was a terrible creature that hollered and screamed and was able to turn itself into all sorts…

BAREFOOT JEAN AND her brown dog, Barley, ran to the top of the green, grassy hill. The sun shone down as she looked up into the deep sea-blue sky. Above her sailed billowing cloud ships with tall sails unfurled. Nimbus whales breached, blocking the sun, while wisps of cirrus clouds rippled like seaweed. Jean watched as a lazy school of cloud fish drifted by, carried along the sky’s gentle currents. Jean scratched her nose, squinted her eyes, and said to herself, “I want to catch a fish.” Barley barked excitedly as they ran down the hill, through the woods, and back to the house for supplies. Jean found her sturdy green-and-gold kite in the closet. “If you’re going to catch a cloud fish,” Jean instructed Barley, “you’ve got to have…