Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2025 i Spider Magazine Stories, Games, Activites and Puzzles for Children and Kids

One day in 1903, French scientist Édouard Bénédictus balanced on a ladder in his lab. As he reached up to get some chemicals on a high shelf, his arm brushed an empty glass flask. It tumbled to the floor. Crash! Bénédictus climbed down, expecting a mess. But he found a surprise. The glass hadn’t shattered into a million pieces! It had cracked into a spiderweb-like pattern. But it had held together. Bénédictus wondered why. He questioned his assistant. The assistant explained he’d used the flask to hold liquid plastic during an experiment. Then he’d put the flask aside. The liquid plastic dried clear. So the flask looked empty. The assistant thought it had been washed. So he’d put it back on the shelf. Bénédictus realized the coating of dried plastic…

What You’ll Need 1 small empty plastic water bottle½ cup white vinegarballoonbaking sodafunnel What to Do 1. Carefully pour vinegar into the bottle. 2. Pull the balloon a few times to loosen it. Then stretch the mouth of the balloon over the narrow part of the funnel. 3. Pour baking soda into the wide top of the funnel. Fill the balloon a little more than halfway. Wipe any extra baking soda from the outside of the balloon. 4. Stretch the mouth of the balloon over the neck of the bottle. Let the balloon hang to the side. 5. Lift the balloon up so that the baking soda falls into the bottle. Hold the base of the balloon. Keep it steady. Watch it inflate! What’s Going on Here? The baking soda…

Long ago, when people still spoke the language of the animals, there lived a boy named Black Elk. When Black Elk was a baby, his grandfather presented him with three treasures: an eagle feather, to give him courage in high places; a wolf tooth, to give him skill in the hunt; and a bear claw, to give him patience. Black Elk carried these treasures in a leather pouch everywhere he went. He was a patient, skillful hunter, able to climb high cliffs without fear. One morning, as the sun rose to the music of the birds, Black Elk awoke suddenly. Was it a touch or a sound? The tepee door swung as if someone—or something—had just left. He sat up, raising his hand to the pouch that hung around his…

Big News In our May/June issue of Ask and our July/August issue of Spider, we inquired about what was newsworthy. You sure delivered! Lauren P., age 7 California Worry, Worry Wasp My friend Camila stepped on a wasp. She’s super allergic to it, and she couldn’t walk. Today she came to school with crutches. I asked her, “How did it happen?” “Well, some friends and I were having a pool day at the country club,” she replied. “I was just walking when I stepped on a wasp. Then my foot got all purple and swollen. It hurts a lot.” “Wow, what an intriguing story!” I said. “Thank you!” Colton C., age 8 California Antarctica Times! Aliens Don’t Know Where They Are Invading If you’re someplace cold, you don’t get news…

Don’t know what to invent? Maybe this tool picker can help. What You’ll Need scissors How to Make 1. Cut out the big square along the dotted line. 2. With the blue side of the square facing up, fold in each corner so the four points meet at the white center dot. 3. Flip the now smaller square over so its smooth side faces up. Again fold in each corner so the four points meet at the black center dot. 4. Fold the now even smaller square in half, so the left edge meets the right edge. Crease hard. Then unfold. Now fold the square in half, so the bottom edge meets the top edge. Crease hard. Leave folded. 5. Slide your thumbs and pointer fingers under the four flaps.…

All month long, Amber and I had been working on a hiccup cure. We had settled on a concoction of green mints dissolved in cold water. I finally came down with a genuine case of the hiccups. We rushed into the bathroom to make our formula. Mints, cups, and water spilled all over the tile floor. Every time Amber lifted the pitcher to pour water into the mint-filled cup, I’d hiccup again. Then we couldn’t stop laughing. Finally, I held the cup while Amber poured. Suddenly, it was our moment. I drank the cool, minty water slowly. We waited . . . and waited . . . and waited. I surprised Amber by letting out a whoop! Yes! My hiccups were gone. But the next time I had the hiccups,…

1. Play-Doh started out as ⬜ A. disposable earplugs ⬜ B. pie crust ⬜ C. wallpaper cleaner ⬜ D. Silly Putty 2. Peel-off glue started out as ⬜ A. lip gloss ⬜ B. very strong glue ⬜ C. butter substitute ⬜ D. shoe polish 3. Slinkies started out as ⬜ A. hair extensions ⬜ B. rocket launchers ⬜ C. motion detectors ⬜ D. anti-vibration devices for ships 4. Silly Putty started out as ⬜ A. rubber substitute ⬜ B. pancake mix ⬜ C. potting soil ⬜ D. fake earwax 5. Kleenex started out as ⬜ A. cat litter ⬜ B. wedding dress fabric ⬜ C. air filters for gas masks ⬜ D. crayon wrappers 6. TNT started out as ⬜ A. fertilizer for corn ⬜ B. yellow dye ⬜ C.…

Louis Braille One night in 1821, Captain Charles Barbier spoke at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris, France. He talked about “night writing,” his system of 12 raised dots that would allow soldiers to read secret messages in the dark. Twelve-year-old student Louis Braille was inspired. He later said, “His method gave [me] the first idea.” Louis’s “first idea” used different combinations of 6 raised dots to represent 63 characters. By age 15, Louis had created an entire system that allowed people with low or no vision to read and write. He called it Braille. His teachers did not like Braille. They did not trust an invention made by a student. They didn’t understand it. It took 28 years for Braille to be officially accepted. Today, Louis’s invention…

The Toast on the Carpet Does your toast always seem to land jam-side down? Are you just unlucky? Robert Matthews set out to answer this question by dropping lots of toast and photographing how it fell. He discovered—it’s not you! The toast itself is to blame. Bread slices are about 4 inches (10 centimeters) across. In the time it takes for a slice of toast to fall the height of a table (or from your hand), it has enough time to flip over exactly once. So the jam side is down. Then, splat! It’s Raining Buns Everyone knows what a raindrop looks like. Right? It’s raindrop shaped. But scientists, armed with high-speed cameras, have found that we’ve been seeing rain all wrong. Left to itself, water tends to pull into…

Dear Miro, Has anyone ever written to you? What’s your favorite color? Mine is purple. Do you have any pets? I have three cats: Skippy, Penelope, and Phoenix. Here is a pet for you. His name is Frostbite. He is really a snowman, but he thinks he’s a tiger! Frostbite eats snowflakes and your hot cider punch. It’s his favorite. I love Christmas! What is your favorite holiday? Audra B., age 9 Pennsylvania Dear Audra,Merci for Frostbite. Oui, I get letters, and lots of zeez letters come with nice pets. I like rouge, red. My favorite holiday eez New Year’s Eve! Au revoir,Miro Dear Marvin,Here’s a picture for you. Bianca B., age 7Washington Dear Araña, Can you adopt Sparkle and Rainbow? They eat magical foods that are sweet. Please add butterflies…

November/December 2025 $7.95 Volume 32 Number 7 cricketmedia.com…