Spider Magazine Stories, Games, Activites and Puzzles for Children and Kids

PLANTAINS ARE VERY popular in West African and Caribbean countries. They may look a lot like the bananas in your fruit bowl, but don’t let them fool you! Plantains are not eaten raw. Instead, these tropical treats are baked, boiled, or fried. As they

DANDELION PINKLEY STOOD at Izzy Wishbones’s front door waiting excitedly for him to answer. She was a little late, but she knew he wouldn’t care. This Golden Oval party sounded so fun! “Just be yourself,” Dandelion’s dad had advised when he’d dropp

WHAT WOULD YOU pack for a long journey? Probably not as much as Mansa Musa. In 1324, Mansa Musa traveled across the Sahara to the holy city of Mecca. He brought as many as sixty thousand people, about one hundred camels, and enough goats and sheep to

What does the KING have one of?Why does the PRINCE get two?Despite the PEASANTS’ lack of gold,they each have three. It’s true! The kingdom they reside inlies in EUROPE, which has four.And CELEBRATIONS, as a rule,have five and not one more. What a

MANSA MUSA STOOD upon a high balcony and looked down upon his city. Niani stretched beneath Mali’s late morning sunshine like a lion relaxing, powerful and unhurried. A caravan of camels carrying slabs of salt from the Taghaza mines wound along Goat

Water in zee desert eez rare, but jerboas and sand cats can get all zee hydration zey need from zeir food. —Miro Jerboas and sand cats live in burrows dug into the sand. On hot days, jerboas cover their burrow entrances to keep out the heat. Smart

THE BRADY FAMILY lived in a tumble-down house on the edge of town. Everyone in the family was very big and very, very loud. Pa stood six foot seven and had a voice like a raging hurricane. Ma’s shoes were the size of watermelons. When she hollered, “

Galumpity bumpity roll and rock—That’s the rhythmic camel walk. Lumpity humpity riding seat—Traveling through the desert heat. Whumpity thumpity quiet sound—Padded feet touch softly down. Itchity twitchity hairy hide—Sure it smells, but what a ride!

Never tell a secret to a hippo who is nosy.Despite your good intentions, it will seldom turn out rosy.He’ll say that you can trust him, but it simply isn’t true.That nosy hippopotamus will spread it through the zoo. He gabs to all the gibbons.He mi

Write a poem about bragging or showing off. Here are the only rules: 1. Your poem should be 10 lines or fewer. 2. Your entry must be signed by a parent or legal guardian, authorizing its publication in print and/or online and saying it’s your own ide

Q. How can a camel go as fast and as far as a train? A. By getting on a train. Send your jokes to spider@cricketmedia.com! ■

woolly coats that protect them against blistering days and freezing nights spare fat on their backs stored inside one or two humps for converting into food (Storing food outside their main bodies keeps camels cool.) small ears lined with fur to keep

A PHENAKISTOSCOPE IS a big word for a small toy that demonstrates a big idea in animation. For almost two hundred years, phenakistoscopes have been tricking eyes and brains into thinking motionless pictures are moving. Try it out. Turn twelve still c