A great way to compare and contrast insects and spiders is to use the book Little Miss Muffet Learns About Spiders. Similarly, The Little Miss Muffet Lyrics in this book illustrate five differences between insects and spiders.

The Original Little Miss Muffet Lyrics

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

The poem dates back to the early 19th century in England. Consequently, many people believe that Little Miss Muffet is about a girl named Patience who was Thomas Muffet‘s step-daughter. However, Thomas was a scientist from the 16th century who studied insects and spiders and their effects on medicine.

1. Firstly, insects and spiders have different body parts.

“You’re not a bug,”
She said with a shrug,
“Compare the two bodies and see.”
“On spiders like you
The parts number two,
but all of the insects have three.” 

2. Secondly is the number of legs on insects and spiders.

The spider said “Grand. But please understand, Here’s the best way to separate.” 
“When it comes to feet, We have them all beat.
Bugs have only six; spiders: eight.”

3. Thirdly is the number of eyes insects and spiders have.

“And look at my eyes;
Is that a surprise?
I hope you will think it first-rate.”“If you think I’ve two,
Then I have tricked you.
Look closely and you will see eight.”

4. Spiders and some Insects spin webs.

“And the web that you spin,
Strong, sticky, and thin,
Is useful to catch little flies.”

5. Lastly, only a few spider and insects are poisonous.

Many books have told
About spiders, so bold,
Who carry a poisonous bite.
But most will not harm
Your leg or your arm
And usually come out at night.

Little Miss Muffet Learns About Spiders and other Resources

This creative teaching resource uses Little Miss Muffet to teach children all about insects and spiders. It is a part of The Mother Goose Meets other Nature book series.

After sharing these books with teachers and home-school parents, we discovered a need for a teacher’s guide and additional resources for each book. Subsequently, we created teacher guides too. And because Little Pot believes that spiritual, social, and academic growth produce the fruit of the Spirit, each guide contains these three sections. A new guide will be released each month as follows.

• September: (Routines and Schedules) “Hickory, the Mouse Learns About Time” and “Teach About Time with Hickory, the Mouse”.

• October: (Pumpkins) “Peter-Peter Learns About Decay and Growth” and “Teach About Decay and Growth with Peter-Peter”.

• November: (Healthy eating habits) “Jack Sprat Learns About Food” and “Teach About Food with Jack Sprat”.

• December/January: (Snow and ice, States of Matter) “Jack and Jill Learn About Water” and “Teach About Water with Jack and Jill”.

• February: (Shadows) “Jack B. Nimble Learns About Shadows“ and “Teach About Shadows with Jack B. Nimble”.

• March: (Animals and Habitats) “Mary Learns About Animal Coverings” and “Teach About Animal Coverings with Mary”.

• April: (Insects and Spiders) “Little Miss Muffet Learns About Spiders” and “Teach About Spiders with Little Miss Muffet”.

• May: (Life Cycles and Positional Words) “Humpty Dumpty Learns About Positions” and “Teach About Positions with Humpty Dumpty”.

Sign up for the 7 steps to become fruit-bearing vessels and we will notify you each month when a new teacher’s guide is released.