Advice for tarantula exhibit for children?

I am thrilled to have my first opportunity to teach kids and their families about tarantulas! This weekend I will be bringing my collection to the Explorit Center in Davis, CA for the "Spiders in Your World" exhibit as part of their "Public Family Spider Exploration Weekends" program: http://www.explorit.org/csp/events

I told the coordinator that a "look but don't touch" approach would be best for my spiderlings and the more skittish species I'll be bringing (eg, the kids can hold the vials and look into them, but not open the containers or handle anything). I have 18 Ts as follows-
Adults: A. seemani, A. chalcodes (Arizona blonde), G. porteri
Juvies: C. cyaneopubescens, M. cabocla, G. pulchra
Slings: 3 A. avics, B. smithi, C. fasciatum, E. pulcherrimaklaasi, L. parahybana, T. cupreus, T. violaceus, T. gigas, P. pederseni, and E. campestratus.

But do you all think it would be ok for me to hold my most docile tarantula (an adult female A. chalcodes) while the kids maybe "pet" her abdomen with one finger? She's never bitten, flicked hairs, or given a threat display.

I would also like to have a posterboard with some information on it that would be appropriate for an elementary school audience; for those who have done this kind of thing before, what kind of things (besides lots of pictures) do you put on your posters? Any and all information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I wouldn't trust kids about not opening the vials. There's always a bully, that will open it.

Handling A. chalcodes shouldn't be of much concern, tell kids the facts (it can bite, it can kick bristles, effects of venom, effects of bristles) and don't promise them anything before you actually do it. And let them do it one by one, you don't want them to rush.

Thanks will keep that in mind!

Not to mention, shaking, fighting over and generally being rough with the vials is likely. I think the best idea would be to leave the slings at home, they are rather fragile. The juveniles should be fine if kept in their enclosures, and I don't see the harm in showing the Aphonopelma chalcodes out of the cage,possibly even allowing the children to "pet" it, as long as you do it over a table and you are very cautious about it.

i PERSONALLY think the "look but dont touch" aspect of it is best. I would NEVER let children handle my/ANY tarantulas.. not even slings. Too much risk involved, and id feel HORRIBLE if my normally docile tarantula bit somebody's child.
Sure, some tarantulas are handleable, but there is ALWAYS the possibility of it striking out of nowhere.

YOU could hold it, and pet it, and show them proper handling techniques (ie, catch cup THEN prodded on to hand... then hand to hand) but i will never advocate putting children in potentially harmful situations. Tarantulas CAN BE unpredictable..(no matter how much experience you have, or how well you THINK you know your tarantulas) lets not kid ourselves

This is just MY view on it, and im not bashing or criticizing anybody else who views differently.

Might seem obvious but STRESS that the kids need to be calm and gentle, no loud noises, sudden movements things that b kids typically like to do. Another friendly suggestion would be keep the chalcodes well below anyones eye level on the chance it does kick maybe even a walled in "pen" it could be pet inside of.

These are all great ideas, and I will have a table where I can demo a tarantula handling (I'll hold her close to the table so that if she spooks she won't go far, and I'll bring a catch cup for back up). Thanks for the help!

whatever you decide to do, i hope you and the audience enjoy it. It would be awesome to show people that these mysterious creatures ARENT monsters. Good luck

I brought my T's in to a first grade classroom around Halloween time. I brought my MF Rosie and two slings (GBB, b.albo). I had the kids sit in a circle around me, read Eric Carl's "A Very Busy Spider", and then brought out the Ts. I had printed out a picture of a mature GBB and Curly so they could see what they would grow up to look like also some other various Ts that had loud color. I talked about some T facts and the differences/similarities they had with trues. When I showed them the Ts I strictly said NO TOUCHING. I wouldn't even bring one out for them to touch. Someone could have a serious reaction should they get flicked or bitten. Not to mention what if someone freaks out and drops your T. Just too much room for error. I took my T around the circle so they could look inside the containers. I think they would like to see the size differences.

Remember to have fun! Also every single kid in the class was very interested in my Ts. They might surprise you with their interest.

I say nooooooooo letting the kids hold the vials. D: I can see so much going wrong with that. Maybe set them up in a few rows in a fixed area so they can see? Like on display and their names clearly labeled.

As for handling, I think if done very cautiously you can allow them to handle your most docile specimen. Maybe do a "dry run" first and see how much you can agitate her before she starts to threaten you, and how long after that until she takes action. Maybe some gloves/full body clothes/a mask of sorts and a lot of poking/proding/blowing on. That would be a fun experiment haha!

I was under the impression that the hairs on the abdomen are the same ones they kick off... should anyone be touching those?

I do a lot of similar programs for kids, and I always take my A. chalcodes. The kids love her. Just keep her on your hands, mostly. In my experience, letting them pet the spider with one finger works, and lets most people get their tarantula-fix. The children will be amazed to see a large, docile spider and it will make a lasting impression if done right. Have fun!

+1 to being hesitant about letting the kids hold the vials. I think the chance of them shaking up the vials is too great. You could, perhaps, get parent volunteers to hold them while the children look, though. If you choose to let them touch one of the adults you hold, make sure to have them do it very orderly. Either have them stay seated and come up one at a time or make them form a well-behaved line. Last thing you want is a mob of kids pushing to see it, which will quickly, and possibly irreversibly, get out of hand.

It would be awesome to show people that these mysterious creatures ARENT monsters.

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Hear hear!

Also to clarify, I would never let any of the kids hold the Ts themselves, but was just entertaining the thought of having them "pet" my A. chalcdes with one finger while I held her. But now I'll just do a handling demo myself and have the kids watch, especially if it's going to be crowded, noisy, etc.

Also, thanks for the great ideas about not letting the kids hold the vials; I'll either hold them up myself to show the kids, or have another adult volunteer hold the vials up so the kids can see.

I'm super excited, especially since the news might be there to do a story about the exhibit! Hopefully there will be some (much-needed) positive PR from this event!

Of you have any intact molts that might be interesting to pin up on the poster board

I do these kinds of events for kids all the time. Honestly I would leave your slings at home unless they are extremely small species like Cyriocosmus elegans or another dwarf T. My C. elegans is always a hit as I get responses such as "that's a tarantuala ::" as I lBut overall I find that A. slings don't often have visible enough markings. B. they are extremely fragile. So say you bring a sling that you have become attached to or one that is expensive, and some one drops it. Juvies and adults are great things to show because they are larger, they do have more visible markings, they can be semi handled.

As for allowing the kids to handle the T's I do but its more like I have them place their hand on the table and I have the T walk onto/across their hand. This way I have most of the control with the spider but also there seems to be less of a chance for an accident to happen this way.

But overall when I do these events I like to show the different colors and varieties of tarantula, because often I find that most people think that all tarantulas look like smithi's or rosea's. I would also expect to have to answer alot of questions about T's as there is a metric crap ton of stupid rumors out there. Such as are they deadly, do they get to be bigger than cats, etc. Im serious on some of this stuff its quite humorus the rumors I've heard over the years.

sorry about the wall of text. if you have anything else to ask just make a post or send a pm.

If you instruct the kids about the possible dangers and they still say "ok", please check with the parents and even then, I wouldn't do it. Kids are lawsuit bait these days.

I say bring atleast one of the slings just for size reference. They will most likely be amazed that something that small grows into something that big. I'd just keep an eye on it, possibly put a tape loop on the table and put the vial on the tape loop to be sure. I'd bring tarantulas and other arachnids if you own that book. It has some nice pictures in it. Plus that gives them a chance to get a close up look without getting too curious with the live Ts. Bring alot of pictures of very pretty colored and patterned Ts. Maybe ask a few people from the boards if its ok if you print a few of their T pictures out to use in the demonstration since there are many people on here who take awesome T pics. I'd explain a little bit about how they come from all over the world and how in nature some live in burrows and some live in trees. Talk a little bit about how they are kept in captivity.

Maybe feed one of them for them. That would be pretty cool to see. As mentioned before and you already said touching anything is probably a no, but I would make sure they are in something where they can clearly see them from a distance. Also be prepared for them to be possibly a bit loud when it comes time to answering questions because they are all going to want you to answer their questions.

Also a good way to organize all the information would be if you have access to a projector and can use power point. Plus kids love power points for some odd reason. Maybe throw in a few tarantula videos. Like a gravid mom laying an egg sac. All just suggestions and depends what you have access to. Good luck with the presentation and let us know how it goes

Skeri said:

Maybe throw in a few tarantula videos. Like a gravid mom laying an egg sac.

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I think one thing that would amaze them is time-lapse molt video.

No touching at all in my opinion- here is why:

Every year I am involved in an insect/invert fest here that is primarily oriented around Lepidoptera (we have a giant Lep research center here at the university). Our table has the show and tell with live bugs, we bring a vast number of assorted caterpillars for kids to see and touch.

Inevitably some kids think they want to handle them but then freak out as soon as the little velcro-like feet attach and they then start crying, shaking their hands and pulling the caterpillar off. No matter how gentle they try to be (which there is the opposite extreme as well, not gentle at all) a caterpillar is torn right in half by this action. Then there are the kids that fight over them- more caterpillars torn in half. Then there are the kids that are just plain sociopaths that purposely crush some. There are some that are flung across the room, some that are dropped, some that are stolen. We use all native species collected locally in case they "wander" off with the kids and have many many adults tending the tables and working with the kids in very small groups of 1-3 at most and still we experience a decent amount of loss. This happens with kids with the best of intentions even. Often the feeling of the caterpillar is frightening to them even when they truly believe it will not be. No matter how much warning, there are always a few that die at least.

With tarantulas being so much more fragile it seems like disaster waiting to happen. You'd have to get the kids all sitting on the ground where the risk of falling is minimal, worry about bites and urticating hairs, plus all the potential accidental and intentional injury to your animals. Just not a good mix even though ideologically it is a wonderful thing to do. I would not personally allow any of my spiders to be handled by most people I know, let alone a bunch of children you don't know (and the parents who may or may not be the best role models).

Being that a tarantula is more "scary" and has a much more noticeable and less stable grip I think I would advise against it strongly. It's just asking for trouble- a damaged or dead spider, a crying child, some injuries, possibly a lawsuit as mentioned before. Looking but not touching is fine.

And yes, the bigger the better as far as kids are concerned. They're not going to care if it's pretty and tiny as much as they do that it is huge and as different from a true spider they might see in their garden as possible. Good luck, glad you are out there exposing the public to these wonderful organisms!

emc37 said:

I am thrilled to have my first opportunity to teach kids and their families about tarantulas! This weekend I will be bringing my collection to the Explorit Center in Davis, CA for the "Spiders in Your World" exhibit as part of their "Public Family Spider Exploration Weekends" program: http://www.explorit.org/csp/events ...

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Marguerite and I did this all the time. During the school year we had to limit the number of classroom, pet expo, and reptile show appearances to only one every two weeks for the sake of having some sort of private life! Once they find out you do this, you become [SIZE=+1]VERY[/size] popular! (Click or right-click the thumbnails for larger images.)

emc37 said:

... But do you all think it would be ok for me to hold my most docile tarantula (an adult female A. chalcodes) while the kids maybe "pet" her abdomen with one finger? She's never bitten, flicked hairs, or given a threat display. ...

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We did this all the time and had almost no problems at all. You have to be very alert and make an assessment of the maturity and emotional composure of each child (And a few adults. Watch for those who smell of alcohol! Their judgement is impaired and this is a radically new situation that they can't glide through on autopilot!) as they approach. You'll want to keep a few, unruly, little heathens at arm's length with a whip and a chair! :fury: But, most kids will be very interested, and display good manners. A few will be good enough that you can actually allow them to hold a tarantula while their parents take a picture. But, if you do this for one, you may end up having to do this for almost everybody. A good excuse for declining it is, "Sorry dear, but it's been a very busy day and the tarantula is getting very tired."

Rarely, we might have someone come through with severe mental disabilities. With those we generally drew the line unless their chaperones were able to assure us in no uncertain terms that they were calm, controllable, and trustworthy. Again, you need to do a 10 second assessment with EVERYBODY who approaches.

emc37 said:

... I would also like to have a posterboard with some information on it that would be appropriate for an elementary school audience; for those who have done this kind of thing before, what kind of things (besides lots of pictures) do you put on your posters? Any and all information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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If you look carefully in one of my photos you'll see a big, yellow, plasti-core sign in the background. It had only three things on it: The name of our "public" identity, a graphical representation of a tarantula, and our phone number. The sign cost us about $150 to make. There are a number of comments to be made about it:

1) Don't spend the money unless you are going to make an unofficial business out of this endeavor. A simple, poster board sign will work just fine if you only do this once or twice a year.

2) Intense yellow shows up from a great distance. White is just another background color, and many people are red/green colorblind. A red or pink sign merely looks gray to them.

3) Public Identity: Something other than your name. In our case it was a tag that helped us differentiate spider activities, expenditures, and income (since we also sold a few tarantulas and scorpions) from our personal lives. You may or may not want to do this, especially if this sort of thing takes off and becomes very popular and frequent.

3) The graphical tarantula clearly identified what we were doing from across a crowded room. People who might walk into a meeting hall or school gymnasium would see the tarantula and know exactly what we were about and where they wanted to go first! At reptile shows and pet expos we were always put at the back of the room so people had to walk past everybody else first. It was the same sort of marketing trick as putting the bread, milk and meat at the back of a grocery store so you had to walk past all the high profit items (e.g., candy, kid's toys, beach umbrellas, etc.) to get to them. (What? You didn't know you were being manipulating like that? Haha, haha, hahahaha! :laugh: )

There are no other pictures on the sign. No one's terribly interested in looking at photos when the real thing is right there, an arm's length away! The sign simply identifies you and draws attention to you from a distance in a large crowd. Little more.

4) Instead of an elaborate, time consuming photo-montage that will be of only brief, passing interest to a few, consider typing and printing up a very simple, basic descriptive sheet about tarantulas that people can take with them. You don't want to put anything very specific or intense on it, and listing even 10 or 12 individual points may be overkill. Itemize just the very basics that you probably have already forgotten but really, truly needed to know as you got started in tarantulas. NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A CARE SHEET!. It's a fact sheet to answer the several most pressing questions about tarantulas. I might suggest something like this:


__________________________________________________________

a) Tarantulas are spiders. The very largest tarantulas often reach diagonal leg spans (DLS) of 10" (25 cm) and may weigh over 1/4 pound (over 100 gm), but a very few super-giants have been recorded with 13" (33 cm) DLS. Most tarantulas have a 4" to 6" DLS and weigh only an ounce or two (25 to 50 gm).

b) Most tarantulas will live 5 to 20 years, but a very few may live twice or possibly 3 times that long. (They haven't been kept as pets long enough for us to be sure, however.)

c) There are well over 900 kinds of tarantulas named, but we think there may be as many as a total of 1800 or 2000 in the world.

d) The majority of tarantulas are relatively docile, but a few are very defensive and will bite if touched or handled.

e) The majority of tarantulas, if handled properly, will not bite. But, there are several dozen that will and that have "medically significant" bites.

f) No one in recorded history has ever died or even suffered lasting debilities from a tarantula's bite (except perhaps from secondary infections), but a few kinds of tarantulas that do have "medically significant" bites may require a trip to an emergency room or an overnight stay in a hospital.

g) Tarantula anatomy is very different from ours. Here are diagrams that label their external body parts.





WARNING: Keeping a tarantula as a pet requires a great deal of responsibility and knowledge on your part. Before you buy a tarantula, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Learn which ones are best for beginners (a.k.a., "newbies"), and which have potent bites or attitude issues and should be avoided by the novice.

Many tarantulas possess urticating (irritating) bristles that may cause rashes and hives in sensitive individuals. These are particularly serious if you get them in your eyes! Always wash your hands immediately after touching a tarantula or anything in its cage. Read and learn about these before buying a pet tarantula!

All tarantulas possess some sort of venom, and your reaction to this venom varies from person to person. Read and learn about this before buying a pet tarantula!

Reading, learning, and understanding about these characteristics is YOUR JOB AND RESPONSIBILITY! The presenters of this exhibit cannot accept any responsibility for any interactions or reactions you may have with or to a tarantula.

RESOURCES:

g) Books to read: [List a few of your favorite books here.]

h) Internet forums: [List 2 or 3 of your favorite Internet arachnid forums here.]

i) Other Internet resoiurces: [List 2 or 3 other Internet sites that you think might be important or of interest t the beginner.]

k) [List your name and phone number (BUT NOT YOUR ADDRESS!) here if you do not mind receiving calls about all sorts of spider related matters. THINK ABOUT THIS CAREFULLY! It may be a good thing. Maybe not. And only your own personal circumstances will determine which.]

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[Note: I hereby grant permission to use these diagrams in all such non-commercial fliers as long as the following credit is appended: "Illustrations from The Tarantula Keeper's Guide, Barron's Educational Series, © Stanley A. Schultz and Marguerite J. Schultz. Used with permission."]

Add or edit whatever points you deem necessary. Reformat it any way that's best for you. If you need higher resolution copies of the diagrams, get back to me (E-mail addy in my sig, below.)

Print off about 100 copies (Or, print off one good copy and take it to a quicky printing place for duplication in quantity.)

Enjoy your little, 8-legged, public celebrity!