Anansi the Spider

The stories of Anansi and his cunning ways have been shared among such peoples as the Ashanti and the Zulu of Africa.  Anansi is so clever that he has managed to trick Nyame, the Sky God, out of his stories; he has caused many animals to become and remain enemies even to today.  Anansi has stolen food, goods and has even tried to harbour all the wisdom of the world and hide it in the top of a tree. During African-American history month this year, why not study the journeys and habits of Anansi the Spider.  Take your children on an African Safari wherein they meet the animals Anansi tricked with a moss-covered rock.  Tell them of how Anansi's six sons saved him from the belly of a fish.  Why not illustrate how unfortunate greediness can be by sharing the story of Anansi and the Turtle or Why Spiders Have Small Waists? By exploring these stories, you may cover African animals, character building, multiplication and division, spiders, African countries and tribes and much more. Try these funny stories about Anansi and have your students write and illustrate their own Anansi stories.  Each story can be pasted onto colored construction paper.  On the other side, use glue to make a spider's web.  Cover the web with yarn.  Have the children use gitter, beans or markers to write their story's title within the web. Anansi Does the Impossible by Verna Aardema Anansi Goes Fishing by Eric Kimmel Anansi and the Talking Melon by Eric Kimmel Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock by Eric Kimmel Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott These are just a start!

February 2002