Kiddin' Around: Up close with the tarantulas at the Academy of Natural Sciences
Tarantulas: Alive and Up Close The long: In a dimly lit gallery next to the Academy of Natural Sciences' butterfly room, 20 hairy, crawly, colorful eight-legged species of the world's largest spiders quietly lurk behind thick panes of glass, spinning webs, digging holes and eating crickets.
Tarantulas: Alive and Up Close
The long: In a dimly lit gallery next to the Academy of Natural Sciences' butterfly room, 20 hairy, crawly, colorful eight-legged species of the world's largest spiders quietly lurk behind thick panes of glass, spinning webs, digging holes and eating crickets.
The short: Sounds creepy but it looks lovely.
The demo: Grade school on up.
Big kids: Will love seeking and finding crawlers hiding behind logs and buried beneath dirt. Don't miss the bird-eating Goliath tarantula, or the stunning Chilean rose tarantula.
Little ones: Prefer to push the buttons on the light-up map of tarantula habitats, dress up like a spider, or stick their hands under a powerful microscope.
The advice: Borrow a flashlight at the entrance (or BYO). Large spiders tend to hide in small, dark spaces.
The good news: None of these species hails from Philly.
The discount: Save $2 by entering the code SPIDERCARD when buying tickets online.
The basics: 1900 Ben Franklin Parkway, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, $13.95-$17.95 (free under age 3), additional $5 for the exhibit, 215-299-1000, ansp.org.
Lauren McCutcheon's 3-year-old likes Spider-Man. Tarantulas, not so much.