Free Printable Concept Map and Spider Map Templates

About these concept map and spider map handouts

A concept map shows how ideas connect, using lines with linking words between boxes or ovals. Joseph Novak and his research team at Cornell developed concept mapping beginning in the 1970s to show what students knew about science. The linking words are the most valuable part, because a student who writes causes, includes or depends on is stating a relationship, not just naming a topic.

The web version puts the main concept in the center with six surrounding ideas, small boxes on every line for linking words, and two dashed cross-links for connections between neighbors. The spider map is simpler: a topic in the body, with six legs leading to category boxes, each with writing lines. The hierarchy puts the general concept at the top and moves to specific ideas, with linking boxes on each branch. The lined version surrounds a central idea with four large writing areas for students who prefer notes to diagrams.

Use the maps to plan an essay, review a unit or take notes from a text. Type the central concept in the Subject box to print it in the center of the page.

How to use them

1. Choose the map that matches your task: web for relationships, spider for categories, hierarchy for levels, lined for notes.
2. Type the central idea in the Subject box and print.
3. Write the related ideas in the ovals or boxes.
4. Add linking words on the lines between ideas.
5. Read each link as a sentence to check it makes sense.

Classroom tips

• Ask students to add a cross-link between two ideas on different branches; it is often the best evidence of understanding.
• Use verbs for linking words, such as causes, needs and includes.
• Have students redo the same map a week later without notes and compare.
• Start with the spider map for younger students and move to the web in later grades.

Where the facts come from

• Wikipedia: Concept mapping developed by Joseph Novak's research team at Cornell beginning in the 1970s

Last reviewed 2026-10-03. Handout Hero designs are original and made for this site. They are general reference material; check your own school, district or tradition where it matters.