Look at any 2 year old digging around in the dirt and notice how they will happily pick up and examine spiders and other “creepy crawlies” with their bare hands. They haven’t learned from society as a whole that they’re supposed to be weirded out or afraid of these things.
We tried so hard to raise our kids to not be afraid of spiders, and to decide for themselves whether they had a preference for blue or pink, dolls or cars etc. But none of that effort survived contact with their extended family or starting school.
At least for the spider thing we’re having some success with unlearning that fear. When it’s a choice between spiders in their room or mosquitoes, they’re choosing the spiders.
It was the face peeling scene for me. Took months to get over that!