The ever popular children’s book, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” By Eric Carle recently celebrated it’s 50th Birthday! Loved by children of all ages, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an excellent support for toddler and preschool age children learning color recognition, days of the week, exploring types of food and of course, talking about bugs! The beautiful illustrations also introduce a complete butterfly lifecycle!
What all can we learn from “The Very Hungry Caterpillar?” Let these preschoolers show you!
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These preschool artists had fun creating their own caterpillars in this fun activity using balloons! While doing the project we had the opportunity to discuss the foods the caterpillar ate and chart them. We then charted what friends in the classroom also liked those foods and studied the results! The majority of the class agreed that the hungry caterpillar had very good taste!
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To create their caterpillars, preschoolers each dipped a baloon into paint and pressed it down onto a piece of paper. Together we cut out circle for the eyes and formed pipe cleaners into antennas. “How many legs does a caterpillar have?” The teacher asked, and together we counted and drew legs on each caterpillar.
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The end result!
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Gross and Fine Motor SkillsÂ
Picking up a balloon, holding it steady, dipping it in paint and pressing it onto a piece of paper to follow a pattern all help to develop a preschooler’s motor skills!
Color RecognitionÂ
Books written by Eric Carle feature beautiful vibrant colors that catch your eye and fuel your imagination! We had the opportunity to discuss all the colors represented in “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and focus on variations of red and green for our projects!
Number Recognition & Rote Counting
How many legs does a caterpillar have? How many segments are in the caterpillar? How many different foods did the caterpillar eat? This activity provided us with multiple opportunities to practice basic math skills!
Discuss Shapes
Many foods and different objects in the book are shaped similar to shapes we are already discussing in our lesson plans. Together we pointed out shapes in the book and discussed their similarities.
Explore New FoodsÂ
Talking about the different foods the caterpillar ate in the story gave our preschoolers a chance to practice new language. If there were foods mentioned that a classmate had never tried before, we worked together to explain that that food tasted like!
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Check out some more “Very Hungry Caterpillar” activities!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Fruit Pizza by A Little Pinch of Perfect
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Sorting Activity by Parenting Chaos
Check out our post “Parent’s Guide To Building Your Family Library!”https://vcclc.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Very-Hungry-CaterpiLlar.pnghttps://vcclc.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Very-Hungry-CaterpiLlar-2.jpghttps://vcclc.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Very-Hungry-CaterpiLlar-1.png