Materials
Assorted colors of contact paper
Seashell patterns
Pencil
Scissors
Sand
Sand and water table
Shovels and buckets
Instructions
1. Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to the children.
2. Cut out leaves about 8" to 12" (20 cm x 30 cm) long from dark green
construction paper, one for each child, resembling the leaf in the book.
3. Punch holes into the middle of each leaf until they look like they've been
eaten through to resemble the leaf at the end of the story.
4. Cut out circles from red construction paper. These will be the caterpillar
heads. Give one red circle to each child.
5. Cut out circles from light green and dark green paper of the same size. Give
two of each color to each child. These will be for the caterpillar's body.
6. Encourage the children to glue their circles onto their leaf to form a
caterpillar's body.
7. Give the children black markers and encourage them to draw eyes, antennae,
and feet on the caterpillar while looking at a picture from the book.
8. Display them on a precut tree or anywhere in the room.
More to do
Science and Nature: Bring in caterpillars for the children to examine. When
collecting caterpillars, notice where they are and what they might have been
eating, so that you can provide an appropriate habitat for them. Put a small
amount of water inside a large jar with a hole-punched lid. Encourage the
children to watch the caterpillars eat, move, rest, and so on, using magnifying
glasses. Only keep the caterpillars as long as they are healthy and eating or until
they have hatched from cocoons. (The caterpillars don't always make a cocoon,
but sometimes it happens.)
