COMPLETE GUIDE to Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities for Pre-K
Stop your search! Keep reading for your COMPLETE GUIDE to spring lesson plans for pre-k using The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is an absolute must to have in every pre-k aged classroom or home library!
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Fun fact: March 20th is Very Hungry Caterpillar Day in honor of this spectacular children’s book!!
In case you aren’t familiar with this book, here’s a quick recap:
On a sunny Sunday, a little caterpillar hatches out of a small egg. The caterpillar is so hungry. Throughout the week, he eats through an apple, plums, swiss cheese, cake, and so much more! He eats and eats until he is finally full. At the end of the week, he makes a cocoon around himself and falls asleep. When he wakes up, he emerges from the cocoon as a beautiful butterfly!
I love reading this to my preschool friends. They patiently wait (okay, as patiently as any preschooler can!) to see what the caterpillar will eat next and what will happen to him as he eats his way through the story. The colorful illustrations and physical holes found throughout the pages keep little eyes glued to each page. The giggles, wiggles, and pointing are contagious. The joy I receive from watching my little learners love books truly takes my pre-k heart “up and away”!
You will definitely want to incorporate this classic children’s book into your spring plans this year.
Activities
My favorite way to incorporate The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is to make an entire WEEK about it… cue “Very Hungry Caterpillar Week”
It’s also fun to have a “centers day” and rotate through several caterpillar-themed activities with small groups of kiddos if an entire week doesn’t work for your class or little one.
Either way, you can easily expand the book and focus on a variety of preschool skills. Rest assured that all the fun will be providing more learning opportunities than you can count.
Reading/Language
Name Caterpillars
Build and practice names, CVC words, or sight words. Differentiate this activity to target the needs of each of your students. (If you choose to work on names, this ends up as a great keepsake item to send home to parents!)
Caterpillar Retelling Craft
Students use pieces to retell the story and practice sequencing while also building vocabulary and fine motor skills. It’s super low-prep with one large caterpillar head and 7 food pictures to use for retelling.
Caterpillar I Have, Who Has Game
Work on social skills, game play skills, building vocabulary, sequencing, and classroom community while playing this activity. Three different game versions are included (mixed pictures, sequenced pictures, and quick game version). Color and B&W printing options are available for easy prep!
Fine Motor Skills
Caterpillar Hat Craft
Your preschoolers will enjoy creating a caterpillar hat and practicing essential fine motor skills at the same time as they cut, glue, and place pieces together.
Basic instructions are also a key part of this activity. Repeated exposure and practice to foundational pre-k skills like these are sure to help prepare your little one for kindergarten success!
p.s. it’s SUPER CUTE!!!
Math
Counting Caterpillar Food Freebie
Grab this freebie to practice counting, cutting, gluing, and coloring. Both 1-5 and 6-10 come in the set, so you can differentiate and target the needs of your learners while still working on the same activity.
Caterpillar Roll & Graph Math Game
In this game, students roll dice and graph to see what caterpillar or fruit wins (printable dice included). Word recognition, object identification, counting, graphing, and color matching are all addressed in this game.
Caterpillar Patterns
Build caterpillar patterns with pom-poms, popsicle sticks, and water bottle caps. Keep the caps blank, or add dot stickers to help guide the pattern colors.
Science
Butterfly Life Cycle Craft
Highlight the basic concepts of the butterfly life cycle using these pictures. Cut and glue onto a paper plate or strip of paper, attach the pieces in order on a string, or make into a hat.
More ideas
Themed snacks
Grab a few foods the hungry caterpillar ate through in the book to enjoy during snack time. Invite your children to have a few bites. Talk about different flavors, textures, colors, and more!
Playdough
Use playdough to let little ones build their own caterpillars and foods.
Outside adventure
Explore outside for caterpillars, cocoons, and butterflies. Be careful not to disturb them in their natural habitats, but take time to discuss where you found them, what they look like, and how they move.
Your little learners are such to have a blast with these Hungry Caterpillar related activities. Tag me on IG @upandawayinprek and be featured in my stories!
You might also be interested in:
Teach the Alphabet to Preschoolers
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