Eric Carle’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of those all-time favorite books that kids can’t get enough of. And it’s one that I don’t mind reading over and over. Today I want to share with you a Very Hungry Caterpillar craft that will add even more fun to this beloved story! The Very Hungry Caterpillar craft is a great way for little learners to practice fine motor skills and a fun activity you and your child can do together. Your little one will have so much fun crafting with you and it’s a creative way to spend some quality time together! When your adorable caterpillar and his food are finished, your child can use the pieces as props to retell the story, or to follow along with hands-on play while you read to her. In this post I will give you the free template for The Very Hungry Caterpillar craft and instructions on how to make it. Read on to make your own cute craft for The Very Hungry Caterpillar!
Materials you will need forThe Very Hungry Caterpillar craft:
- Stiffened felt in an assortment of colors (I recommend red, yellow, light and medium green, light and dark blue, pink, and light and dark brown). Note: while most craft and fabric stores carry stiffened felt, usually the colors available are limited. If you can’t find the colors you want, you can find packs of felt on Amazon that give you a good assortment. They range from about $7-12. This pack has all the colors you need. You should be able to make multiple sets with it. You can also use construction paper or cardstock as an alternative if you do not want to use felt. I would recommend laminating it for durability.
- 10 (10 mm) green wooden beads per caterpillar. You can use larger or smaller beads if you prefer. If you use larger beads you will also want to use a larger hole punch to make the holes in the food. You can find the wooden beads on Amazon if your craft store does not carry them. I purchased an assortment of colors and just used the green and red ones so that I didn’t have to buy two packs of beads. This is the assortment that I used (from Amazon).
- 1 (10 mm) red wooden bead per caterpillar.
- About 10 inches of green string or embroidery floss per caterpillar – make sure it is good and strong! You could also use pipe cleaners instead.
- Colored permanent markers – these are for adding details to the food and a face to the caterpillar.
- A .5 inch hole punch (this is NOT the standard size of hole punch used for paper)
- Hot glue gun and hot glue or a strong craft or fabric glue
- Free printable template for the caterpillar’s food (below)
Instructions for The Very Hungry Caterpillar Craft
To Make the Caterpillar Food:
- Print the templates for The Very Hungry Caterpillar craft. There are two templates for the food. You can find the free printables below.
- Cut out pattern pieces for the caterpillar’s food. This is great fine motor practice for your child if he or she is ready for that.
- Trace the patterns onto the appropriate colors of stiffened felt or paper, then cut them out. I recommend using nice sharp scissors.
- Glue the parts of the food together. You can use Tacky Glue or another strong craft or fabric glue for this, but hot glue will hold them together better. Older kids will love to do this part!
- Next, punch a hole in each of the food items for the caterpillar to “eat” though. This step might be a little difficult for young children, depending on how thick your felt is. It does make your hands a bit tired! My young kids liked picking out the holes after I punched them!
- Finally, use colored permanent markers to add embellishments such as seeds on the watermelon and strawberries, a criss-cross pattern on the ice cream cone, lines on the cupcake wrapper, cherries in the pie filling, and a swirl on the lollipop. This is a great step for kids to do on their own!
Now the food is done!
Now comes the part that little hands will love to do – the cute little caterpillar!
To Make the Caterpillar:
- Thread your green string through the needle.
- Thread the red bead onto the string and pull it to the center of the string. This is the caterpillar’s head.
- Now, fold the string in half with the red bead at one end. Thread both ends of the string through the needle.
- Next, thread 9 of the green beads onto the string to make the caterpillar body. This is a great chance for younger children to help!
- Now separate the two strands of the string again and remove one strand from the needle. Thread the last green bead onto the strand that is still on the needle.
- Pull the 10th green bead tight to the other beads.
- Now bring the two strands of string back together and tie them securely in a knot.
- Thread both ends of the string back into the needle, and thread the tail of the string back through the 3 beads at the end of the caterpillar in order to hide the string. Cut off the end of the string.
- If you prefer, you could thread the beads onto a pipe cleaner instead of string. If you choose this option, I recommend gluing the first and last bead to the pipe cleaner to keep the beads from falling off.
- Now your caterpillar just needs a face and he’s done!
- Use a permanent marker to draw the caterpillar’s face on the red bead. If your beads are big enough, you can glue on googly eyes for a little extra fun.
- Look at that cute caterpillar!
- Now your caterpillar is ready to act out the story in a fun way and “eat” through all the food you made! You can use the caterpillar and food pieces along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar book to practice colors, counting, sequencing and more! Lots of educational activities can be done with this fun craft and classic book.
I hope you enjoyed making The Very Hungry Caterpillar craft. Thank you for visiting!
Check out these posts for more fun crafts for picture books for young readers!
6 thoughts on “Interactive The Very Hungry Caterpillar Craft (FREE Template!)”