Overview: Art activities make a great follow-up to the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Below, you will find several art activities to choose from that feature one or more elements from the story. Students will love creating the loveable caterpillar from the story all while building their vocabulary, deepening their understanding of living things, and strengthening their fine motor skills. Enjoy these simple art projects that use multiple textures.
Recommended Grade Level(s): Preschool, Pre-K, Kindergarten, First
Egg Carton Caterpillars
Materials:
- Cardboard egg cartons (Take one egg carton and cut in half length-wise where the eggs would sit in to make two cardboard strips. Each rounded strip will be a caterpillar. Plan ahead and ask parents to donate.)
- Green washable paint
- Red washable paint
- Smocks
- Paintbrushes
- Purple pipe cleaners cut in half (1 half per child)
- Small wiggly eyes (2 per child)
- Liquid glue
Procedure:
- Paint the egg carton green reserving the first rounded part to be the head. Paint hat one red. Let dry.
- Push red pipe cleaner into the front of the egg carton (where you want the face to be) just above where the right eye will go. Then, from the underside of the carton, push the red pipe cleaner through to the front-side just above where the right eye will be.
- Glue wiggly eyes to the front of the egg carton where you want the face to be.
- Draw a smile on the face.
"C" is for Caterpillar
Materials:
- Letter C printable (1 per child)
- Green, red, and purple markers (or various colors if you want to allow for total freedom)
- Small wiggly eyes (2 per child)
- Various colors of tissue paper cut into small circles (or squares)
- Glue sticks
Procedure:
- Color letter c green, antennae purple, and face (circle) red.
- Glue on wiggly eyes to face.
- Glue antennae to the backside of the face so that they are sticking up from the head.
- Glue tissue paper shapes to the body.
Very Hungry Caterpillar Habitats
Materials:
- Empty plastic jars with lids (peanut butter ones work great-plan ahead and ask parents to donate)
- Red pompoms
- Green pompoms
- Small wiggly eyes (2 per child)
- Leaf printout (2 leaves per child)
- Tacky glue
Procedure:
- Paint the egg carton green reserving the first rounded part to be the head. Paint hat one red. Let dry.
- Push red pipe cleaner into the front of the egg carton (where you want the face to be) just above where the right eye will go. Then, from the underside of the carton, push the red pipe cleaner through to the front-side just above where the right eye will be.
- Glue wiggly eyes to the front of the egg carton where you want the face to be.
- Draw a smile on the face.
Fingerprint Caterpillars
Materials:
- Green washable paints--one light green and one darker green (add white to an existing green paint to make it lighter or black to make a darker one)
- Red washable paint
- Yellow washable paint
- Small, shallow cups for paint (applesauce cups are perfect)
- Smocks
- 3-5 new #2 pencils
- Purple pipe cleaners cut in 2 in. strips (2 strips per child)
- Liquid glue
- Leaf cutouts (1 per student)
Procedure:
- Cut out leaf.
- Paint leaf using one of the green paint colors. Let dry.
- Using the other green paint color, students use their index finger to dip into the paint and then place their finger on their leaf. About 5 fingerprints are made to form a caterpillar. The final fingerprint is used for the head and should be red in color. Let dry.
- Using the eraser from a #2 pencil, dip into yellow paint to form two eyes and a nose for the caterpillar.
- Glue purple pipe cleaner pieces above the eyes to place the antennae.
