"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" Teaching Projects
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle is an engaging story for young children. Help kids connect the story to different areas of your curriculum with engaging thematic activities. You can practice graphing and measurement after reading the book. You can also practice the days of the week and retelling a story. Children also will enjoy creating their own pieces of writing related to "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."
-
Stomachache Writing
-
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" features a caterpillar who eats so much that he gets a stomachache before he turns into a butterfly. Create a list with the children about which foods would give them a stomachache. Using that list, ask the children to write a sentence about foods that would give them a stomachache. For more guided writing, provide a template, such as "(Child's name) ate ______, ______ and _______. That night, (child's name) had a stomachache." Have the children illustrate their writing and create a class book of stories.
Measurement
-
The caterpillar in "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" grows longer throughout the story as he changes into a butterfly. This can lead into an exploration of length and measurement using caterpillars. Create several sets of eight construction paper caterpillars of different lengths. Write the lengths of each caterpillar on an index card. Place each set of eight caterpillars and the matching index cards in a plastic bag. Divide the children into small groups and give each group a bag and a ruler. Each group will measure the caterpillars and match them to the correct index card.
-
Graphing
-
Extend the reading of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" with a graph of the children's favorite foods. After reading the story, discuss the foods the caterpillar ate and make a list of the foods on a piece of chart paper or a whiteboard. Give each child a sticky note and have him go back to his seat to record his favorite food eaten by the hungry caterpillar. You can have young children draw a picture of the food instead of writing the word. On a piece of chart paper or poster board, make a class graph of favorite foods by having the children post their sticky notes on the graph. The sticky notes will be used instead of coloring in boxes of the graph.
Days of the Week
-
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" is an effective way to teach young children about the days of the week. Make a copy of the different foods the caterpillar ate throughout the week. Write the days of the week on index cards or sentence strips. You can place a magnet on the back of the days and the week and the foods for easy display on a magnetic board. You can also use tape for easy display on a poster board or piece of chart paper. After reading the story, have children sequence the food eaten by the caterpillar by placing the food pictures in order under the days of the week. Children can practice retelling the story using the picture clues.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/liquidlibrary/Getty Images
