Epic 3-in-1 story time: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities
Free Download:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Scavenger Hunt
Do you want an activity that lasts longer than 5 minutes?
Do you want an activity where the set up is part of the fun?
Do you want to an activity that is suitable for different ages?
Then this is just for you!
✔ This activity based on ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ is a 3-in-1 activity, meaning you can make it last for a bigger chunk of time, or alternatively you can spread it out over a few days!
✔ There are crafty parts involved in the set up which means your little ones can join in the creation!
✔ There are lots of different ways you can play the very hungry caterpillar scavenger hunt in order to adapt it to your child’s age or make it possible to play with siblings of different ages together – something which is a big plus in our house!
With The Very Hungry Caterpillar printable activities for an indoor scavenger hunt preschool children will love, and a Very Hungry Caterpillar Craft Preschool children will adore – these 3 the very hungry caterpillar activities are the perfect toddler or preschool activity for the home – so let’s get to it!
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If you’re child has a favourite book or Author, or just something that they are generally obsessed with(!) then check out the ‘Book of Play’ – custom made play ideas for you and your little one – save time on the prep and get straight to the play!
Creating The Very Hungry Caterpillar
For this activity you are going to need The Very Hungry Caterpillar head – don’t worry this is super easy to make and your little ones will be able to help in creating him too 🙂
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Craft Supplies
- Large cardboard box
- PVA glue
- Red paper
- Purple felt (or card)
- Yellow and green card)
How to make The Very Hungry Caterpillar Head
Grown up parts:
- Cut a large circle out of cardboard (if you don’t have a box big enough then you could tape two together and join with some extra pieces of card to stop it bending in the middle)
- Cut a hole for the mouth in the bottom half
- Cut up the red paper into small squares (if you want this to last a while then make the squares quite small – for younger children you will probably be best with larger ones)
- Cut out nose, eyes and ears with the foam or cardboard as seen in the photo above
- Cut out two long cardboard strips to support the ears at the back (see photo)
Little helper parts:
- Using PVA glue and a paint brush or glue spreader, cover the large cardboard circle with red paper (you may have to trim the edges afterwards)
- Stick on the eyes and nose with PVA glue – the ears can either be glued on or to make them more secure, staple them to the cardboard strips you cut our earlier to help them stand up straight
That completes part 1 of the activity – you can leave him to dry whilst you move on to part 2…
If you like The Very Hungry Caterpillar Craft Don’t forget to pin it so you don’t lose it! Next we’re moving on to The Very Hungry Caterpillar Printable Activities :
Free Download:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Scavenger Hunt
We’ve got our caterpillar head – now we need some food! For the 2nd part of this activity, we are going on an indoor scavenger hunt to find all the food we will need for The Very Hungry Caterpillar Printable Activities!
Setting up your food Scavenger Hunt
Firstly you will need to decide if you are going to use toy foods or whether you will need to use balls (the kind you get in a ball pool) and label them by cutting out the pictures from the very hungry caterpillar printables scavenger hunt above – you could do a mixture!
- Print off the Indoor Scavenger Hunt Sheet (depending on the age of your child you can choose between words or pictures – or combine the two)
- Let you little ones have fun collecting all their ‘foods’ in a basket or making a pile on the rug! (if you have older children you can make this more of a challenge by coming up with some clues as to where you have hidden certain foods)
Once you have collected all of your food it is time to move on to part 3 of the very hungry caterpillar activities!
Time to Feed The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities!
So you’ve made you’re caterpillar, you’ve gathered up your food and now it’s time to do some sorting before finally feeding your caterpillar (the bit you’ve all being waiting for I’m sure!!) So let’s take a look at the hungry caterpillar sorting activity
Hungry Caterpillar Sorting Activity
This part of the activity can be adapted to your child’s age and ability with a range of difficulty
- Healthy Foods  – using two plates, separate the foods into what you might consider healthy foods and non-healthy foods (this is a great opportunity to talk about the importance of all foods in moderation and help you little one understand the importance of healthy foods)
- Foods that are grown – for older children you could ask them to think about which foods grow on trees or in the ground
- Foods you have tried – you could sort into two piles of food you have tried, and foods you haven’t – this might be an incentive to try some foods your child would normally avoid!
- Days of the week – Use the story to help work out which foods should go on which days, this is great for helping to visualise what has happened in the story, you could do it as you read through the story together
Once you played your hungry caterpillar sorting activity you can now move on to feeding the Very Hungry Caterpillar!
Find a space to prop him up and get straight to it!
You can feed him however you like – this is a good opportunity to see if your child recognises certain foods by shouting them out and having them find them and throw them into the mouth of the caterpillar
You could also use your hungry caterpillar sorting activity to decide what to feed him or you could just let your little one have a go and see how many they can get in from a distance!
Why not try downloading the Audio story on Amazon to go alongside the activity – when you sign up for an Audible account you get 1 free book – or you can purchase this book and save your credit 🙂
Your 3-in-1 Hungry Caterpillar Activity Re-cap
- Create The Very Hungry Caterpillar Head
- Gather all of your ‘food’ together using the scavenger hunt provided
- Sort your food with the hungry caterpillar sorting activity and then feed The Very Hungry Caterpillar until he is full!
So there you have it! A 3-in-1 activity to keep your little ones creative and busy!
If you do have a go at making the very hungry caterpillar then I would love to see them – you can share them in the comments below, or tag me on Instagram and Pinterest using the hashtag #hungrycaterpillarfeedingfrenzy
Happy Feeding Time!
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Louisa | Mum’s Creative Cupboard
