(tot school tuesday) caterpillar crafts

Last week’s Tot School, inspired by one of Logan’s favorite books, was such a hit that I decided to use another favorite book for inspiration this week. This week was all about The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I think I might keep going with these book lesson plans, they’re fun to create! One of Logan’s neighborhood friends, Kinley (1 1/2 years old) joined us this time around. It’s a little more challenging keeping 2 children on task, but I just went with the flow and we played in between activities (plus themed snacks helped). I’m starting a big Tot School Tuesday binder, so I can reuse the lessons with Logan and future kiddos, which is why I try to laminate or use materials like felt in my lessons. What do you do with all of your old materials?

Activity 1: Caterpillar Lacing

(learning objective: fine motor skills, sequencing, color recognition, counting)

Materials

8 1/2 x 11 Red, Green, Orange, Blue Felt Sheets
Green Pipe Cleaner
Hole Puncher
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Book

Instructions

Cut out 1 apple, 2 pears, 3 plums, 4 strawberries and 5 oranges out of felt. I hand drew my own stencils out of cardstock, but you can also use stencils or find free clip art online to help you with the shapes. Punch a hole through the center of each felt fruit. As you read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, have your child lace the felt fruit onto the green “caterpillar” pipe cleaner in order of them appearing in the book. Review the colors of the fruit with your child.

Activity 2: Caterpillar Finger Prints

(learning objective: identify the color red & green, counting)

Materials

Red & Green Stamp Pads
Black Marker
White Cardstock

Instructions

Dip your child’s pointer finger in red ink and press down on cardstock. Have a wipe available to wipe off the ink. Dip your child’s pointer finger in green ink and press next to the red caterpillar head several times to make the caterpillar’s body. As you are pressing your child’s finger down you can talk about the colors and count the number of times you press their finger down. Using a black marker, you can draw a face, feet and antennas on the caterpillar.

Activity 3: Caterpillar Color Sorting

(learning objective: identify and sort colors, counting)

Materials

Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue & Pink Scrapbook or Construction Paper
Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue & Pink Pom Poms
Black Pipe Cleaner
Black Marker
Scissors
Glue

Instructions

Cut approximately 4 inch circles out of the red, yellow, orange, green, blue & pink paper. Glue circles overlapping each other in a row, as shown in the photo below. Draw a face on the first circle and attach black pipe cleaner antennas using glue. Give your child the colorful caterpillar and coordinating pom poms. Have them place each pom pom onto the matching color circle, reviewing colors as you go. You can also count the number of circles with your child.

Activity 4: Caterpillar Snacks

(learning objective: sequencing, counting, identifying colors)

Materials

5 White Paper Cups (found at The TomKat Studio)
Green Ribbon
Hole Puncher
Black Pipe Cleaner
Glue
Red, Yellow, Green, Black Felt
Apple, Pear, Plum, Strawberries, Orange
Straw

Instructions

Punch 2 holes in 3 cups and 1 hole in the 2 remaining cups. Tie together using green ribbon. Make a caterpillar face out of felt and antennas out of a black pipe cleaner, glue to the first cup. Peel/slice fruit and punch a hole through the fruits using a straw. Place apples in the first cup, then pears, plums, strawberries and oranges in the following cups. You can read The Very Hungry Caterpillar during snack time and encourage counting and naming colors.

Link up your Tot School Tuesday activities here! Tot School Tuesday is all about teaching your child something in a fun and playful way. Blog along with me every Tuesday and link up your ideas here. They can be original ideas or something you saw online (just make sure to give credit to the person who came up with the idea).

“Tot School Tuesday” rules:

• Tot School related blog post links only please. Links to shops, giveaways and products will be deleted.
• Link directly to your Tot School post, not just your blog.
• Please link to See Vanessa Craft somewhere on your post or grab a “Tot School Tuesday” button and link it back to www.seevanessacraft.com.