Grade: K-2
Age: 4-7

Submitted by: Trish Wade, a teacher at Geebung Primary School in Brisbane, Australia.

Learning Objectives:

• Students will read the Eric Carle Book (or watch the video): The Very Hungry Caterpillar as they learn about counting and the days of the week.

• Students will become aware of the illustrating style of Eric Carle as they create a "days of the week" caterpillar.

• Students will learn to appreciate the art created not only by them, but by others as well.

Vocabulary:

What You Need:

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar BOOK and/or VIDEO
• Nine large circles of posterboard
• Large posterboard leaf
• Two large rectangles of posterboard
• White tissue paper
• Crayons
• Magazine pictures
• A label for each day of the week

What You Do:

1. Watch the video or read the book.

2. On one circle, draw the caterpillar's face.

3. On the other seven, draw line-drawings of the what the caterpillar ate on the first six days and on the last day. Make sure to include the holes the caterpillar made.

4. On the last circle, make a collage of magazine pictures showing the 'people food' the caterpillar ate on the second-last day.

5. Assemble the caterpillar in the correct order. Add the day-name tags to the correct places.

6. On the leaf cut-out, make an egg by collaging rolled-up balls of tissue onto a circle outline.

7. Use the colors of the foods the caterpillar ate to completely color in the two large rectangles of card.

8. Cut out wings for the butterfly. Add it to your display. (We also had the children make paint-splat butterflies - fold paint inside a single sheet of paper - and we added a little glitter to the butterfly wings!)

9. Have the children color the circles.

Resources:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: VIDEO

Eric Carle: Official Website
Meet Eric Carle, see all of his books and ask him questions too ...