1-2-3 Come Feed The Very Hungry Caterpillar With Me!

Because Eric Carle’s story, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” lends itself to “feeding” a caterpillar, I designed “Mr. Munch” as a quick, easy and super-fun way to review not just the story, but all sorts of standards!

“My caterpillar’s hungry. His name is Mr. Munch. He likes to eat all sorts of things, especially for lunch”. Is the poster poem I start the lesson with.

After reading the story, I pass out the life cycle of a butterfly cards, as well as the food cards to my students.

My Y5s absolutely love sequencing and retelling the story “feeding” Mr. Munch, as they drop the cards into his “mouth” in the appropriate order.

Simply attach the caterpillar pattern to the top of a Kleenex box, or large, ZipLock Baggie.

There are 2 caterpillar head options, with 3 size choices.

I included a small, 4-on-a-page size, so students can make their own very hungry caterpillar, which they attach to a ZipLock Baggie.

This is an inexpensive and fun way for them to practice reading words to a classmate or reading buddy. 

Each time they play, run off a different set of word cards on a different color paper.

In the end they’ll have a Baggie full of words that they can read, and a nifty activity to take home for more practice during the summer. 

They can also pull X amount of cards from their caterpillar’s “belly” to do the various “word-apillar” worksheets with.

In addition to “feeding” the caterpillar, you can use the cards in a ton of other ways; as the versatility of the cards makes them adaptable for games, centers, and assessing.

I’ve included a tip list of ideas, including my students’ favorite “Kaboom” game, plus 15 worksheets”, which are perfect for Daily 5, table top lessons, a sub folder, early finishers, or homework.

Besides the cards that directly relate to the story (life cycle & food) I’ve also included:

* A set of days of the week cards
* 2D shape cards, with matching shape words, with 13 options.

* Time to the hour and half hour analog clock cards, with a blank set to program with additional times.

* Number word cards from 0-22
* Number cards from 0-140, with a blank set of caterpillar cards to program with more numbers, as well as an odd & even sorting mat.

* Math symbol cards(+ — = < > ), so children can make equations
* A set of ordinal number food cards

* Alphabet cards showing both upper & lowercase letters, as well as separate cards for each.
* Mini word cards for ALL of the Dolch word lists. Each set has its own graphic so they are easy to sort.

* 570 mini, long & short vowel word cards (60 on 1 page) with a sorting mat and sorting cup game.

* Word family cards for 22 word families, with blanks to program more. Plus…

* Butterfly color cards, with matching color words

*“The Caterpillar Creeps” game, plus ...
* Each set of cards comes with a matching “Itty Bitty” booklet.

It took almost a month of work to complete The Very Hungry Caterpillar packet!

However, I felt it was time well spent, as the versatility makes this something you can do throughout the year, hauling out your hungry caterpillar anytime you want to reinforce and practice all sorts of things. 

Since Mother's Day is just around the corner, today's FREEBIE is a quick, easy & fun Mother's Day "keepsake" craftivity made with a child's fingerprints.

Here's the poem that's part of the card:

"I've left some little fingerprints on just about every wall.  On furniture, doors and windows, I've really marked them all.  Here are some that won't rub off, to remember when I was small.  Because I'll love you forever, even when I'm big and tall."

Well that's it for today. I have an entire pile of weather activities I want to get done, so it's lucky the current weather is chilly and not providing a temptation to be outside playing in my garden.

Wishing you a stress-free day filled with everything you enjoy the most.

"A Mother's heart is the child's classroom." -Henry Ward Beecher

1-2-3 Come Do Some More Butterfly & Caterpillar Activities With Me 

Is April flying by for you too? Here are a few more super-fun butterfly & caterpillar activities that practice a variety of standards.

Since the apple & pumpkin-shaped number puzzles were such a huge hit in fall, I decided to make some butterfly-shaped ones for a springtime center.

The puzzles help reinforce sequencing numbers, counting from 1-10, 11-20, as well as counting backwards from 10-1, plus skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s.

For something new, I've also included a set of alphabet letter puzzles as well. (Aa-Jj, Kk-Tt, Qq-Zz) 

Choose which puzzles are appropriate for your students. Print on a variety of colors of construction paper or card stock. Trim and keep in their own Ziplock Baggie in your math & alphabet centers.  These are also fun for your students to make one of their own. 

Have them trace & write the numbers/letters then trim. They can pick a partner and play "Speed Sequence" with them, to see who will be the first to complete their butterfly. 

Besides these "shape" puzzles, another packet includes 50 regular number puzzles for The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Some are vertical, others horizontal.  They come in color plus black and white and are a super-fun way to review Eric Carle's story, as well as practice the life cycle of a butterfly.

Another math center activity featuring The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a 10 frames game, which reinforces numbers 1-10, number words, groups/sets, and addition.

Children pick a partner and take turns rolling one dice to fill in 10 frames 1-6; then use two dice, and add them together, to fill in 10 frames 7-10.

Before starting the game, children number the body segments. To reinforce number words, have them write the number above the 10 frame and the number word underneath.

If a child rolls an 11 or 12 they get to draw facial features on their caterpillar's head. The first one who completes their caterpillar is the winner.

Each month I do a glyph with my students, so I designed a butterfly one for April. 

Glyphs are a quick, easy and fun way to get to know your students better, at the same time practice listening and following directions. 

Because each glyph is different, they make a terrific bulletin board display.  No matter what grade I taught, my kiddos absolutely LOVED making glyphs.

In April I'm also trying to get my students to improve their writing by using adjectives, which help make sentences "come alive" because they are more descriptive. 

Caterpillars and butterflies are a perfect vehicle for that, thus the reason behind the "print & go" Butterfly Caterpillar Adjective Worksheets, great for Daily 5 word work, or your writing block.  

I’ve included 28 photographs of real caterpillars, along with an assortment of 32 butterfly photos. There are 4 on a page. Choose your favorites, print, laminate & trim, then have students take a look and pass them around.

Afterwards, discuss what an adjective is, and brainstorm a list of words that describe caterpillars and butterflies. Students then write as many words as they want on each of the worksheets.

Remind students to color the pictures, then include those words on their worksheet as well.   I've also included a "trace, cut & glue" option for younger students.

For more word work practice, after students complete their worksheets, have them write some sentences on the 8 choices of “stationery” provided, using the adjectives that they thought of. 

Finally, to practice colors and color words, I designed a 3D Caterpillar Paper Chain Craft.

I’ve included word strips for all of the colors pictured, plus optional spellings for gray & grey. 

Completed projects look fabulous suspended from the ceiling, or used as a border along a hallway wall. 

Since a lot of teachers study rainbows in March, I decided to add a snake head pattern as well, making this a fun activity for St. Patrick's Day too.

Today's FREEBIE is entitled "Butterfly UT Word Play" and features 3 different worksheets with a butterfly theme, perfect for Daily 5 word work activities.

Students fill in the UT to make words; + trace, write and alphabetize words that rhyme with butter as well as fly. 

It's an "oldie but goodie" that I designed years ago before all of the design programs I use now.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

I've got so many "idea piles" on my desk for Mother's Day, I best get to sifting and sorting to see what fun things I can come up with for May. 

Wishing you a productive and fun-filled day.

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." -Rabindranath Tagore

1-2-3 Come Chew On Some Common Core With the Very Hungry Caterpillar and Me

Since so many people read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I wanted to use Eric Carle's cute little critter as a spring board to studying a variety of Common Core Standards.

I created the caterpillar template and made a list of all sorts of ways I could use it, then set about to design the details.   You can choose which one you want your students to do, or give them a choice. 

Teachers could also make up their own set and laminate to use as anchor charts. 

Make several sets but don't glue the body-segment circles together, to use for independent, sequencing centers or to play games with.  

You could also use them to  independently or whole group assess the various standards.

In The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats the Alphabet, students trace and write upper and lowercase letters. 

I've also included a set where a bit of the butterfly's life cycle is also included with the letters. 

For example, for the letter  Zz, I added:  Zzzzzz sleeping in a chrysalis, and then included a butterfly pattern with the letters all over her wings to be cut and glued on the last section. 

Completed projects make a sweet spring bulletin board.  I've included a poster for the center of you display.

The packet also includes an alpha-pillar craftivity teachers can make, which features upper or lowercase letters, which actually look like the background pattern of Eric Carle's book! 

These make a wonderful  border, or puzzle center as well. 

There's also a set of uppercase, as well as lowercase (12-on-a-page) letter cards, with matching picture cards of things that begin with that letter, plus a set of word cards for those objects, which provides a variety of center activities and games. 

I also made a set of 2-on-a-page alphabet anchor charts, which feature the beginning letter object on the caterpillar's tail end. 

This packet makes a nice spring review, as I find that just because I've taught and practiced something with my kiddos at the beginning of the year, doesn't mean everyone retains everything later on.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats a Rainbow, is a quick review of color words, plus days of the week, which follows the format of Carle's story line. 

There's a blank version, where older students think of something edible that color, then write it down and draw a picture of it, as well as a simpler version, where the black line graphics are on the page for children to color. 

I've also included a teacher's copy with full color graphics, so you can quickly make a sample to share. 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Numbers, is similar to the alphabet packet.

This caterpillar counts from zero to ten, where students trace and write the numbers as well as the number words. 

There are also caterpillar "body" circles for skip counting by 2s 3s, 5s, and 10s.

If you are practicing counting backwards from 10 to 0, simply have children put the caterpillar in reverse order. 

I've also included a "You Can Count On The Very Hungry Caterpillar" craft for teachers to make, just like the alphabet one mentioned above.

As with the alphabet packet, there are posters, anchor charts, games and a worksheet.

In all of the packets there are 4 patterns for the caterpillar's head, plus a variety of options for butterflies.

Since I have many requests for shape craftivities, particulary 3D shapes, I thought I'd make The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats 2D & 3D Shapes, which reviews: the circle, oval, triangle, square, rectangle, rhombus, trapezoid, star, heart & crescent, plus 3D shapes: cone, sphere, cylinder & cube.

There are various options to choose from. Simply choose which "body segments" are appropriate for your students.

Older students can write the attributes of each shape on the back. One of the options also practices the days of the week.

On the last day the caterpillar rests in his chrysalis, then awakens as a beautiful 3 dimensional butterfly with the various shapes on its wings.   

Since telling time is also a standard, I made a "clock-apillar" which reinforces time to the hour and half hour. 

Use as a whole-group craftivity, game, center or assessment tool.

Like wise, we are also studying coins at this time, so I made a "coin-apillar" too.

These caterpillars feature a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar coins.

The packet also includes "What's the Value?" caterpillar-coin worksheets.  

Finally, if you want to practice reading with a very hungry caterpillar, your kiddos will enjoy making the versatile "Word-apillar".

I use this craftivity as a super-fun way to build vocabulary and practice whatever “word work” I want to reinforce: Dolch & Fry sight words, word-family words, seasonal words, whatever...

I’ve included a list of 31 “word work” ideas, along with ideas for games you can play after you choose your words.  

Whew! That's a lot of Very Hungry Caterpillar options!  I hope they help your kiddo-caterpillars blossom into smart little butterlies! 

Today's FREEBIE also features a butterfly.

It's one of my personal favorite spring craftivities, which makes a wonderful keepsake for mom, as the wings of the butterfly are a child's shoe print.

Do this with your butterfly activities, then tuck it away for Mother's Day.

Click on the link for the "Fluttering By With A Mother's Day "Hi" craft.

Thanks for visiting. I normally don't post on weekends, but I finished so many things up over spring break that I wanted to share. 

Wishing you a relaxing and fun-tastic weekend.  

"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." -John Dewey

1-2-3 Come Do Some Common Core Activities With The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Me

Happy TBT (Throw Back Thursday.) Today I'm featuring a popular download to go along with your butterfly studies.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats 100 Things! is an emergent reader packet, that makes for a wonderful extension activity after reading Eric Carle's book. 

I enjoy covering at least 3-5 Common Core State Standards when I design a lesson.  This one covers quite a few CCSS: RF.K1a, RF.K.1c, RF.K.3a, RL.K.10, RF.K.4, L.K.2a, L.K.2b,L.K.5a, K.OA.1a, K.MD.3 K.CC.1a, K.CC.5, 1.NBT.2c, 1.NBT.5, 1.MD.3

Since the original Very Hungry Caterpillar goes through the days of the week, I decided to have this starving caterpillar eat through the hours in a day, so that I could cover telling time, while also covering end punctuation, skip counting by 10s, addition and the life cycle of a butterfly.

The packet includes

• The Hungry Caterpillar Eats 100 Things emergent reader, 2 caterpillar craftivities, a food sorting idea, + 64 circle pictures of food.

Children choose 10 to make a cute "very full" caterpillar.  Completed project make a cute bulletin board, as each one is different.

Students trace and write numbers & number words, as well as the time.  They draw the appropriate hands on the clock as well.

Children circle the capital letters and add end punctuation to the simple sentences.  I've used as many sight and Dolch words that I could fit in, that still sounded appropriate.

Students cut and glue the groups of 10 pieces of food to their matching numbered boxes, as they count by 10's to 100.  When everyone has completed their booklet, read it together as a whole group to reinforce concepts of print.

Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats 100 Things.

Thanks for visiting.  It's another rainy and chilly day; perfect for snuggling by the fire with a good book.  Wishing you a cozy-stress free day.

"Let the rain kiss you.  Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid ddrops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby." -Langston Hughes

5 pages.

Practice a variety of word work with The Very Hungry Wordapillar.  I've included patterns, an at word family sample, plus a list of ideas of word categories to make caterpillars for.  Children can design their own caterpillar head, color my template, or simply add wiggle eyes and a smile to a colorful circle of construction paper.

1-2-3 Come Do A Few More Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities With Me

Last week's blog, filled with a variety of Very Hungry Caterpillars chowing down Common Core, was such a big hit, that I decided to design a few more activities featuring this adorable critter.

I love making and using graphic organizers. Anytime I include some sort of coloring activity to change things up a bit, I grab my students' attention.

With that in mind, I designed a Very Hungry Caterpillar-themed  graphic organizer - worksheet, which reviews concepts of print as well as story elements. 

To save you time, I included a completed Very Hungry Caterpillar template with the answers, so that you can make a quick example to share with your students.  Click on the link to view/download the graphic organizer for The Very Hungry Caterpillar's story elements. 

A while back, before I started my website, I used to write quite a bit for Mailbox Magazine, as one of their freelance writers.  They featured over 50 of my butterfly and caterpillar activities in their spring editions. 

One was a money worksheet where the caterpillar's body segments were coins, and children had to figure out the value of them.  I decided to expand upon this idea, and make a coinapillar.

It's a quick, easy and fun way to review the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar coins.  You can simply make one of each kind to hang up as springtime anchor charts, or make extra sets, but don't glue the segments together.  Use these for an independent sequencing-puzzle center, or to play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games. 

Children could also choose a coin and make their own coinapillar.  I've included a Very Hungry Caterpillar pattern for them to color, but they could also design their own caterpillar head. Completed projects make a cute bulletin board. Caption: "Caterpillars Make Cents!"

Diddling around with the coins somehow led me to clocks (don't ask...) so I decided to whip together a clockapillar craftivity as well.  Does anyone else out there flit like a butterfly? 

I've made body segments for times to the hour as well as to the half hour, so that you can make a sample of each to use for anchor charts.  So that children can practice telling time by playing a game, I also made a smaller set. 

Children glue the 12 little circles to a long sheet of paper and add the caterpillar's head. They pick a partner and take turns rolling one dice for 1-6 times to the hour or half hour and then add two dice together to get the rest of the times. 

They draw hands on the clock to show the analog time for whatever number they roll.  If you want children to write in the numbers on the clock, I've also included a blank clock face pattern for that.

To reinforce digital time, have students write the matching digital time under their analog clocks. Click on the link to grab the clockapillar game.

For more math with a hungry caterpillar, I designed a 10 frames dice game.  This caterpillar is hungry for numbers 1 to 10.  Children number the 10 frame body segments; if you want to review number words as well, have students write the numbers above the 10 frame and the number words underneath. 

Children choose a partner.  They take turns rolling one dice for ten frames 1-6, then add two dice together to fill in 10 frames 7-10.  If they roll an 11 or a 12, they get to add facial features to their caterpillar's head. The first child to complete their caterpillar is the winner.

Finally, I saw all sorts of  "wordapillars" done in a variety of ways scattered over the Internet, but no one had a pattern, so I decided to make a Very Hungry Wordapillar packet as well.

To give you some ideas, I've included a list of 31 word categories, plus a sample of an Atapillar for an at word family caterpillar. 

Click on the link to pop on over to my Pinterest boards.  I have one featuring more free Very Hungry Caterpillar activities.  To see all of the other butterfly and caterpillar FREEBIES on my site, click on the link.

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. Talking about eating, like watching food commercials, has made me very hungry!

Since it's past noon, it's time to put the tummy rumblings to rest.  Wishing you a yummy and satisfying day.

"Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love." -Sitting Bull

1-2-3 Come Chew On Some Common Core With the Very Hungry Caterpillar and Me

Since so many people read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I wanted to use Eric Carle's cute little critter as a spring board to studying a variety of Common Core Standards.

I created the caterpillar template and made a list of all sorts of ways I could use it, then set about to design the details.   You can choose which one you want your students to do, or give them a choice. 

Teachers could also make up their own set and laminate to use as spring anchor charts.  Make an extra set to use for independent sequencing centers or to play games with.  Don't glue the body-segment circles together, and you could also use them to  independently or whole group assess the various standards.

In The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats the Alphabet, students trace and write upper and lowercase letters.  I've also included a set where a bit of the butterfly's life cycle is also included with the letters. 

For example, for the letter  Zz, I added:  Zzzzzz sleeping in a chrysalis, and then included a butterfly pattern with the letters all over her wings to be cut and glued on the last section.  

I glued just the thorax portion to the last "body" circle and bent the wings up so that the butterfly is 3D and looks like she's flying.

Older students could also make a list of a food the caterpillar could eat that begins with that letter.  You may want to read Lois Ehlert's book Eating the Alphabet (Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z) to give students some ideas.  Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats the Alphabet packet. 

If you'd like to review just the life cycle of a butterfly, you'll want to take a look at The Life Cycle Of The Very Hungry Caterpillar packet.  Students trace and write the words, then color, cut and glue the pictures. 

If you look closely, you'll see that I glued down just the thorax with this butterfly too, so it looks 3 dimensional, like the larger one above.  Click on the link to view/download it. 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats a Rainbow, reinforces colors as well as the days of the week.  Before hand, brainstorm what kinds of things the caterpillar could eat that are the various colors.  Write these words on the board to help children with spelling.

Students trace and write the color words and complete the sentence with something the caterpillar ate that was that color.  Adding end punctuation reviews another standard.  

Children then draw and color a picture.  I've included my sample so that you can quickly make one to share with your students. Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats a Rainbow packet.

You may also want to read one of the following books for some great examples of rainbow-colorful food: I Eat A Rainbow, by Bobbie Kalman;  Can You Eat a Rainbow? by Anastasia Suen;  and/or  I Can Eat A Rainbow, by Annabel Karmel.   

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Numbers includes counting from zero to ten, where students trace and write the numbers as well as the number words.  I've  included a butterfly pattern to glue to the last section if you want.

There are also caterpillar "body" circles for skip counting by 2s 3s, 5s, and 10s. If you are practicing counting backwards from 10 to 0, simply have children put the caterpillar in reverse order.

In all of the packets there are patterns for the caterpillar's head if you want it to be made out of construction paper, as well as a pattern that students can color, like the "Skip count by 10s" caterpillar in the photo.

Since I have many requests for shape craftivities, particulary 3D shapes, I thought I'd make The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Shapes. 

This is the largest packet, as I've included a caterpillar that reviews 2D shapes, as well as the days of the week.  For this caterpillar, students trace and write the shape words, as well as draw the shapes. 

I've included a butterfly pattern with the various shapes sprinkled on the wings, if you'd like to include that on the last "body" section.  For a cool 3D effect, fold the wings up and glue only the thorax portion down.

Another caterpillar, is a cut-and-glue the 2D shapes on the "body" circles.  Besides the standard 2D shapes, you can also choose to include the hexagon, pentagon, and octagon, and/or the pattern block shapes: rhombus and trapezoid. 

There's also a separate caterpillar that simply "eats" all of the 3D shapes. As with the above activity, students cut and glue the 3D shapes to the "body" circles.  Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Shapes.

Whew! That's a lot of Very Hungry Caterpillar options!  I hope they help your kiddo-caterpillars blossom into smart little butterlies!

To take a look at all the butterfly-caterpillar FREEBIES on my site, click on the link.  I also have a plethora of more free butterfly & caterpillar activities, crafts, snacks & ideas on my pinteresting PIN boards. 

Thanks for visiting.  The sun has actually ventured out today, so I'm going to bask in it for as long as I can tolerate the wind and 25 degree temperature.  Wishing you a stress-free day.

1-2-3 Come Do Some Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities and Crafts With Me

My life seems to be flying by!  Can anyone else out there relate?  I had planned to get these cute little caterpillars done the first week of April, but the past few days filled up with so many other responsibilities, that the caterpillars had to stay in their "chrysalis state" 'til now. 

I hope you can still use them, or as the life of a pack-rat teacher goes, tuck these ideas away for next year.  Since so many people read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I wanted to use Eric Carle's cute litter critter as a spring board to studying a variety of other things. 

I created the caterpillar template and made a list of all sorts of ways I could use it, then set about to design the details.   You can choose which one you want your students to do, or give them a choice.  A friend of mine liked them so much, that she plans to make 3 (a different one each week).

In The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats the Alphabet, students trace and write upper and lowercase letters.  I've also included a set where a bit of the butterfly's life cycle is also included with the letters. 

For example, for the Zz letter, I added:  Zzzzzz sleeping in a chrysalis, and then included a butterfly pattern with the letters all over her wings to be cut and glued on the last section.  

I glued just the thorax portion to the last "body" circle and bent the wings up so that the butterfly looks like she's flying.

Older students could also make a list of a food the caterpillar could eat that begins with that letter.  You may want to read Lois Ehlert's book Eating the Alphabet (Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z) to give students some ideas.  Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats the Alphabet packet. 

If you'd like to review just the life cycle of a butterfly, you'll want to take a look at The Life Cycle Of The Very Hungry Caterpillar packet.  Students trace and write the words, then color, cut and glue the pictures. 

If you look closely, you'll see that I glued down just the thorax with this butterfly too, so it looks 3 dimensional, like the larger one above.  Click on the link to view/download it. 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats a Rainbow, reinforces colors as well as the days of the week.  Before hand, brainstorm what kinds of things the caterpillar could eat that are the various colors.  Write these words on the board to help children with spelling.

Students trace and write the color words and complete the sentence with something the caterpillar ate that was that color.  Adding end punctuation reviews another standard.  

Children then draw and color a picture.  I've included my sample so that you can quickly make one to share with your students. Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats a Rainbow packet.

You may also want to read one of the following books for some great examples of rainbow-colorful food: I Eat A Rainbow, by Bobbie Kalman;  Can You Eat a Rainbow? by Anastasia Suen;  and/or  I Can Eat A Rainbow, by Annabel Karmel.   

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Numbers includes counting from zero to ten, where students trace and write the numbers as well as the number words.  I've  included a butterfly pattern to glue to the last section if you want.

There are also caterpillar "body" circles for skip counting by 2's 3's, 5's, and 10's. 

In all of the packets there are patterns for the caterpillar's head if you want it to be made out of construction paper, as well as a pattern that students can color, like the "Skip count by 10's" caterpillar in the photo.

Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Numbers.

Since I have many requests for shape craftivities, particulary 3D shapes, I thought I'd make The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Shapes. 

This is the largest packet, as I've included a caterpillar that reviews 2D shapes, as well as the days of the week.  For this caterpillar, students trace and write the shape words, as well as draw the shapes. 

I've included a butterfly pattern with the various shapes sprinkled on the wings, if you'd like to include that on the last "body" section.  For a cool 3D effect, fold the wings up and glue only the thorax portion down.

Another caterpillar, is a cut and glue the 2D shapes on the "body" circles.  Besides the standard 2D shapes, you can also choose to include the hexagon, pentagon, & octagon, and/or the pattern block shapes: rhombus and trapezoid. 

There's also a separate caterpillar that simply eats all of the 3D shapes. As with the above activity, students cut and glue the 3D shapes to the "body" circles.  Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Shapes.

Finally, rather than make a caterpillar that covered story elements using this pattern, I made a graphic organizer - worksheet, to change things up a bit. 

To save you time, I included a template with the answers, so that you can make a quick sample to share with your students. Click on the link to view/download the graphic organizer for The Very Hungry Caterpillar's story elements. 

Thanks for visiting today.  As always, feel free to PIN away.   

 "Everyone is like a [caterpillar].  They start out ugly and awkward, and then morph into beautiful and graceful butterflies that everyone loves." -Drew Barrymore

1-2-3 Come Figure Out Story Elements With Me

Making The Very Hungry Caterpillar Story Dangler is a fun way to help students reinforce their understanding of content, as well as the following Common Core State Standards: L.K.2a, L.K.2b, RF.K.3a, RF.K.3d, RF.1.1a, RL.1.2,W.K.7,SL.K.2, RL.K.2, RL.K.3

The "craftivity" is an interesting way for students to show their ability to retell a story, as well as a gauge for the teacher to see if anyone needs help with comprehension.

The smile is the title of the story, and the circle is about characters and setting. The leaf with the egg on it = the beginning of the story, the apple = the middle of the story, and the 3D butterfly = the end of the story.

After reading the story, review concepts of print with your students. Discuss who the characters are, where the setting takes place, as well as what happens in the beginning, middle and end of the story.

When students can identify the important events from the beginning, middle and end of a story, their reading comprehension and writing ability improves.

This knowledge helps a reader understand how organization, sequence, and plot make a good story, so they hopefully will include it in their own writing.  (It's been said that "Good readers are also good writers.")

Here's How To Make The Hungry Caterpillar Dangler:

Cut lengths of yarn for each child. So they don’t get knotted, fasten them to a paper plate with a bottom and top slit cut out. Lay the yarn between the slits.

Make the eye, nose and antennae templates by cutting out the patterns and tracing them on an old file folder.

Older students can trace and cut out their own pieces, but it really expedites things for little ones, if these are already pre-cut by a room helper.

Run off the body parts on construction paper. To save paper, each child gets one body part. To hang them together simply run a piece of yarn across the back and tape each section to it.

I like the more finished 3D look of giving children two of each body section. To attach, they flip their pieces over and put them in a line with ½ an inch of space between them.

Children rub glue on the back, lay the yarn on top and then glue the other half over it. I wanted the leaf to be 3D, so I only glued half of the leaf together, and let the other half stick out.

To represent a butterfly egg, I fastened a mini white pom pom to the right side of the leaf with a glue dot. I also wanted to make the butterfly 3D, so I folded the wings up on either side of the thorax.

Rub glue on just the thorax area and press the other thorax over it. Fluff the wings and they will look like the butterfly is flying.

Pass out the pieces to the children. They fill in the information and assemble their Story Dangler. Punch a hole in the top of the head and make a yarn loop.

If you want to cover even more standards, have students add another circle or make a heart to tell why they liked or did not like the story, or compare this story to another caterpillar or butterfly story and state which one they liked better.

These look adorable hanging from the ceiling (if you have front and back pieces) or hung in a row on the wall if you used Scotch tape.

Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Story Dangler.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.

For another Very Hungry Caterpillar activity, scroll down to take a look at the next blog article.

"Garbage in, is garbage out! Pay attention to what you read, listen to, and watch." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Be A Very Hungry Caterpillar With Me!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is my favorite book by Eric Carle; it was also one of my Y5's all-time favorites too.

Because so many teachers read this book, as well as study butterflies some time during the school year, I decided to make a variety of lessons that incorporate this hungry little guy. 

Hopefully your students will have fun gobbling up the lessons too!

A quick and easy way to review the Common Core Standards that involve "parts of a book" is to have students make their own caterpillar anchor chart cover.

Anchor charts are a terrific way to help students understand concepts and retain information.

This one reviews the parts of a book. I've included a teacher's poster + a template for students to make their own mini anchor chart.

To make it more of a keepsake, have students make the body of their caterpillar by dipping their index finger into a dab of paint, or inked stamper.

Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Parts Of A Book anchor chart activity.

Since the caterpillar is starving, why not feed him a variety of letters, numbers, and shapes as a quick and easy way to whole-group assess your students.

I've also included color as well as black and white picture cards, of all of the items the caterpillar ate in the story.  Pass them out to your students and have them feed the caterpillar when you come to that part in the story.

Afterwards, see if they can sequence the cards in the order that the caterpillar ate them.

This 50-page packet also includes:

• traceable number cards 1-30,
• traceable skip counting cards by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's,
• traceable upper and lowercase alphabet cards,
• traceable cards for all of the adjectives in the book,
• traceable life cycle of a butterfly cards,
• picture life cycle of a butterfly cards
• story cards,
• traceable days of the week cards
• traceable months of the year cards
• traceable number word cards,
• covers to go with all of the word cards to make Itty Bitty booklets
• What's missing? number and letter worksheets, for skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's & 10's + counting by 1's
•  caterpillar color a pattern worksheet,
• + a Caterpillar Creeps dice game.

Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar activity packet.

Finally, if you are still working on counting to 100/120 with your students, I think you'll enjoy The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats 100 Things booklet.

This packet includes:

• 2 caterpillar craftivities,
• a food sorting idea, + 64 circle pictures of food.

Students trace and write numbers & number words, as well as the time, drawing the appropriate hands on the clock. 

They also circle the capital letters and add end punctuation. Children cut and glue the groups of 10 pieces of food to their matching numbered boxes, as they count by 10's to 100.

As you can see, a lot of Common Core Standards are covered in 1 easy reader!

Click on the link to view/down load The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats 100 Things.

Thanks for visting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find useful.

"Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on the door forever." -Unknown