The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities

These three fun very hungry caterpillar activities include a hungry caterpillar painting craft, a caterpillar shaped snack, and a feed the caterpillar sensory bin to go along with the classic children’s book favorite.

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle is a classic children’s book and a favorite in our house. We have been doing all sorts of learning on springtime including bugs and lifecycles the past few weeks. We decided to continue our learning by focusing on this children’s classic book. We read the book and paired it with three different Very Hungry Caterpillar activities.

All three hungry caterpillar activities were created using items we had on hand at home and are great book themed activities for kids ages 2 and up. Read on for directions on these hungry caterpillar activities.

*This post may contain affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate and a member of other affiliate programs, I may earn a small compensation from qualifying purchases. All opinions and recommendations are my own. 

Lego Painting Very Hungry Caterpillar Craft

To make this Hungry Caterpillar painting craft you will need white paper or cardstock, red, light green, and dark green acrylic paints, a paper plate, mega blocks (with one section), black paint or marker, and yellow construction paper.

Begin by pouring a small quarter-sized pile of each color of paint onto the paper plate. Choose a block and insert the top circle shape into the first green color. Push it down on the paper to create a green circle.

Choose a different block and insert the top circle shape into the other color of green paint. Push it down on the paper touching the other green circle.

Alternate painting the two green-colored circles next to each other until you have 10-14 circles depending on how large you want your caterpillar.

Choose another block and use it to stamp a red circle onto the end of the caterpillar for the head. You may need to drag the block around a bit on the paper to make the head a little bit bigger than the rest of the circles.

While the paint is still wet, cut out two small yellow circles for the eyes and stick them right onto the red painted head.

Using black paint or a black marker, add black circles to the middle of both of the yellow circles for the insides of the eyes. Draw or paint two antennae on top of the caterpillar’s head. Draw or paint legs under each green circle section.

Once the caterpillar has dried, cut it out, leaving a small amount of white space all around it.

Then you have your Very Hungry Caterpillar. You can use it to reenact the story or simply as a decorative craft to hang up.

*My toddler decided that for this activity she wanted to turn it into finger painting. She started off mega block painting but decided to smear it all around with her fingers. I decided to go with it and simply cut out her design into a caterpillar shape when she was done. It ended up turning out pretty cute and still looked just like The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This is a great option for younger kids as well!

Healthy Very Hungry Caterpillar Snack

This Hungry Caterpillar Snack is the perfect easy and healthy snack to throw together after reading the book. You can make it two different ways in case you have picky toddlers who won’t eat certain foods. You will need cucumbers, grapes, mini chocolate chips, orange slices, and dried cranberries OR strawberries. 

Cucumber Caterpillar Snack

Cut 8 cucumber slices and lay them out in a zig-zag line on the plate. On one end of the zig-zag line, add a small quarter-sized pile of dried cranberries OR one large circular slice of strawberry.

Cut a mandarin or clementine slice into four pieces. On top of the cranberries/strawberries add two small clementine pieces to make the eyes. Add one mini chocolate chip onto each orange slice to make the insides of the eyes.

Grape Caterpillar Snack

Cut green grapes in halves. Layout 10-14 of them in a zig-zag line on the plate. On one end of the zig-zag line, add a small quarter-sized pile of dried cranberries OR one large circular slice of strawberry.

Cut a mandarin or clementine slice into four pieces. On top of the cranberries/strawberries add two small clementine pieces to make the eyes. Add one mini chocolate chip onto each orange slice to make the insides of the eyes.

*Once the caterpillars are complete you will have lots of leftover orange slices. These can be laid out in a circle to create the sunshine overhead.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Sensory Bin

This activity is a great one for sensory play and story reenactment. It uses all materials we have on hand at home and is so quick and easy to throw together. We keep dyed noodles on hand for different sensory bins. If you do not have these you will need to create them.

You will also need plastic food items (we used the ones from our play kitchen) that represent the foods in the story, a leaf, a large empty bin (click here for one option we love to use for our sensory bins), a smaller container, scoops, and paper/scissors/glue. 

Begin by dying the noodles if you do not keep these on hand (see notes at the bottom for more information on how to do this). Place the small container into one end of the large container. Pour green-dyed noodles into the rest of the large container so it fills up all of the remaining empty space. Set the play foods and scoops onto the top of the dyed noodles.

Create a caterpillar’s face by cutting out a large red circle. Glue two yellow circles on top for the eyes. Cut out two smaller green circles and glue them to the insides of the yellow circles. Cut out two thin and long green ovals and glue them onto the back of the red circle for the antennae. Cut a large circle in the middle of the red circle for the mouth. 

Tape the caterpillar’s head onto the top of the small container so that the mouth opens to the container. 

Use the scoops and hands to reenact the story. Little ones can scoop the different food as well as the dyed pasta into the caterpillar’s mouth. This can be done in the same order as the story or whichever way little ones desire. 

*If you want to take this a step further you can also create a circular butterfly and staple this to the top of the caterpillar so it opens and closes like a book to reveal the caterpillar underneath that turned into the butterfly. 

How to make sensory dyed noodles

Add 1 cup of dried noodles of any shape to a plastic bag. Pour in 2 tsp vinegar. Add 4-18 drops of food coloring (depending on the desired color) to the bag. You can always add more later if you do not reach the desired color. I also like to add 1-2 drops of orange or lemon essential oil to help the dyed noodles smell better and less like vinegar.  Shake the bag all around and up and down for about 2 minutes to add color on to all of the noodles.

Line a cookie sheet with paper towels. Pour the bag of colored noodles onto the cookie sheet and spread the noodles out so they are in a single layer and not on top of each other if possible. Let noodles air dry. This could take anywhere from a few hours to a whole day. Once noodles are dried you are free to use them for sensory play.

If you’re also looking for some other fun crafts to go along with the spring theme be sure to check out my spring themed sensory bins for kids as well!