Inside: A collection of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Learning Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
This is our MOST POPULAR learning shelf based on our favorite story book The Very Hungry Caterpillar! Wonderful story and beautiful illustrations, this book is a must have in every children's library. We created a whole shelf of learning activities that will be sure to delight every little Hungry Caterpillar fan!
Related: Everything You Need to Know about Setting Up a Themed Learning Shelf

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Learning Shelf
THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR Learning ACTIVITIES FOR TODDLERS
- Drop pom pom into a caterpillar tissue box (fine motor skills)
- Feed the caterpillar by threading felt food cut outs or these food print outs (punch a hole in each of them) through a green pipe cleaner (motor skills)
- Dot Letter C with dot paint or dot stickers. (language)
- Punch out circles using a circle craft puncher and use the circles to make a caterpillar letter C (language)
THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS
- Punch holes in a leaf print out with the 26 letters written all around the leaf, following the sequence A to Z (language, motor skills)
- Peg the letters of the child's name to make a caterpillar (language, motor skills)
- Make an All About Me caterpillar (printable in the post). Invite the children to cut out the circles and glue them together to make a caterpillar. Then have fun answering the prompts on the caterpillars. (language, motor skills)
- Cut and paste the days of week and fruits on paper plates and make a paper plate caterpillar (language, numeracy, motor skills)
BONUS: This printable can be found on my subscriber-only Printable page. As a bonus for joining my mailing list, you get access to all my printables. Get them here>>
- Apple and Caterpillar Letter Matching. Free apple letter printable can be found on the blog post. (language)
- Pattern making using pom poms (numeracy)
- Measure dot sticker caterpillars with a DIY cardboard ruler or count the number of circles that make up the caterpillars (numeracy)
- Make a number caterpillar with dot stickers (numeracy)
- Play a graphing game with a DIY spinner. Give a sticker to the fruit the spinner points to. View the video on how to play the game here. Get this printable here. (numeracy)
- DIY nested life cycle of butterfly puzzle. View the video of this puzzle in action here. (discovery of the world)
- Sort felt food cut outs or paper food cut outs into healthy and unhealthy food groups (discovery of the world)
Hungry Caterpillar CRAFTS, EXPERIMENTS & SENSORY PLAY
- Paper spring caterpillar (arts & creative expression, motor skills)
- Finger print caterpillar (arts & creative expression)
- Hungry Caterpillar green rice and pom poms sensory bin (arts & creative expression, motor skills)
- Potatoes print caterpillar and butterfly (arts & creative expression)
We are also loving these Hungry Caterpillar Activities:
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar Preschool Alphabet Activity (language) by Simple Today Life
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar Letter Puzzles (language) by From Playdough to Plato
- Caterpillar Playdough Invitation (arts & creative expression) by Fun Learning for Kids
- Hungry Caterpillar Necklace Craft for Kids (arts & creative expression) by Buggy and Buddy
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar Fine Motor Activity (fine motor) by Modern Preschool
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar Sensory Storytelling Tub (language, arts & creative expression) by The Imagination Tree
More The Very Hungry Caterpillar resources for you
- Pinterest Idea Board: THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR
- Unique Hashtag on Instagram: #hungrycaterpillarhts
- Focus Book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
- Free Clipart: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Printables by Empty Jar Illustrations
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gail says
where did you get those cute trays?! im in America. thanks!
happytotshelf says
Hello! I got them from Target, but they may be out of stock already.
Jennifer Dagi says
These activities look really engaging and fun to do. I'm sure kids will enjoying playing them. Thanks for sharing this!
happytotshelf says
Welcome! This is one of our favorite shelf!
yvonne fowler says
I have never though about all of those activities great idea I will try a few of them.
Malwi says
Wow, that's absolutely great! I'm very inspired by this fun & educational idea, thank you!
Sunny says
I loved everything about this post. So many interesting and creative crafts for children of mixed ages. Thank you!