The Very Hungry Caterpillar Learning Activities & Shelf

This is our MOST POPULAR learning shelf based on our favorite story book! My children had so much fun learning with The Very Hungry Caterpillar Learning Shelf. This is a summary post of all the activities we have done for this theme.

Related: To learn how we do home learning at home with our shelf, check out How HTS Works page first.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Themed Learning Shelf

Pinterest Idea Board: [theme] THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR
Unique Hashtag on Instagram: #hungrycaterpillarhts
Focus Book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Focus Letter: C
Focus Chinese Word: 虫
Additional Resources: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Printables by Empty Jar Illustrations, The Caterpillar Box from Applenana Box shop

*I received a free Caterpillar Box from Applenana Box shop in exchange for featuring the product on this learning shelf. I will only accept/use/feature products that are good fit for my children’s learning purposes on my learning shelf.

This learning shelf and the activities are created for children of ages 1.5 years old to 6 years old. My son was 3 years 10 months old and my little girl was 1.5 years old when I made this learning shelf for them.

All the activities have been categorized into the six main learning areas (language, numeracy, motor skills, discovery of the world, arts & creative expression, social & emotional development) that I am focusing on for my children.

THEMED LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR TODDLERS (1.5 TO 3 YEARS OLD)

Drop pom pom into a caterpillar tissue box (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. This activity is from Applenana Caterpillar Box. (language)

All of the above activities for toddlers are suitable for preschoolers as well.

THEMED LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS (3 TO 6 YEARS OLD)

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)

Punch out circles using a circle craft puncher and use the circles to make a caterpillar letter C (language)

Thread the paper leaves with the words containing 虫 as the radical (部首) through the popsicle stick caterpillar. (language)

*This free printable is for subscribers only. Subscribe to receive a password to access the HTS Printable page.

Cut and paste the days of week and fruits on paper plates and make a paper plate caterpillar (language, numeracy, motor skills)

*This free printable is for subscribers only. Subscribe to receive a password to access the HTS Printable page.

Make pattern using pom poms. This activity is from Applenana Caterpillar Box (numeracy)

Measure caterpillars using cardboard ruler (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. (numeracy)

*The printable and instructions are for subscribers only. Subscribe to receive a password to access the HTS Printable page.

DIY nested life cycle of butterfly puzzle. View the video of this puzzle in action here.(discovery of the world)

Match names and photos to plastic figures of egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly and learn about life cycle of caterpillar. These plastic figures and the names tags are from Applenana Box. (discovery of the world, language)

Sort felt food cut outs or paper food cut outs (beautiful clip arts by Empty Jar Illustrations here) into healthy and unhealthy food groups (discovery of the world)