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The Very HungryCaterpillar™

Math Counting with Fruit Attach the caterpillar accent to a craft stick. Display the remaining accents from The Very Hungry Caterpillar™ Bulletin Board in order. Place a library pocket behind each piece of fruit. While reading the section where the caterpillar eats fruit each day, place the caterpillar inside the corresponding library pocket. After you have read that the caterpillar ate five oranges, tell students that you are going to pretend the caterpillar continued to eat fruit in that sequence. Pass the caterpillar around the room and have students give the next number and type of food the caterpillar ate. For example, six blueberries, seven bananas, etc.

Measuring Caterpillars Hide and Seek Make eight caterpillars of different lengths out of construction paper. Measure the caterpillars and write their lengths on index cards. Hide the index cards around the room. Separate students into eight groups and give each group a caterpillar. Ask each group to measure its caterpillar. Then, each group should search around the room for the matching index card.

Graphing Fruits Reread the section of the story where the caterpillar eats the fruit. Write each type of fruit on the board. Give each student a self-stick note to write their names on. Have students place their self-stick notes under their favorite types of fruit. After students have placed their self-stick notes on the board, ask students questions about the graph. For example, Which fruit was chosen the most/least?

Caterpillar Addition and Subtraction Use the story to teach addition and subtraction. On the back of each accent, write a word problem with a write-on/wipe-away marker. For example, The caterpillar ate two pears on Tuesday. He ate four strawberries on Thursday. How many pieces of fruit did the caterpillar eat in all? Students can take turns choosing an accent and answering the problem.

Butterfly Catching Gather several sheets of colored paper and a few wire food strainers. Cut colored paper into butterfly shapes and add a clothes pin to the middle for weight. Take the butterflies and strainers outside. Allow each student to take a few butterflies and a strainer. Tell your students that they should toss the butterflies into the air then try to catch them with strainers. Have your students take turns as necessary. You may also allow students to use small nets if strainers are unavailable. Set a timer, and after a set period of time, ask your students to count how many butterflies have been caught in each strainer. Begin the game again.