Book Inspired: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle – 7 Activities & Learning Ideas for Early Years
- Itala Hill
- Sep 1
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 8
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
by Eric Carle – Activities & Learning Ideas for Early Years
This classic by Eric Carle has been a firm favourite in households and early years settings since 1969. It’s one of those magical books that kids adore and parents know off by heart (especially when you accidentally recite it while trying to remember your online banking password).
In this blog post, I’ll share some easy, creative activities you can try at home or in your early years setting.
📚 Why The Very Hungry Caterpillar is Perfect for Early Years
The story follows a tiny caterpillar who’s just trying to live his best life - eating everything in sight before turning into a beautiful butterfly. Honestly? Relatable. Some days I too eat four slices of cake and end up in a food coma wrapped in a blanket. Transformation pending.
Educational Themes Covered:
Days of the Week – Helps build sequencing and time awareness.
Counting & Numbers – Great for early numeracy and one-to-one correspondence.
Healthy Eating & Food Recognition – Encourages conversations about nutrition.
Life Cycle of a Butterfly – A brilliant way to introduce simple science.
Cause and Effect – Children understand how overeating made the caterpillar feel sick.
Arts and Crafts – Boosts creativity and self-expression through hands-on making.
Fine Motor Skills – Develops hand-eye coordination and strengthens little fingers, preparing them for writing and other tasks.
This book is especially useful for EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) because it naturally supports:
Communication and language
Literacy (story sequencing, vocabulary)
Mathematics (counting, patterns)
Understanding the world (nature, lifecycles)
Expressive arts and design
🐛 7 The Very Hungry Caterpillar-Inspired Activities for Early Years
Make your story time interactive and extend the learning with these tried-and-tested activities.
Don’t worry, you don’t need a Pinterest-perfect set-up or an art degree for these!
Days of the week
I found a great printable on Twinkl, then resized it on Canva to fit all on an A4 page. [link]
If you prefer, you can download the printable I created using the button below. Or, simply cut rectangles and write the days yourself - kids won’t mind at all!
Feed the Caterpillar Busy Tray
This tray was a big hit both at home and at our Home-Ed group!
What you’ll need:
Green dyed rice*
*Add 2 cups of rice to a ziplock bag with 2 tbsp white vinegar and a few drops of green food colouring. Shake, shake, shake, and knead until the rice is all green! Spread it out on a tray to dry for a couple of hours - done!
A caterpillar head cutout with the mouth open, placed on top of a bowl
Various food items (to “feed” the caterpillar)
Tongs or a scoop/spoon for picking up the food
I made all of my food pieces and caterpillar head by hand, but if you’d like to save time (and your fingertips), you can grab this printable Very Hungry Caterpillar resource pack from Twinkl [link]. For extra sturdiness, just glue the sheets onto a cereal box before cutting (glue stick works great!) - because we all know flimsy paper doesn’t stand a chance in little hands!
To make it extra fun, we used tongs to pick up each item and “feed” them to our caterpillar bowl. I also snuck in a few cheeky extras - like an old boot and a fish - to spark my son’s thinking and get him talking about whether those items were actually in the original story. Spoiler: the boot didn’t make the cut.
I originally included a lovely “I Spy with My Little Eye” checklist from Twinkl [link], but I’ve since created one of my own – and you can download it for free using the button below. They’re a great way for children to spot the different foods in the tray and enjoy ticking them off as they go.
Psst… Drop me a comment if you’d like a quick tutorial on how I made my own caterpillar and drew all the elements with oil pastels!
Threading Caterpillar
This is a fantastic fine motor activity for little hands! I quickly sketched mine freehand onto a thick card, but I know many of you love having a ready-to-go printable - so here’s a handy template for you. You can stick the head on a cereal box type of card to make it thicker.
To save even more time, you can use pasta shapes instead of cutting out lots of circles!
Butterfly life cycle
You can use a printable like this one [link], or print the image below to make your own foldable butterfly at home. Invite the children to draw their own versions of the stages of the butterfly’s life cycle.
Cut along the solid lines, then fold along the dashed lines. As you gently open the butterfly’s wings, each stage of its life cycle will be revealed.
Numbers and dots matching cups
I used baking paper to trace around cups, creating a long, wiggly caterpillar shape. Then I cut out a red circle for the head and added a pair of googly eyes. Inside each body circle, I drew a different number of black dots and wrote the matching numbers on the cups, so the children could pair each number with the correct set of dots. See photo at the top of this post for reference.
Butterfly Blot Painting
This is a magical way to create beautiful butterfly wings! I remember making these at school so many times, and they are always so much fun! It’s a lovely way for little hands to explore colour mixing and create their own unique butterflies.
How to do it:
Fold your butterfly printable right down the middle (I recommend cutting it out after the paint has dried - you can use a hairdryer for this)
Put a few blobs of paint on one side of the paper.
Carefully fold the paper back over the paint and press gently with your fingers or palm. You can also squish the paint harder in certain places to get a smudgier effect.
Slowly open up the paper to reveal your colourful, symmetrical butterfly wings.
Let it dry, then you can add details like antennae or glitter if you like!
(Optional) Glue or tape a stick to the middle to make a fluttering butterfly!
Stick Puppets for Imaginative Play
We enjoyed playing with these [link] in a sensory tray and in the garden! I suggest gluing the paper onto a cereal box or similar for extra sturdiness, then cutting them out and taping a lolly stick to the back. Ready for some storytelling adventures!
Extra resources used:
Pencil control sheets by Twinkl
Adopt a caterpillar kit by Insect Lore
📌 Pin or Save for Later!
Don’t forget to bookmark this post or pin it to your early years ideas board for your next themed week or story-led activity.
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🌼 Final Thoughts
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of those rare children’s books that manages to be educational, beautiful, and actually tolerable to read 200 times. It’s a staple in every early years collection— Whether you’re home-educating, reading before bed, or just trying to get through a rainy afternoon, this book is a gentle way to combine storytelling and learning
👉 Have you used The Very Hungry Caterpillar in your early years setting? Share your favourite activity in the comments!
📖 Book Details
Title: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Author & Illustrator: Eric Carle
Age Range: 1–5 years
Themes: Food, days of the week, life cycle, food groups
Published by: Penguin Random House / Puffin Books
Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored by Twinkl. I just enjoy using their resources at home.
Until next time,
Itala
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