

The words are “I like to ate ate ate apples and bananas. Sing the “Apples and Bananas” song, which practices vowel sounds. Rip up pieces of colored paper or colored tissue paper into small shapes and glue them onto a bigger piece of scrap paper to look like a colorful butterfly wing. Use your arms as wings and flutter around together as butterflies would. Roll up into your cocoon and then work your way out as a butterfly. Pretend to be a caterpillar and crawl around like a caterpillar would. Read the story again, and ask the children to rub their bellies and shake their heads every time they hear the words “but he was still hungry.” PRETEND PLAY Ask them to tell you why they sorted them that way. Mix up your forks and spoons and ask the children to sort them into groups that belong together. Help the children figure out who ate more, the caterpillar or them.

Together, make a list of the different foods the children have eaten that day. Count how many different foods the caterpillar eats on Saturday. Point to each piece of fruit on the pages of the book and count them aloud together as you read.

Each day, pick a different activity to do with the children after reading “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” MATH AND SCIENCE Hearing the same story again and again helps them learn new words and understand the ideas they hear better. Read this book several times to the children. Can you say the days of the week with me?.What happened after the caterpillar came out of the cocoon?.Why do you think the caterpillar got a stomachache?.Spend some time talking about the story.What color butterflies have you seen before?.How does your stomach feel when you eat too much food?.Which of these foods do they like to eat?.Ask them questions so that they can connect what is happening in the book to things they already know about.Stop at any time if there is something you or the children would like to talk about.Ask them what they see on the front cover and if they have ever seen one before.Ask them to guess what the book is about. Show the children the front of the book.A hungry caterpillar eats his way through many different foods before turning into a beautiful butterfly.
