With spare time on a rainy day, we decided to make a colorful caterpillar. We used recycled goods and some brightly colored pipe cleaners that Sweet P got for her birthday. Picking out the colors of the legs is a fun and interactive way for young children to provide help and input. The colorful caterpillar is well loved—he even went grocery shopping with us!
Materials:
- 1 paper towel roll (empty, of course)
- scraps of tissue paper
- pipe cleaners
- glue stick
- small piece of cardboard
- felt marking pen
Instructions
Tear strips of tissue paper and glue them to the paper towel roll to make stripes. - Then, twist pipe cleaners around the body to form legs. (Our caterpillar has 12 legs; you do not have to use that many!)
- Cut a small circle the size of the end of the paper towel roll out of the small piece of cardboard and draw a face on it with your pen.
Fit the circle into the end of the roll. Amazingly, my cut out fit perfectly so I didn’t need to tape/glue it on.
In just a few easy steps, you have a caterpillar! My favorite part is that he can stand up on his own. This colorful craft is a great prop for reading Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Making one is a fun and simple way to teach children about colors, metamorphosis and healthy foods—but mostly, it’s a fun activity.
For another version of this caterpillar craft that involves making his food and completing the metamorphic cycle, see this post: Very Hungry Caterpillar Activity.
