The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Learning about the life-cycle with ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ 🍎🐛

The children have been exploring caterpillars this past week at the Nursery, and they loved watching them grow week-by-week. We watched them eating their food and wriggling their bodies around, and we’ve learnt that they create themselves a home called a ‘cocoon’ which happens before they transform into butterflies.

Based on the interest of the caterpillars, we incorporated the book ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ into our daily activities. This story is one of our favourites, so it has been a good opportunity to understand how the caterpillars transform and learn what happens in the process. We have been creating our own caterpillars in a variety of ways, from using cardboard tubes in paint to rolling balls in the playdough to create their bodies. The children also enjoyed tasting some of the fruits that the caterpillar eats and gained fantastic number recognition with caterpillar-inspired counting activities.

We were very sad to learn about the passing of Eric Carle this week, who was the original author and illustrator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, as well as many other children’s books over his long career. His stories have helped to spark the imagination of children for decades and we’ll forever remember his work as we continue to inspire future generations and continue teaching with his ethos. ❤️