The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
READ!
In The Very Hungry Caterpillar, one of the most popular children’s books of all time, a tiny caterpillar goes in search of things to eat as he prepares for his metamorphosis into a butterfly!
But we learn about so much more too - such as the days of the week, numbers 1-5, night and day, and healthy vs. unhealthy food!
EXPLORE!
Butterfly flip book
This butterfly flip book helps your child think about the sequence of action in a story and the words we use to signal steps in a series (such as first, then, next, finally). Learning these sequence words helps build comprehension skills and understand how stories work.
This flip book is also a retelling tool, giving your child a way to enjoy the story again in a new way! Retelling tools help children recall details and deepen comprehension.
The Big Five ideas for this book:
Talk: The Very Hungry Caterpillar gives us a chance to talk about so many different things! We can observe the life cycle of a butterfly, the flow of day and nighttime, count from 1 to 5, name the days of the week, and see examples of healthy and unhealthy food! Pick one to notice with your child each time you read the story!
Play: Help the idea of the butterfly’s lifecycle stick for your child by mimicking the motions of the butterfly in the story with your body! Curl up into a ball as you pretend to be the egg, inch across the floor as a caterpillar, lay still in your cocoon and pretend to sleep, then slowly emerge as a butterfly to flap your wings!
Sing: Hear the the story as a song here!
Write: Using a calendar for as a guide for your child, write the days of the week on a piece of paper together. Over the course of the week, draw and talk about the foods that you eat each day! In addition to strengthening your child’s hand muscles while drawing, your child will practice recalling information from the day!
real world connection
LEARN MORE!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a concept pattern book.
Concept books expand children’s understanding of an idea, relationship, or theme. Books that have a strong pattern and rhythmic flow also help children read along with an adult and predict what language will come next on the page! This story supports concepts of different kinds of food (healthy and not healthy), numbers 1 through 5, days of the week and highlights the life cycle of a butterfly.
Remember that children often make predictions after reading a book several times. After reading this story a couple times with your child, invite them to help you tell the story by asking them what number or day might come next, or finish the repeated phrase “but he was still hungry” after you count the pieces of fruit.