Daycare Lesson Plans on “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”

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This Daycare Lesson Plan on “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle has a week-long or month-long curriculum full of playful and purposeful activities for your little learners. With its colorful illustrations, simple storyline, and rhythmic structure, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” captivates young children while inspiring lesson plans for early literacy, math and science concepts, and healthy habits.

Read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”

I like to start each lesson plan with the book. So for this theme, we read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and talk about the food he ate and the colors in the book. We count the snacks as well. And then we do this again each day that we study the subject.

This is one of our very favorite books, so we love making lesson plans that go with it. We also love to grow fennel and milkweed in our children’s garden, along with flowers to attract butterflies that lay eggs. Then we can study the life cycle of the butterfly by bringing in caterpillars and feeding them, and watching them grow.

Now, let’s get into the fun of these lesson plans!

For a printable copy of this “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” lesson plan that covers 2 weeks (4 days/week), including a supply list and the Oklahoma ELG’s listed for the QRIS quality program, check this out on Etsy.

Literacy and Language Development

Story Time with Props. Read the story aloud and use felt board pieces or plush fruit to act out each part. Let kids hold the items as the caterpillar eats them. Great for listening and vocabulary!

Retelling with Puppets. Make or print out a caterpillar and fruit puppets. Invite children to retell the story in their own words using the puppets.

Vocabulary Building Cards. Create picture cards of key vocabulary words from the book: caterpillar, apple, leaf, butterfly, etc. Use these in matching games or during circle time.

Early Math Concepts

Counting Fruit Activity. Make laminated cards or printables showing the fruits the caterpillar eats on each day. Children can count the items and match them to numerals 1–5. You could also use decorative erasers in the fruit shapes if you could find all of them.

Sorting Food by Color or Type. Give children paper or plastic food items to sort by color, size, or food group. It’s a perfect way to introduce classification.

Pattern Caterpillars. Use pom poms or dot stickers to make patterned caterpillars: green-red-green-red, etc. Talk about patterns as they build their own caterpillar creations.

Science and Nature Exploration

Caterpillar to Butterfly Life Cycle. Show real photos or diagrams of the butterfly life cycle. I use this model. Use pasta shapes (e.g., shell for egg, rotini for caterpillar, bowtie for butterfly) to craft the life cycle on paper. You could also use this butterfly life cycle lap book for the kids to explore.

Nature Walk: Find a Caterpillar or Butterfly. Take a short outdoor walk and see if you can find any insects. Even if you don’t spot a caterpillar, it’s a great chance to explore nature.

Watch Real Caterpillars. If available, get a butterfly habitat kit and observe the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly over time. Kids love this hands-on science experience!

Leaf Exploration. Collect real leaves and observe the shapes and textures. Talk about how the caterpillar ate through a green leaf. Add a magnifying glass for extra fun! You could even do leaf rubbing art.

Art and Fine Motor Activities

Coffee Filter Butterfly, Clothes Pin Caterpillar with Toilet Paper Tube Crysallis. We love to paint a coffee filter with watercolor paints. Let it dry. Give the kids a clothespin and some green pom poms to glue onto the top side. They can add googly eyes. Let that dry. Give them a toilet paper tube (or cut a paper towel tube in half) and let them color it brown and green. I like to let the kids put their caterpillars into the “crysallis”, and when they leave or go to sleep at nap, I take them out and pinch them onto their coffee filter and put them back. Then I wrap them in tissue paper. I hang them up on a string and a week or two later, we open them and “surprise”, their caterpillars have wings and are butterflies. We love doing that project.

Paper Caterpillar Craft. A fun craft with simple construction paper you probably already have around for the kids to use. It’s easy, and low stress! And so cute.

Paint with Circles Caterpillar Art. Use circular sponge stamps or paper rolls dipped in paint to make a caterpillar with colorful segments. Encourage color choice and pattern making.

Fruit Collage with Tissue Paper. Tear or cut small pieces of tissue paper to create the different fruits the caterpillar ate. Glue them onto fruit outlines for a vibrant collage.

Caterpillar Crown. Make a simple paper crown and add green circles with googly eyes to create a caterpillar crown the kids can wear.

Butterfly Symmetry Painting. Fold a paper in half, open it, paint one side with dots and patterns, then close and press. When opened again, it reveals a symmetrical butterfly! This was one of my favorite art projects I remember doing as a child and I do it with my kids every year. Magical!

Gross Motor and Movement Play

Caterpillar Crawl Obstacle Course. Set up a tunnel or a series of hoops for kids to crawl through, pretending to be caterpillars. Add fruit pictures along the way for them to “eat.”

Hungry Caterpillar Yoga Poses. Introduce simple poses like the “egg” (child’s pose), “caterpillar” (crawl position), “cocoon” (tucked ball), and “butterfly” (seated with feet together). Great for stretching and mindfulness.

Butterfly Dance with Scarves. Turn on gentle music and give kids colorful scarves to flutter around like butterflies. Great for rhythm, balance, and imagination.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Snack Ideas

Make a Caterpillar Snack. Create a simple caterpillar snack by threading grapes or cucumber slices onto skewers or toothpicks. Add a small tomato or cherry for the head!

Butterfly Sandwiches. Cut sandwiches into butterfly shapes using a cookie cutter. Use fruit slices or veggie strips to decorate the wings.

Sensory Play

Caterpillar Sensory Bag. This sensory bag is easy to make but fun to use with even the youngest toddlers. Great for fine motor development and sensory learning.

Fruit Taste Test. Let kids try small bites of the fruits from the book: apples, pears, plums, strawberries, and oranges. Ask which one is their favorite and make a chart with stickers.

Sensory Bin: Caterpillar’s Feast. Fill a bin with dried beans or rice and add plastic fruit toys, caterpillar toys, and scoops. Kids can pretend the caterpillar is munching its way through the food.

Social-Emotional and Dramatic Play

Feelings of the Caterpillar. Talk about how the caterpillar might have felt at different parts of the story-hungry, full, tired, excited. Let children draw or act out feelings.

Pretend Play Corner: Caterpillar’s Kitchen. Set up a small kitchen area with pretend fruits and a caterpillar toy. Children can “feed” the caterpillar and recreate the story during free play.

Group Mural: The Caterpillar’s Journey. Create a large paper mural as a group. One day add the egg on a leaf, the next the caterpillar, then the food, the cocoon, and finally the butterfly.

Music and Songs

Hungry Caterpillar Song. Make up a song or use an existing tune like “Twinkle Twinkle” or “Bingo” to sing about the caterpillar’s adventure through the week.

Days of the Week Song. Practice the days of the week using simple songs like “There Are Seven Days in a Week”

The Fuzzy Caterpillar Song

The Fuzzy Caterpillar

Was climbing up a tree…

He wiggled short, he wiggled long

He wiggled back at me.

I put him in a box

Don’t go away, I said…

But when I opened up the box…

A butterfly instead!

Printables and Worksheets

Color Sheets. Check out these caterpillar and butterfly coloring sheets on etsy.

Fingerprint Caterpillar Craft. Use ink pads and help kids make caterpillar body segments with their fingerprints. Add eyes and antennae!

Caterpillar Counting Mat. Provide number cards and let kids place pom poms or buttons on a caterpillar mat to match the number.

Insect Life Cycle Film Strips. Learn about bugs and insects from the life cycle system they go through with this Insect Lifecycle Film Strip Pack

Insect Life Cycle Playdough Mats. Insect life cycle preschool playdough mats for kids to learn about the life cycles of insects including caterpillars and butterflies.

Life Cycles Flip Books. A set of flip books for different life cycles in nature including the caterpillar to butterfly life cycle!

Butterfly Release Celebration

If you’ve raised caterpillars, host a simple “butterfly release day” where the children say goodbye to their butterfly friends and talk about what they learned. Add songs, movement games, or a butterfly snack for a festive end to your unit.

Daycare Lesson Plans on Books

For more ideas on daycare lesson plans around a favorite book, check these out:

• These Daycare Lesson Plans on “The Very Busy Spider” are full of whimsy, spiders and webs, and more.
• Doing a Daycare Lesson Plans on “Goodnight Moon” is so mushhhhhhh fun.
• Daycare Lesson Plans on “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons” are full of chill vibes and social-emotional learning.
• Daycare Lesson Plans on “Anne of Green Gables” teach an appreciation for classic literature and friendship.
• These Daycare Lesson Plans on Wuthering Heights teach kids about different kinds of weather.
• Try Daycare Lesson Plans on Huck Finn to teach about camping, fishing, and lots of friendship and loyalty.
• Daycare Lesson Plans on “The Secret Garden” teach about flowers, colors, and fun.

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” is more than a fun read; it’s a learning adventure. From story time to science, math, art, and movement, the book offers rich opportunities to build foundational skills in a playful, child-centered way. Whether you’re planning a weeklong theme or weaving it into your monthly curriculum, these activities will engage little learners while nurturing their love of books, nature, and discovery.