See what we did to go along with this month's Monthly Crafting Book Club selection of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
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My bloggy pal Hilary over at Raising Fairies and Knights started a fun Monthly Crafting Book Club - a challenge to create activities to go along with some of the most beloved children's books.
We had some great fun last year (see links at the end) and have continued the fun this year:
January - Ladybug Girl Addition Bugs
February - Giraffes Can't Dance Roll-a-Dance Die
March - How Do Dinosaurs...Social Skills Game
This month, we're focusing on a book that probably everyone has in their personal collection - one that even I remember fondly from my childhood (and that was a very long time ago!):
This popular book packs so much into its simple pages: the life cycle of a butterfly, the days of the week, foods, numbers...it's no wonder it's a classic that every child knows and loves!
Because this book has been enjoyed for years and years, you can find about a zillion great ideas for activities to go along with it.
As soon as I thought about it, though, I knew what I wanted to create for Gv. She is still enjoying the Feed the Old Lady Box that I made for her almost two years ago to go along with the book There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, so I knew she'd love a similar box to match that gluttonous caterpillar.
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| This "toy" easily makes it onto Gv's top 10 list! |
As before, I just took one of the plastic boxes that our greens come in (you could use any box, but this one allows everyone a chance to see what's sitting inside the caterpillar's tummy!) and cut an opening out of the top large enough to be the critter's mouth.
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| We used some of my old scrapbooking supplies to make these circles, but you could easily trace some cups or glasses to make yours! |
Then Gv and I cut out some green circles (if you want to get fancy and match the book better, use two shades) along with a red one so we could glue it all down on the lid for the caterpillar's body and head (just add some eyes to the red face and cut a mouth out of it to match your box opening).
I was about to go create a printable for all the different foods, but luckily stopped myself and did a quick search online first. I discovered this and just printed them out, instead.
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| Gv pretending to gobble up the food like the caterpillar! |
Gv cut out all the food and then we were ready to read the book. As we read each page, she hunted for the appropriate foods and fed them to the caterpillar. We used a real leaf from the backyard for the end.
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| It's fun to make the caterpillar nice and fat! |
Why use a real leaf? Because that involved going outside and tramping around in search of the perfect leaf, which turned into a whole other activity in itself!
Because Gv was so familiar with how this little game worked from her Old Lady Box, she didn't even need to do it with me the first time. It was still fun to share the reading with her, however, and she had plenty of opportunities to play with it over and over and over again on her own, later in the day.
I love coming up with book connections like these, how about you? I'd love to hear! Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.
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Check out the other amazing crafts that my fellow bloggers came up with for this month.
Come back next month and see what crafts and activities we come up with for our camping theme. Join our Facebook Group HERE to participate.
Want to see all the great book activities from last year? Just check these out:
January - Animal Action Dice Game for the book Barnyard Dance
February - Cause & Effect Box for If You Give a Moose a Muffin
March - an alphabetical scavenger hunt for Dr. Seuss's ABC.
April - handwashing fun to go along with The Piggy in the Puddle
May - 5 Little Monkeys Fold 'Em Up for Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
June - pinecone princess & Cozy Sweater Warrior Paper Dolls for The Princess and the Pony
July - lantern craft for Curious George Goes Camping
August - mini backpacks & dress-a-doll fun for Froggy Goes to School
September - pumpkin fun for It's Pumpkin Day, Mouse!
October - monster shape-sort bags & other crafts for Have You Seen My Monster?
November - cozy paper quilt for Bear Stays Up for Christmas
December - snowflake activities for Millions of Snowflakes
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