Literature Unit Study Ideas for The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (31 Days of Literature Unit Ideas)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an awesome book to use with young kids because the bright, colorful illustrations attract even the smallest readers, and there are so many great learning activities that you can use along with the book. If you’re looking for some ideas for using this kids’ favorite read, this post is full of them.

This post is part of the 31 Days of Literature Unit Ideas series. You can find all of the books in this series here. You can get this literature unit study as well as 44 others and lots of great literature unit study resources here in my free ebook The Ultimate Book of Unit Studies for Literature Lovers.

Literature unit study for The Very Hungry Caterpillar

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About the book…

“In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf…” So begins the story that follows this little egg as it hatches a baby caterpillar. This little caterpillar is quite hungry, and through the days of the week, we follow him to see all of the things he finds to eat. Finally, the little caterpillar is quite full. Then the reader sees him spin a cocoon and emerge into a beautiful butterfly.

Filled with great illustrations, the story draws kids in. And the repeating pattern of days of the week and food items the little caterpillar finds makes the story one even very little children will enjoy. There are also some fun ways to extend the learning with this book.

Science connections…

Find some good pictures here to show the life cycle of a butterfly.
Try this great interactive game from Sheppard Software to review the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle.
Watch this video to see the life cycle of an actual monarch butterfly with some great up close pictures. (There is text to read on the screen instead of someone narrating.)
Read these fun facts about butterflies.
Some of the food our caterpillar eats is pretty nutritious, but he also makes some bad choices. Learn more about good nutrition with the free printable sheets on this website.

Math connections…

For counting practice, draw the correct number of each fruit that the caterpillar eats during his first five days. Cut the fruit apart. As you read, count out the correct number of each fruit.
Because our caterpillar hatches on Sunday and eats his way through the week, learning the days of the week is a good extension. Watch this kids’ video to learn the days of the week.
Put the days of the week in order with this fun, interactive puzzle.
For another way to practice the days of the week concept, write the names of the days on a chart. Each day let the child draw something he ate that day…just like our caterpillar friend.

Language arts connections…

Talk about the author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar– Eric Carle. Visit his website for more information and some fun resources…like a video of him reading the book.
This is a great story to use when discussing the importance of sequence in a story. Print these sequencing cards and practice putting the events of the story in order.
Use this simple way to allow kids to retell the story.

Hands-on/crafts…

Print pictures from this site to color pages that illustrate each phase in the butterfly’s life cycle.
As you’re learning the life cycle of a butterfly, create this cute mobile to illustrate the phases.
This coloring page has the entire life cycle of the monarch butterfly to color.
After reading the book, make a caterpillar necklace.
Make caterpillar clothespins. I think you could take this further by drawing pictures of things the caterpillar ate and using the pins to clip the pictures.
If you have older kids as well, try your hand at making collage art in the style of Eric Carle.

Other resources…

The Children’s Butterfly Site has some great information as well as beautiful butterfly pictures.
Homeschool Share has a free unit study for The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
This free printable pack has some great activities that go along with the book.
Serve a Very Hungry Caterpillar snack after your reading.
Use a Live Butterfly Garden to watch your own butterflies’ life cycle.
Add some foreign language learning to your unit study with these cool Chinese/English printables for The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Booklist…

You can get this literature unit study as well as 44 others and lots of great literature unit study resources here in my free ebook The Ultimate Book of Unit Studies for Literature Lovers.

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