This month we’re focusing on The Very Hungry Caterpillar. So, we made a days of the week pocket craft to put in this month’s book box!
If you don’t know about the book boxes that Beth from Days with Grey and I have been collaborating on, you can check out the last couple book boxes: Mouse Count and Owl Babies
But to review, a book box contains your child’s favorite book that’s easy to read paired with some activities that help your child retell the story to you.
This month we’re doing The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Here is an Amazon affliate link for the book in case you don’t have the book yet: The Very Hungry Caterpillar (it doesn’t raise the price for you; it just helps our family).
To go along with the book and to help retell the story, I made a Days of the Week Pocket Caterpillar out of cardstock.
Read more to find out how to make The Very Hungry Caterpillar Days of the Week Pocket Craft.
What You Need
- 1 Red Card Stock Paper
- 7 Green Card Stock Papers
- Hot Glue and Gun
- Scissors
- Brown Pipe Cleaner
- Metal Brad Paper Fasteners
- Wiggly Eyes
- Black Marker
How to Make The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pocket Craft
Step one. Trace a small to medium bowl onto red card stock twice. And cut the circles out.
Step two. Hot glue the bottom of one circle and place the second circle on top of the glue, lining them up.
You now have a pocket.
Step three. Cut a brown pipe cleaner in half and loop each half to make the caterpillar antennas. Hot glue those to the top of the circle. Then, stick wiggly eyes on and draw a mouth with black marker.
Step four. Trace that same bowl as in Step One on green card stock making a total of 14 circles. Cut those out and repeat step two. You’ll have 7 green circle pockets; one for each day of the week.
Step five. Punch a hole in the middle edge of the caterpillar’s face (see picture above). Then, hole punch a hole in the middle edge of a green circle. Then, take a metal brad paper fastener and put it through the red circle and then the green circle hole. Repeat until all circles are connected. Remember, the circle that comes next goes below the previous circle when connecting them. That’s so you can fold it up to put in your book box.
Here it is folded:
Step six. Write the days of the week on the green circles starting with Monday with black marker.
Step seven. Print out page 30 from Simply Learning’s The Very Caterpillar Preschool Unit. Cut out each of the foods. Store them in the caterpillar’s head pocket until ready for the activity.
How to Use the Craft
Read through The Very Hungry Caterpillar. As the caterpillar in the story eats through a certain food, have your child find that food in the pile you created on the floor. Then, have your child put the food in the correct day of the week pocket (like my son putting the strawberries in the Thursday pocket).
It’s ok if you child needs guidance. My son does. It’s just to help your child get familiar with the days of the week while doing something fun and reading his favorite story.
Check out Beth’s fun game board she did to go along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar Book Box! She also goes over the importance of your preschooler learning to retell a familiar story.
If you make our crafts and/or do a book box using The Very Hungry Caterpillar, make certain to take a picture and tag me (@themamaworkshop) and Beth (@dayswithgrey) on Instagram. We’d love to see your version!
Please note: The Mama Workshop is not a credentialed teacher. This is simply an activity to do to supplement your child’s learning.
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