The classic hungry caterpillar story is a favourite of most children. Props are a great way to further engage children in the well known story.
I have used this storytelling prop many times with different age groups from toddlers to reception, all of which enjoy this unique way of telling the hungry caterpillar story. I begin by laying out the hungry caterpillar food in front of the children. This can be in order to make the story flow or randomly to make the children hunt for the different foods.
Then as I read the hungry caterpillar story I have a child as the special helper holding the caterpillar prop making the caterpillar look for food or go to sleep and wake up along with the story. Igniting the children's imagination as they are involved and at the centre of the story.
To include all of the children I ask them by name one at a time to help with the storytelling by feeding the caterpillar prop the correct number of food as I read the story. For example, feeding the caterpillar 2 pears on day 2. This encourages the children to listen carefully to the story and follow instructions. As a group the children can count the food as it is fed to the caterpillar to support maths counting skills. The different food types can also spark conversation surrounding healthy eating as well as promoting food recognition. Also, posting the bottle top lid food using a pincer grip supports the development of fine motor skills, hand eye coordination and dexterity. Providing plenty of opportunities for holistic learning and development during storytelling time.
After story time you could leave the hungry caterpillar prop and book out allowing for the children to freely explore, recall the story, have a go at reading, feed the caterpillar, count the food and play.
I created the hungry caterpillar storytelling prop from items around the house:
- Large plastic container/jar
- Coloured paper (green, yellow, purple and red)
- 26 milk bottle top lids
- Print outs of hungry caterpillar foods
I began by covering the large plastic jar in green paper, cutting a mouth shape out of the red lid, making and sticking on eyes using yellow and green paper and feelers using purple paper. I used rolls of sticky tape to attach the coloured paper in the corresponding colours to the colours of the hungry caterpillar in the story.
If your large plastic jar or container does not have a red lid to create the recognisable hungry caterpillar face I would recommend covering it in red paper. When carefully cutting out the hungry caterpillars mouth be mindful of the age group you are planning to carry out this activity with and their fine motor skill abilities. I would suggest cutting a larger friendly simile like mine for younger children to easily post the bottle top lids, however for older children maybe make the slit smaller to challenge fine motor skills, hand eye coordination and dexterity.
To make the bottle top lid food simply save up your milk bottle top lids and print out the original photos from the story. Stick the printed food to the bottle top lids using a roll of sticky tape.
Keep an eye out for my next blog post where I will share another idea that you can reuse the hungry caterpillar food bottle top lids for.
Enjoy storytelling using your homemade hungry caterpillar posting prop!
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