The Very Hungry Caterpillar Fruity Snack

 

Way back in 2012 we had a Summer Bucket list where we did E for Eric Carle.
Part of this we looked at The Very Hungry Caterpillar, we made craft items and role played the book.
This was a snack a made for my son who was 2.4 years and he loved it.



Ingredients
Green apple
Plum
Blueberries
Raisins

Obviously you can change any items.

Yum Yum.

Not sure why this wasn't blogged about it 2012 but the Virtual book club has revisited this Book so I might try this again with my other son too.

Check out Inspiration laboratories to join in.
http://inspirationlaboratories.com/very-hungry-caterpillar-inspired-scavenger-hunts/

Eric Carle style Butterfly

During the summer bucket list last year we had a day dedicate to the author of the Hungry Caterpillar book Eric Carle. When I was searching for ideas I found a lovely piece of art on http://theimaginationtree.com/2011/06/eric-carle-tissue-paper-prints.html and I have wanted to use this idea ever since. We adapted it slightly as we never used printing or tissue paper.

After the shapes butterfly activity we had a cut out of the wings on card. So we used this to give us the shape of the butterfly.

 

I also utilised the left over painted eggs we made as cards to cut into the shapes for decorating the wings. Dylan painted these with finger paints for Easter.

 

Dylan finding the shapes already stuck on.

Dylan matching the shape on the other side.

The master piece.


We recently visited a butterfly farm and read the hungry caterpillar book so this activity fits really well.
It was really easy to set up and not very messy as we used old art projects and recycled craft bits.

What do you need?
Card
Old pieces of painted/printed art (or paint/crayons to make some)
Scissors
Double sided tape or PVA glue
Googly eyes
Lollipop sticks
Antennae

 

Learning activities/ ideas



Talk about butterflies

Read the hungry caterpillar

Shapes identification

Shape match

Symmetry

Left and right sides.

Googly eye matching

Craft stick colour matching.

Describe colours

Using fine motor skills to handle shapes and eyes.

 

This was the second butterfly craft project of the day and he was getting tired so I did a lot of the work really.  He did well to match the eye design and size and he selected  matching colour lollipop sticks. He identified all the shapes and pointed to them on the side I had already stuck down. He found matching them on his side much more difficult than the Foam Shape butterfly we did earlier. Maybe as this was quite compact it might have been better to have smaller shapes or less of them.

Dylan loved sticking the eyes on and the antennae.

Any suggestions welcome.
Enjoy and let me know if you plan on using this.

Date of activity Wednesday 10th April

 

Dylan 2.4 Years



 

Foam Shape Butterfly

After the recent visit to the Stratford Butterfly farm I searched some ideas for butterfly craft. I saved the images of the designs I liked and asked Dylan which ones he liked and wanted to make.
He chose the toilet roll butterfly.

The beautiful butterfly we made.

What do you need?

Toilet roll
Card
Paint (optional)
Foam shapes
Double sided tape or PVA glue
Googly eyes or buttons (optional)
Pipe cleaners
Scissors

Firstly we got the toilet roll to measure out how big we needed the strip to cover it to be. Then I cut the strip and placed the double sided tape on the toilet roll vertically. Dylan helped to press down the card until we had covered the roll. Then I added more tape to the card to completely wraped the card around.

The rest of the card from one A4 sheet was used to make the wings. I folded it in half and cut the wings so they were symmetrical. Remember not to make them bigger than the roll if you want it to stand rather than hang. I kept the outline of the wings for another butterfly craft project.

I placed a strip of tape down the middle of the wings and Dylan helped to stick the down.
Whilst I was busy I gave Dylan the task to match the googly eyes and select a pair of equal size/design he liked. Using the tape we stuck them in place.

Next I emptied out the foam shapes and asked him to pick certain shapes and colours. He then had to find the matching pair. Then he needed to place them on the butterfly symmetrically. After he had done this I added tape and he helped put them back in place and attach them.

Finally I used one pipe cleaner, Dylan selected a colour. I trimmed it down and placed tape on the inside of the roll. Dylan folded the pipe cleaner in half and placed it on the roll.

Matching shapes on each wing.

Finding matching shapes

Flying practise

I didn't time the activity but I imagine it took 15 mins. Varies with the resources and child I suppose.
Dylan loved this activity and was really focused for him. This activity is not very messy at all if you used card and tape instead of paint and glue.

Learning ideas

Shape identification
Shape matching (colour/size)
Shape symmetry
Left and right sides
Talk about life cycle of a butterfly ( maybe the roll can be the caterpillar??)
Roleplay action of a butterfly.
Counting shapes/ wings/eyes/antennae
Use of fine motor skills handling shapes
Sorting shapes
Matching googly eyes (shape and design)

Have you done this activity before? If so would love to hear your tips and see your final butterfly.
Any suggestions on improvements or alternatives would be gratefully received.
If your thinking of trying this enjoy!



Date of activity Wednesday 10th April
Dylan 2.4 years

Visiting Stratford Butterfly Farm

I think visiting a Butterfly farm is like Marmite you either love it or hate it. I personally think it is great but my sisters and cousin are not quite sure. I did feel uneasy the first time I visited but found you soon get used to it and start to relax. So if it has this effect on adults I wondered how it would affect my 2 year old.

 

Dylan's first encounter happened almost immediately, a butterfly landed on me. He looked scared and told it to fly away bless him. But after a few encounters and witnessing myself and other children enjoying the close proximity he soon started talking to them and describing them.

Love it or hate it!

Look mommy.

Dylan's blue butterfly.

Before we went I made sure that we read the fantastic Hungry Caterpillar book.  We had fun last summer using fruit to re-tell the story. However it is a baby version really as there are less words, less items fed on and a finger puppet. So after the visit we updated our book collection to the full version. Dylan was a little confused first time we read it as he loves the other book but was intrigued by the new one and I have already read it about 10 times in five days.

 

At the Stratford Butterfly farm you can also see a variety of invertebrates including many species of spiders. I also spotted a few amphibians and birds.

 Learning ideas

BEFORE YOU GO
Read a butterfly book
Discuss butterflies (life cycle)
Show pictures of real butterflies
Butterfly craft
Make predictions
Plan a butterfly species checklist
Make butterfly flashcards

WHEN YOUR THERE
Life cycle of a butterfly
Bug/animal safari
Colour safari
Butterfly species spotting (tallying)
Talk about predictions made
Take pictures

AFTER THE VISIT
Read a butterfly book
Discuss butterflies (life cycle)
Show pictures of butterflies seen on the visit
Butterfly craft
Talk about predictions made and the results
Use pictures to make a storybook/scrapbook/eye spy books/ flashcards
Use pictures to make electronic resources- flashcard, eye spy images

 

We haven't done all of these after activities but we can save them for another time or the next visit. Great learning experience, love it there and would definitely recommend it.

Do you have any other suggestions of what we could do next time?

Date of visit: Monday 8th April 2013
 Dylan 2.4 years