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Crawling Caterpillars!

Inspired by spring, this Magic Basket activity finds us creating our own paper caterpillars that crawl!

To start creating your caterpillar cut the width of your paper into 1.5 inch strips. Next invite your preschooler to color their strips or “caterpillars” in anyway they choose. While they’re working it might be fun to share some caterpillar fun facts (a fact sheet is provided in the gallery below!)

When your caterpillar strip is decorated, fold it in half to create a crease in the middle and the wrong sides are facing each other. Then fold each end into the middle crease (little fingers are great for pressing in the creases!) Then fold each end of the strip again from outside to the middle crease. And finally, fold the two halves together. Using your scissors cut off all four corners, rounding them to make the body of the caterpillar.

Now unfold the strip and use marker to draw a face on one end to complete your caterpillar!

Turn your caterpillar around and count three sections up from the tail and mark it with whatever shape you’d like. This is the spot where you’ll blow with a straw to make your caterpillar crawl!

It might be fun to build an obstacle course for your caterpillar using tape. You could also create leaves for the caterpillar to eat along the way and the finish line could be an empty paper towel tube to represent the caterpillar going into its chrysalis. You could also time your caterpillars by using the stopwatch function on your phone!

Here's a link to a video showing you how to make your crawling caterpillar https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IxEhFgJ-Bjk.

Also included in the gallery are some fun mazes, and color by numbers! Enjoy!

I wonder...

I wonder statements are a great way to introduce concepts to children, stimulate their curiosity while modeling the pleasure of learning, and embrace ideas in a fun and unpressured way!

    I wonder what will happen if I blow on my caterpillar with a straw?
    I wonder how fast it will take your caterpillar to get from point A to point B?
    I wonder what colors you will use to decorate your caterpillar?

Project Supplies

Paper and Ruler
Crayons, Markers, Color Pencils
Scissors
Tape
Straw

Project Gallery

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