I started off this art project by having all the kids watch "The Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle on our big TV (streamed from YouTube).
It was fun to see HOW EXCITED the kids got watching this movie version of the book... since all of them have read the Eric Carle book hundreds of times.
this picture doesn't demonstrate the enthusiasm though...
While they watched the short video, I set up for the caterpillar craft. This one is a classic and is simple and easy, but we have never done it at our house... so we decided to do it today.
Materials Needed: Cut up empty egg cartons (each kid needs a row), foam paintbrush, colored pip cleaners, scissors, paper plate, variety of colors of paint (I gave each kid their own palate), and paint tarp or tablecoth for the tables. Also, keep wipes and paper towels nearby!
Directions:
1. Set up a spot for each kid with paint, their egg carton, and a paint brush. Demonstrate briefly what to do (basically- paint the egg carton! :))
If kids are interested, talk about color mixing. Some of the older kids were wanting to make more colors than what I gave them.
2. Put two holes through the front of the egg carton and pull the pipe cleaner through the holes to make antennas. I cut the pipe cleaners in half because otherwise they were too long.
The kids LOVED these! Once they were dry they had fun moving them around. Later this afternoon we are going to have to try and re-enact The Hungry Caterpillar story and see what we can feed our little caterpillars!
Having a multi-age group of kids together is always great too. Without planning ahead, we conveniently sat the little kids each next to an older 4 year old, so it was so great to watch the 4 year-olds teaching the 2 year-olds how to ask for things, how to act appropriately with paint, how to mix colors, etc.
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