Clay Fruits for The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a beloved book that captivates children with its stunning illustrations and engaging content, encouraging young learners to count and name each item the hungry caterpillar devours on its way to becoming a beautiful butterfly.
These Clay Fruits from The Very Hungry Caterpillar will provide your young ones with some hands-on fun inspired by this classic story! This is a post to accompany The Very Hungry Caterpillar Clay Craft, which gives you instructions on how to make the caterpillar from the story. And once you have these clay pieces complete, you’ll be ready to tackle The Very Hungry Caterpillar Diorama!
- Now even younger children can follow the little green caterpillar as he eats his way to becoming a beautiful butterfly in this sturdy board book
- Great for early development
- Children will enjoy this delightful tale
- Ages 2 to 5
Why Clay?
Crafting with clay is a terrific addition to your homeschool experience. Here’s why:
Fine Motor Skill Development
Working with clay helps children strengthen the small muscles in their hands and fingers! As they pinch, roll, and shape clay, they’re improving their dexterity and coordination. This can help them with essential, everyday tasks later on–like writing and buttoning clothes.
Deeper Engagement with the Story
Using clay to recreate the little fruits from The Very Hungry Caterpillar allows children to connect more deeply with the story and create memories with the story (and reading together) that they will carry with them forever!
Encourages Creativity and Imagination
Clay provides an open-ended creative outlet for children to express their ideas. They can mold the clay into any shape they envision, fostering creativity, problem-solving, and innovative thinking. After creating the fruits from the story, you can give them the opportunity to simply play and see where their imagination leads.
A Rich, Sensory Experience
Clay offers a rich sensory experience, engaging children through touch. The texture, temperature, and malleability of clay make it an excellent tool for sensory exploration. This is especially great for younger children because it helps them become more aware of sensory and tactile experiences.
Emotional Expression and Focus
Crafting with clay can be calming and therapeutic, allowing children to express and regulate their emotions through creating. This activity also promotes focus and concentration, as children dedicate time and attention to completing their project. This can also be very calming, especially if you have younger children who have a particularly “grumpy” time of day!
As you can see, there are so many benefits to using clay creations in your exploration of story! After you try this clay craft for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, get creative with some other ways to use clay as you study this story! A couple of ideas are posted after the craft, but we also want to hear what you come up with, so be sure to leave us a comment!
List of Supplies for Clay Fruits for The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Instructions for The Very Hungry Caterpillar Orange Clay
Step 1
Select different colored clays for the clay fruits. Let’s start with the orange. Select green and orange clay for the clay orange. Take a small amount of orange clay and form a smooth round shape with it.
Step 2
Use the pin-head clay tool to make a small hole at one end of the clay orange ball. This will be the bottom side of the clay orange.
Step 3
Use a small needle-like object (or a needle) to make a small hole at the opposite end of the previous hole. This will be the top side of the clay orange. Make a small rope-like stem for the clay orange, from green clay.
Step 4
Insert an open end of the green clay stem into the small hole created in the previous step.
Step 5
Take a small amount of green clay (1/4 of the amount used for the orange) and smoothen it out.
Step 6
Form a leaf shape with the green clay.
Step 7
Use the knife tool to make vein lines on the clay leaf.
Step 8
Join the clay leaf near the clay stem while it is soft.
Step 9
Use an orange Sharpie to add orange dots to the clay orange; this will give the clay orange a nice texture.
Instructions for The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pear Clay
Step 1
Select 2 different shades of green clay for the pear. Take a small amount of light green clay and form a smooth round shape with it.
Step 2
Roll it against a flat surface to give it a slight oval shape.
Step 3
Roll any one side of the oval-shaped green clay against the flat surface to make it thinner than the other side.
Step 4
Use the pin-head clay tool to make a hole at the wide end of the clay pear. This will be the bottom side of the clay pear.
Step 5
Make a small and thin stem from brown clay and attach it to the top side of the clay pear like we attached the stem for the clay orange.
Instructions for The Very Hungry Caterpillar Strawberry Clay
Step 1
Select green and red clay for the clay strawberry. Take a small amount of red clay and form a smooth round shape with it. Roll the red clay ball between 2 fingertips to make half of its part slightly thinner.
Step 2
Use the pin-head clay tool to make a hole at the narrow end of the clay strawberry. This will be the bottom side of the clay strawberry.
Step 3
Take out an amount of green clay and form a disc shape with it.
Step 4
Use the knife tool to make 5 slits around the green clay disc.
Step 5
Use your fingertips to make each divided part pointy. This will form a star shape.
Step 6
Place the green star shape on the wide side of the clay strawberry. Use a needle tool to make a hole in the center of the star shape. Use a small amount of green clay to make a small stem.
Step 7
Insert any one end of the clay stem into the small hole created in the previous step.
Step 8
Use a red sharpie to add dots or textures to the clay strawberry to give it a finished look.
Now you have three kinds of clay fruits to use for your hungry caterpillar story.
Ideas for More Learning Fun with
Clay Fruits
We love The Very Hungry Caterpillar story in my family, and I bet your family loves it too! If you’re planning to try making these clay fruits or do some other creative projects to expand learning through this story, please leave a comment and share your learning ideas!