Very Hungry Caterpillar Suncatcher Craft

I know I just posted a caterpillar craft last week, but this adorable idea for a caterpillar suncatcher craft hit me yesterday, and I just had to share it here!

Like our button caterpillar craft, this one is based on Eric Carle’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

It’s a suncatcher made with a plastic strawberry box from our recycling bin. (and FYI, it’s inspired by my Earth Day kids craft).

If you don’t have the book available right now, I LOVE this video of Eric Carle himself reading it aloud:

Caterpillar Suncatcher Craft

You can let the kids paint and re-paint the plastic until they’re satisfied. The process can last as long or as short as they like – just encourage them to fill up the whole area.

Materials

Here’s everything you’ll need for your caterpillar suncatcher craft:

  • Clear plastic strawberry box
  • Scissors
  • Paint – I used washable tempera
  • Small paintbrush
  • Clear tape
  • Black permanent marker

Preparation

An adult will need to cut down a plastic strawberry box or similar plastic container.

side view of a plastic strawberry container

You see the air holes? That will be the space between the caterpillar’s legs. So cut off the side of the box like this:

top down view of a plastic strawberry box

Also cut off some of the lid to make the caterpillar’s head.

Now, trim the whole thing into a caterpillar shape and a circle-ish shape for the head. Plus, don’t forget a couple of little scraps for antennae.

Round off the legs so they are the right shape, and make sure you don’t have any sharp edges.

Instructions

  1. Set out 3 shades of green paint. We used yellow-green, blue-green, and a plain green straight from the bottle.
  2. Paint one side of the caterpillar body using the variety of greens. Then, let it dry a bit.
  3. Next, flip it over and set out a little bit of yellow and blue paint. Paint those colors on the back side.
  4. Then, set everything green aside, and paint the circle for the head entirely red. Don’t worry about the eyes yet. Let dry.

While you wait for the paint to dry you can read (or re-read) the story, and try out my hungry caterpillar hole punching activity, or work on a pretty butterfly suncatcher like this one.

  1. Once the red paint is 100% dry, use the top of the paintbrush handle to rub off the paint in the shape of eyes. Then color in pupils with the black marker.
  2. Also color the legs and antennae with the black marker.
  3. Finally, tape the antennae onto the head, and the head onto the body.

Voila! An adorable caterpillar craft to display in a sunny window and remember how much you love the story!

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