We kicked off Craft Camp this year with an adorable caterpillar made out of foam circles, wooden dowels, beads and some wire. When the kids first got here, they were shown how to get started by putting a foam circle on the dowel and then a bead. They repeated this until it was time to put the head on. After putting the head on they poked the wire antenna in the top of the head. (We got this cute caterpillar idea from http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/foam-caterpillar-670416/) I changed a few things on it but for the most part we followed the directions from here. I also found that because I am working with this many kids at the same time it is so much easier to have little kits prepared for each kid so that they get the right supplies.
When each kid finished their caterpillar they were able to sit on the floor and do some magnet pages while they waited for everyone to finish. I got the magnet pages from here http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/HungryCaterpillarMagnetPages.htm and from here http://www.2teachingmommies.com/2012/04/new-butterfly-unit.html#uds-search-results. I use the little rocks you get in the flower/craft section. They fit perfectly in the circles.
When all the kids finished their caterpillars, we put the magnet pages away and sat in a circle to read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. This is a great book that teaches about caterpillars, numbers, counting, and days of the week. You can buy a copy from amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Very-Hungry-Caterpillar-Eric-Carle/dp/0399226907)
We then did a retell of the story using a caterpillar that I bought at the dollar store and some felt foods that I made. I just made one of each fruit and I had the kids tell me how many of each fruit the caterpillar ate. I also made a felt cocoon (a brown "bag") for the caterpillar. Then he changed into a butterfly so we attached some felt wings to his body.
We needed to get outside and get some energy out so we formed a circle on the grass and played "Caterpillar, Caterpillar, Butterfly" (exactly the same as Duck, Duck, Goose) The kids really liked how they had to "fly" when it was their turn to be the butterfly. When everyone had had a turn, we went inside and had a snack.
We then played a counting game with this printable. It comes from this site: http://www.2teachingmommies.com/2012/04/new-butterfly-unit.html I got the large, shiny pom-poms from Walmart in the craft section.
We then did a retell of the story with some printables I found here: http://www.dltk-teach.com/books/hungrycaterpillar/felt_fun.htm
We had time for just one more game so we played the Caterpillar Dice Game I found here: http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2009/10/letter-c-work-in-action.html
Here is my Alex with his finished caterpillar. I had 12 kids participate and I think they had fun. I know I did!
