The Very Hungry Caterpillar Preschool Activity

Today for Preschool we learned about caterpillars. I love The Very Hungry Catterpillar by Eric Carle, so first we read that and did a little activity with it. I had pictures of everything that the caterpillar ate in the story and the kids had to find the items as they were eaten. They really loved it and it really helped them focus on listening to the story and to me.

Then the scientist in me had to do a little biology lesson on metamorphosis. I kept it simple and just had some drawings of an egg, a caterpillar, a cocoon, and then a butterfly. I love teaching kids about science. It is so fun and I want to my kids to have a love of science like I do before they get to high school and its "not cool".

Then on to the activity/craft. We made "caterpillar" necklaces using yarn and dyed pasta. I tied a knot around a bead at one end of the yarn so they wouldn't fall off as they strung them. I also wrapped tape around the stringing end to make it easier to get the noodles on. The larger macaroni noodles were hard to string, so we had to help them quite a bit with those, but they all did really well and it kept them interested for 40 minutes which was way longer than I expected.

I love how the macaroni naturally alternates directions on the yarn making it look like a caterpillar inching along.

Dyed Pasta for Kids Crafts

 Yesterday I had a lot of fun making making these:

 We are participating in a Co-op Preschool and tomorrow is my turn to do something fun with the kids before they officially start next week. I have a fun activity planned, but I will wait to share what we are doing with these until tomorrow when I can hopefully get some cute shots of the kids. Should be fun! Until then here is how to make these.

You will need:
Rubbing Alcohol (Isopropyl)
Food coloring
Pasta (doesn't matter what shape)

Place a couple Tablespoons or so of rubbing alcohol into a ziploc and add plenty of food coloring (I think I ended up adding like 15-20 for the red and purple, less for the blue and green). Mix and then add pasta. Close bag and then mix with your fingers to evenly dye/coat all of the pasta pieces. If the colors are not as bright as you want, add more food coloring. Let them sit for an hour or so, mixing them up periodically to really let the colors penetrate.

Pour onto paper towel lined baking pans, spread into a single layer (use a fork so you don't dye your hands) and let dry several hours to overnight.