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You are here: Home / All categories / The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities: Letter Sorts

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities: Letter Sorts

May 14, 2015 • 23 Comments

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It is time for Virtual Book Club for Kids!  Our featured author this month is the classic Eric Carle.  We decided to feature The Very Hungry Caterpillar and a fun letter sort activity.  Plus, we have a great app to share too.

If you are new to Virtual Book Club for Kids here is a little background.  The Educators’ Spin On It, Toddler Approved and Rainy Day Mum have put together a wonderful line-up of great authors to explore.  On the second Thursday of each month, talented bloggers will be sharing one of the three featured books by the highlighted author that month.  Each blogger shares an activity or craft to compliment one of the three books.  You are invited to try out as many of the ideas that you feel would be a good fit for your kids.

Now, onto the Eric Carle book and learning activity, we chose this month.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities includes this fun letter sort to help kids learn visual discrimination and a fun vocabulary app!

Full Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links. I was given the app to check out for free and was compensated by Story Toys for sharing about the app.  All opinions expressed are my own.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Learning Activity, Book and App

The Book:  The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Eric Carle books have been a staple in many classrooms and homes across the world for years.  One of the best known is The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

A very hungry caterpillar spends the days of the weeks chomping through lots of yummy foods until finally he makes a cocoon around himself.  Then, we see him transform into a butterfly beautifully illustrated by Carle’s painted paper collages.

This book is wonderful for teaching about the days of the week, healthy foods, counting and the life cycle of a butterfly.  We chose to do a fun literacy activity to compliment the book.

The Activity:  Letter Sorts

My 3 and 4 year-old are learning about writing letters so I though it would be fun to do a letter sort to help their visual discrimination skills.

supplies for The Very Hungry Caterpillar activities

Materials Needed: 26 green circle color coding labels, 3 read pouch caps, 1 green pipe cleaner, 3 legal size envelopes, black marker, tape, and scissors

1.  Write each of these words/phrases on envelopes: straight, curve, straight & curve.

2.  On each green circle label, write each letter of the alphabet.  We used lowercase letters, but you could also use uppercase letters.

3.  To make the head of the three caterpillars take red pouch caps and add two antennae made from the green pipe cleaner (cut the pipe cleaner in 6 pieces). We just bent the pipe cleaner around the cap.

4.  Attach each caterpillar head to the left side of each envelope with tape.

You are now ready to play and learn.

Sorting letters for The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities

Ask your child to look at each letter sticker and describe whether the letter is made with straight lines, curves or both.  Place the green sticker on the correct envelope to form the caterpillar’s body.

Talk about how many letters are made with only straight lines versus those only made with curves.  Which letters have both straight and curve lines?

letter sorts for The Very Hungry Caterpillars activity

Categorizing letters helps children notice similarities and differences.  This skill is important as they begin to read and write.

To extend the activity further, your child could cut pictures from magazines or ads that begin with each sound on the caterpillar body.  He can store his pictures inside the envelope.

If you would like to see another Eric Carle literacy activity, check out the Letter Flies we created for The Very Busy Spider.

The App:  First Words

the very hungry caterpillar app

The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Friends First Words app is a terrific way to integrate the learning of new words with the beauty of Carle’s illustrations.

As you tap a picture, you will see an image and hear the word.  Tap again and you will hear the sound the image makes.  It’s a great way for little ones to build vocabulary. There are 13 pages in the pop-up book followed by question review pages.

very hungry caterpillar app page close-up

It doesn’t stop there though!  You can change a setting and now your child can learn a new language (Spanish, French or German).  In this second language setting, you hear the word in the primary language followed by the second language and then the sound the image makes.  A super fun way to learn.

My kids have enjoyed playing with the app and I love that my preschoolers have been picking up vocabulary in Spanish!

Now, it’s time to explore some other great learning activities and crafts to compliment Eric Carle’s books.  Check other The Tiny Seed , The Mixed-Up Chameleon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar activities.

Virtual Book Club for Kids

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar I Spy via The Pleasantest Thing
Very Hungry Caterpillar Name Game by Toddler Approved
DIY Mixed Up Beads by Mama Miss

3 Very Hungry Caterpillar Inspired Scavenger Hunts via Inspiration Laboratories
Easy Very Hungry Caterpillar Fine Motor Skills Activity by Lalymom
Very Hungry Caterpillar Puzzles via Playdough to Plato
Two Flower Crafts – The Tiny Seed by 3 Dinosaurs

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Days of the Week by Rainy Day Mum
Lacing Letters Inspired by The Very Hungry Caterpillar by The Educators’ Spin On It

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23 Comments Filed Under: All categories, Alphabet Activities Tagged With: alphabet activities, Virtual Book Club

About Jodie Rodriguez

Jodie Rodriguez is a mom of two young boys and an early childhood/elementary educator with over 20 years of experience. Jodie's passion is helping parents, teachers, librarians and anyone else interested in nurturing and reaching ALL of our youngest growing readers.

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  1. LAURIE says

    March 9, 2022 at 10:27 am

    tHANK YOU FOR THE FREEBIES!!
    I AM A GRANDMA WHO IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR TEACHING MATERIALS ON A TIGHT BUDGET. SO THANK YOU AGAIN

    Reply
  2. LAURIE says

    March 9, 2022 at 10:26 am

    tHANK YOU FOR THE FREEBIES!!
    I AM A GRANDMA WHO IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR TEACHING MATERIALS ON A TIGHT BUDGET. SO THANK YOU AGAIN

    Reply
  3. Selena @ Look! We're Learning! says

    May 18, 2015 at 6:55 am

    So cute! And I love the bilingual angle!

    Reply
  4. Michelle @ Moms Are Frugal says

    May 17, 2015 at 2:50 pm

    I can’t wait to try the app that you suggested. My preschooler will love this. Eric Carle books are our favorite.

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      May 19, 2015 at 7:49 am

      Hope you enjoy it Michelle!

      Reply
  5. Tracee says

    May 15, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    I liked reading the very hungry caterpillar as a kid. I haven’t read any of his other books.

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      May 19, 2015 at 7:51 am

      My 3 year-old would suggest The Very Busy Spider. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Shann Eva says

    May 15, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    I love everything Hungry Caterpillar, so I love these. Very cute and creative. I will have to try it with the kids. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  7. Devon says

    May 15, 2015 at 8:48 am

    My son will really enjoy this activity. Thank you!

    Reply
  8. Toni @ Debt Free Divas says

    May 15, 2015 at 8:10 am

    We have that book. This activity is simple enough for me to create. Love it. Thanks for the reuse idea for those caps too!

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      May 19, 2015 at 7:52 am

      I love to find new uses for items that we use!

      Reply
  9. Ashley ~ 3 Little Greenwoods says

    May 15, 2015 at 7:53 am

    What a fabulous preschool activity! I love that includes fine motor as well as matching the letter shapes. Pinning to my ‘kindergarten’ board!

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      May 19, 2015 at 7:52 am

      Thanks so much Ashley!

      Reply
  10. Cerys says

    May 14, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    What a fantastic activity – I need to hunt out some dots and give this a go.

    Reply

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