Maker Monday: Caterpillar & Company

This week’s Maker Monday project, Caterpillar & Company, finds inspiration in a favorite children’s book, Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”

Kids can make a caterpillar with simple supplies like an empty egg carton and paint. Once they create their caterpillar, they can continue this S.T.E.A.M. project — science, technology, engineering, art, and math — by making the complete life cycle of the butterfly, from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis.

The idea comes from Sara Osborn, a kindergarten teacher at Avonworth Primary Center.

Materials:

Egg carton, cut in half length-wise

Green acrylic paint

Red acrylic paint

Yellow acrylic paint

Brass fastener

Scissors

Paint brush

Paint the first section of the egg carton red. That will be the head. Paint the remaining sections green.

Once the red paint on the head is dry, dip your thumb into the yellow paint to make two eyes on the head. Dip your pinky finger into the green paint to make two green dots inside the yellow eye.

Mom or Dad will need to help push the brass fastener through the top of the head, from underneath, so the legs of the fastener are sticking straight up. Pull the legs of the brass fastener apart to adjust to make the antennae.

Now, make the other stages of the Life Cycle of the Butterfly.

Supplies:

Green felt

White bead

Cardboard tube

Black or brown paint

Ribbon

Coffee filter

Washable markers

Clothespin

Pipe cleaner

Egg: Cut a green piece of felt into a leaf shape and glue a white bead on it.

Chrysalis: Paint a toilet paper roll brown and black, poke a hole in the top and tie a ribbon for it to “hang” on a branch.

Butterfly: Use washable markers to decorate a white coffee filter. Spray it with water and watch the colors spread out. Let it dry, then clip with a clothespin.  Twist a pipe cleaner around the clothespin for the antennae.