Many children find caterpillars interesting and watch them with fascination. If this is the case with your children, you can make a few of these little companions yourself. You can use different materials for this. So, would you like to do a little DIY project and would you like to make caterpillars?
Depending on the age of the children, the project can vary in difficulty. All in all, paper and recycled materials such as egg cartons or beads are ideal.
Connect paper rings like a chain
One of the classics for making snakes, caterpillars, worms and other long animals are paper rings. Depending on how big you want them to be, you also choose the width of the strips you use to make the rings. You can also use small copies, for exampleMake with strips of quilling paper, which you cut into the correct length.
- Paper in any color
- Scissors
- Glue stick or other adhesive
- Googly eyes or white paper and black marker
The craft idea is also perfect for kindergarten. You can pre-cut the strips so that all the children have to do is glue them.
- Cut strips of paper, preferably the same length.
- Form a ring from the first strip and glue the ends together.
- Thread the second strip through this first ring and glue the ends together again.
- You now have two paper rings chained together. Continue like this until you get the length you want.
- The head can be a different color.
- Glue two googly eyes or two white circles to these and draw black pupils on them.
- Cut antennae out of black paper and glue them to the back of the head.
- Draw a mouth.
You can also use a circle punch to make the version shown in the cover photo. Simply cut out circles in any color, glue them together and, if you like, attach them to a piece of paper. Then draw another face and add feelers.
Make moving caterpillars out of handkerchief
A craft that also provides fun afterwards is really something great, isn't it? You can make caterpillars like this, for examplefrom a paper strawand paper handkerchief, as follows:
- green paper
- green paper straw (or painted white and green)
- white paper handkerchief
- colored pencils
- Scissors
- Glue
You get the homemade toy like this:
- Fold a green piece of paper in half and trace a half sheet at the fold. Cut it out, but don't cut through at the fold.
- Then fold it diagonally like an accordion, unfold it again and unfold it.
- Make a tube out of green paper that is a little bit bigger than the straw so you can put it over it. It should move back and forth easily. You could also simply use two straws of different thicknesses.
- Put glue on this tube and stick it to the inside of the leaf, about at the level of the petiole for example and on the fold.
- Take a tissue and cut it in half.
- Place a stick on one of the two short ends and roll up the paper.
- At the end, put glue on the edge and stick the paper in place.
- Now squeeze the tissue roll together. You can now paint it like a caterpillar and remove it from the stick.
- Put a drop of glue on the top of the straw where you will attach the caterpillar head, and another on the green paper tube where you will glue the other end of the caterpillar.
- Once the glue has dried thoroughly, you can move the paper straw up and down and the caterpillar with it.
Paper caterpillar on sticks as a play doll
This cute caterpillar variant is also movable and requires only a few materials.
- green paper
- Felt-tip pens and white acrylic pen
- Lineal
- Cutter and matching base
- Glue
- ice styles
How to make the caterpillars with children (some steps should only be carried out by adults):
- Cut a square out of the green paper with a side length of 14 cm.
- On one side, measure one centimeter at each end and draw a line parallel to the edge of the paper.
- On the opposite side, also draw a column, but 3 cm wide.
- Along these lines, place marks at 1 centimeter intervals on both sides and draw lines with the ruler.
- Trace these lines with the cutter.
- Using the ruler, fold the paper along the first two lines.
- Apply glue to the narrower tab obtained and take it and the wide tab together to glue them together. You will receive a roll with a flat side. You can use clothespins to hold them together until the glue dries.
- Draw a caterpillar head on paper, cut it out and make a face.
- Glue the head to the third curved strip.
- Attach a popsicle stick to the underside of the caterpillar at both ends. Complete.
Caterpillars make crafts with egg cartons at daycare
Cutfrom the egg cartonCut out the cups and design them in any colors and materials you like (e.g. pipe cleaners for the legs and antennae, googly eyes, pom-poms, etc.). Glue the individual cups together.
Craft with pom poms, paints and pipe cleaners
