The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is amazingly wonderful. In so many ways it enthrals and captivates young children. When adults read The Very Hungry Caterpillar they can be confident that not only will the child enjoy book, but the child is being exposed to strong maths, literacy, science and health & nutrition concepts. It is the classic ‘hidden vegies’ book (like hiding healthy vegetables in a pasta bake for fussy eaters).
It has been argued that the reading experience can be polluted by over-analysis of the text. Additionally, many people justify the huge array of craft activities that are loosely connected to the book (paper plate, pom-pom, finger-painting) are supporting the understanding of key concepts. Just check out the plethora of cute art and craft activities! when the focus of the activities become more about painting the hand and squishing paint on the paper
I am more in favour of holding meaningful conversations and doing whole-body movements that directly relate to the book and are engaging and interesting to the individual child. What about you and your child check out the fridge and pantry to see if you have the matching foods from the story. Can you find 1 apple, 2 pears, 3 plums etc? If not, when you next go shopping, make a list together with your child and buy the food from the book. Maybe even take the book with you as prompt! Buying just 4 delicious strawberries is a bit tricky – they may not all make it home! Maths concepts include counting (fruit), matching (real fruit to illustrations), addition (one more fruit for 5 days), and size (growth of the the caterpillar) and time (days of the week).
As children learn through conversation, action and play, maybe take the opportunity to dramatise the story by having your child pretend to be a little laying on the leaf, then wriggling about and pretending to eat all the food, then turn about and ‘sleep’ for 14 days (clap and count to 14), then wake up and fly about like a beautiful butterfly!
When reading a fabulous book such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar you can reinforce and build understandings of essential maths concepts by engaging your child in meaningful activities, conversations and whole-body experiences. Enjoy!
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