Along with warmer temperatures, spring brings the Earth to life with blossoming plants and abundant animal activity. A great way for preschool and kindergarten teachers to introduce their students to the 'magic' of spring is through Eric Carle's popular children's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In the colorful pages, students explore the cyclical nature of life and learn the various stages a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly. To supplement your students' learning and the season, we found this great bulletin board display at Classroom-Ideas.com that celebrates Carle's story and the brilliant colors of spring!

Carle's Caterpillar Bulletin Board

• Background: Cover the top fourth of the bulletin board with bright blue bulletin board paper and the bottom three-fourths with green background paper to create a landscape.
• Title: The original board celebrates the 40th anniversary of Carle's creation, so try a spring themed message like "Spring Has Sprung!", "Inching Into Spring", or "The Beauty of Spring Is Everywhere!", etc.
• Border: Complimentary solid color trimmer, spring themed border, or book themed bulletin board border. You might also consider using a silk leaf garland.
• Decoration: 1) The Leaves. Create leaf cutouts from various shades of green construction paper. Freehand the leaves or find and print templates onto card stock to trace and cut. Use markers to add detailing to the leaves. 2) The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The original caterpillar looks textured, but you could also make a simple cutout from background paper. Start with a full cutout of the caterpillar body {freehand it onto a piece of light green background paper or use your classroom projector system to enlarge and trace a clip art image}. Divide the cutout into sections (like those on the body of a caterpillar) and, using the book cover as a guide, plan which sections will be light green, dark green, and turquoise. Cut, trace, and replace the dark green and turquoise sections on the cutout, or fashion a piece of colored construction paper to be glued directly to the cutout. Create the caterpillar head {an oval with antennae cut from red paper} and add facial detailing - green and yellow circle eyes and a blue nose. Add some feet and your very hungry caterpillar is ready to be attached to the board. 3) The Extras. The original creator filled in the extra spaces with other critters and 'twigs'. Add some construction paper ladybug, butterfly, worm, and other colorful cutouts where needed. Have your students help you with these fun projects...
  • Find a tutorial for bottle top ladybugs here at Kids Parties 1-2-3
  • Try these butterfly blossoms we found via Outside The Lines
  • Create some fuzzy caterpillar friends like these at All Kids Network
  • And any other 'buggy' crafts you might thing of!

  We'd love to know how you decorate your classroom for spring! Leave us a comment below or send a note via our contact page! Thanks for visiting!