One of my favorite stories as a child was "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." In fact, I didn't even realize I was learning how to count, shape, colors, and the science between caterpillars and butterflies. This super paper caterpillar craft will go perfect with any story or lesson on caterpillars and butterflies.
Below, you will find step by step directions on how to make this friendly caterpillar with kids as well as some other crafts you may want to pin. Bug and animal crafts can be really easy and fun for little ones to make.
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💖 Why You'll Love This Craft
- Fun to Wiggle and Play: Kids love making their own little paper caterpillar that they can wiggle around afterward!
- Teaches Counting & Patterns: Use the body segments to practice colors, patterns, or even simple counting.
- Scissor Skills Practice: A great way for little ones to build fine motor skills while cutting and folding.
🎨 Supplies Needed
- Colorful Craft Papers
- Scissors
- Pencils
- Ruler
- Craft Glue/ Paper Glue
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🖌️ How to Make a Paper Caterpillar Craft
After talking about caterpillars and butterflies or reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," you can do this fun craft with kids. Here are your step by step directions!
- Step 1: Let’s start off by cutting out the templates. You can either use the colorful rebates or the blank templates.
- Step 2: Fold the leaf horizontally right on the middle. Then make 3-4 vertical folds from top to bottom. This will help to give the leaf a 3D effect.
- Step 3: Now glue the leaf on a thick white paper or any kind of white paper.
Then take one of the circular pieces and glue it on too right side of the leaf.
- Step 4: Glue all the circular pieces one next to another and slightly overlap them with each other.
- Step 5: Now take the two yellow paper strips and glue them on the top middle side of the yellow circular piece. This will be the caterpillars head.
- Step 6: Now take 2 googly eyes and glue them on the yellow circular piece. You can use both same sized googly eyes, but in this way it looks a bit ore cute.
- Step 7: Now use a thin black pen and a pink pen to draw the caterpillars mouth.
And there you go! It’s finished.
💡 Pro Tip: Use a glue dot inside each joint to secure the rings more firmly—it strengthens the curve while keeping the overall structure lightweight.
🧑🎨 Expert Tips
- Chain Angle: Attach each ring at a slight upward tilt to create a natural curve in the caterpillar’s body instead of a straight line that feels static.
- Link Tightness: Close each paper loop tightly without gaps—looser rings can shift during movement and break the curve of the body shape.
- Head Start: Use a thicker or wider strip for the first ring to form the head—it helps the face stand out and adds weight to anchor the curve.
- Color Flow: Alternate colors in sets of two or three to create visual rhythm across the curve without overwhelming the shape with random hues.
- Bend Testing: Gently bend the finished caterpillar in different directions before gluing down legs or antennae—this checks for weak links or misaligned pieces.
- Body Lift: Slightly raise every third ring when laying it flat—this creates a wave-like body movement and mimics the motion of a crawling caterpillar.
💭 FAQs
Absolutely, building a caterpillar from parts introduces basic numeric progression. It’s a low-pressure way to combine math concepts with crafting.
Spacing links too loosely can cause sagging. Keeping gaps tight and support points balanced helps the caterpillar hold a clean, arched form.
Yes, using different colors for every few links helps group by 2s or 5s. These patterns visually support early skip-counting awareness.
They can—mixing wide and narrow pieces makes the body feel more organic. This variation gives it a less mechanical, more creature-like appearance.
🖌️ Related Crafts
Download Printable
Don't forget to download your free Printable Caterpillar Template here!
Paper Caterpillar Craft and Learning Ideas
Equipment
- Scissors
Materials
- Colorful Craft Papers
- Pencils
- Ruler
- Craft Glue/ Paper Glue
Instructions
- Let’s start off by cutting out the templates. You can either use the colorful rebates or the blank templates.
- Fold the leaf horizontally right in the middle. Then make 3-4 vertical folds from top to bottom. This will help to give the leaf a 3D effect.
- Now glue the leaf on a thick white paper or any kind of white paper. Then take one of the circular pieces and glue it on too the right side of the leaf.
- Glue all the circular pieces one next to another and slightly overlap them with each other.
- Now take the two yellow paper strips and glue them on the top middle side of the yellow circular piece. This will be the caterpillars head.
- Now take 2 googly eyes and glue them on the yellow circular piece.
- You can use both same sized googly eyes, but in this way, it looks a bit more cute.
- Now use a thin black pen and a pink pen to draw the caterpillar's mouth.
- And there you go! It’s finished.
If you like this cute caterpillar craft, pin some of these other crafts for later:
Did you make this craft? Leave a review and comment below! Alternatively, bookmark it in your browser or save to Pinterest.
This seems so easy and cute for my preschool students!