Balloon Printing & The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Many preschool classrooms welcome spring with Eric Carle and his wonderfully colorful works of children's literature - The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Grouchy Ladybug, The Tiny Seed, and the list goes on! Jill, creator of Meet the Dubiens, designed this brilliant balloon painting craft to go along with Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Supplies You'll Need

• Balloons
• Art paper
• Red, light green, dark green, yellow, and violet tempera paint
• Black permanent marker

Each caterpillar creating station will need two balloons - one to be dipped in the paper plate of red paint and the other to be dipped in the greens {pour light green and dark green paint on top of each other on a second paper plate}. Place the balloon prints on the paper and set aside to dry. The rest of the paint and the permanent marker will be used to make the details - face, antennae, and legs.

Other Carle Balloon Print Crafts

• Create a balloon print ladybug by dipping a balloon into red craft paint and, when dry, adding spots and a head with black craft paint.
• Design a balloon print flower using several small balloons {like those used to make balloon animals} for petals and a small regular balloon for the center.
• Have students create a balloon print spider by dipping a balloon into black craft paint and, when dry, adding legs and a web with a black permanent marker.

The possibilities really are endless!

Meet the Dubiens: balloon print very hungry caterpillar