DIY Hungry Caterpillar Costume: A Step By Step Guide

World Book Day, taking place on Thursday 4^th March (2021), is a celebration of all things books, stories and reading.

It’s a perfect time to commemorate children’s favourite stories and characters with fancy dress, games and craft activities.

So, to help you and the mini-beasts prepare for the big day, we’ve put together a simple and fun step-by-step guide on how to make a DIY Very Hungry Caterpillar costume. One of children’s literature’s favourite characters!

First things first, remember the role-play!

It’s always fun to dress up as your favourite characters for World Book Day. But, it’s important to remember why role play is an essential part of early years development, and how World Book Day supports this.

Role play allows children to explore boundaries, make sense of the world and develop their identities. Through pretend play, they learn to understand the basic principles of society and how they function. They learn the essential rules and routines of everyday life.

It’s vital that children are given the opportunity to express themselves with familiar ideas and events through fantasy!

Now we know why role play is important, it’s time to get your caterpillar on!

How to make your DIY Hungry Caterpillar Costume

You will need…

Next, simply follow the steps below or watch the YouTube video for guidance!

Start by making the body of your caterpillar by cutting out 5 large dark green circles and 5 large light green circles. Top tip: we used a celebration box lid for the perfect dimensions.
Glue your circles together by overlapping them and alternating the two shades of green.
Next, we need to make the hat. Measure out a length of red card that will fit perfectly around your little one’s head. They simply cut out a thick rectangle!
To make your eyes, cut out two small yellow circles and 2 smaller green circles for the pupils. Glue the green circles on top of the yellow and you have your eyes!
Cut out two antennas from purple paper.
Finish off your hat by glueing the eyes to the red headband and glueing the antennas to the top of the card.
Nearly there! Next, simply cut out 2 thick black straps from the card and glue these to the top of your circle chain. These will act as the straps for your costume!
Finally, cut out 20 L shapes from the black card to act as the legs and glue these to the body!

Hey presto! Well done – your DIY The Very Hungry Caterpillar costume should now be finished and looking something like this – make sure you’ve got your book ready to learn all about the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.