We took the Hungry Caterpillar shopping!

Call it inspiration. Call it spring fever. Most likely call it my one day with the car (yes, we are down to one car right now). But yesterday things all came together for a great field trip… to Trader Joe’s!

I discovered it was Hungry Caterpillar Day on the first day of Spring. Since we’re all about “A Year With Mom and Dad” seasonal activities, I thought I’d search for some ideas and activities on Pinterest.

You know how that goes, right? I ended up creating this entire Hungry Caterpillar Day Pinterest Board! And it got me thinking – why not do a shopping trip and eat like the Hungry Caterpillar?

We got to the store with our beloved and much-read book in hand:

Then we shopped through the pages, finding the fruits and foods the caterpillar ate!

My son spotted the hidden Husky dog right away and earned his lollipop – we decided that and some mini ice cream cones would be the only two “treats” we’d copy from the Caterpillar. After all, he did have a stomachache after all that food!

He was so amused that one of the store employees asked if he could help us, and even quoted a line from the book, telling us we could “come back tomorrow for one nice green leaf!” For the rest of the shopping trip, the man was “that nice man that knows about the hungry Caterpillar!”

Side note: This trip was such a learning experience for our son – he was identifying fruits and vegetables. We discussed shopping and how food got to the store, what caterpillars eat and how we eat some of the same foods. I know this won’t happen every day in homeschooling but THIS is why I want to homeschool – these experiences are priceless!

Shopping was a success! We had to substitute prunes for the plums as I couldn’t find any fresh. And we only got a few items (cheese, salami, and pickles) from the long list of Saturday foods.

When we got home, I poked holes through the fruits to represent the Caterpillar’s eating. Added the extra foods from Saturday. And even created a Caterpillar by skewering sliced cucumbers and a cherry tomato on a kabob stick!

My little caterpillar? Well, he ate just like one – nibbling at this and that on the tray, and generally leaving most of the food half-eaten! But he had a great time. We both did!

I can’t wait for spring to REALLY get here so we can go outside and look for real caterpillars!!

Did you do anything to celebrate spring? What’s your favorite Eric Carle book?