Patterned Circle Caterpillar Art Project

Patterned paper — scrapbook paper, old wrapping paper, magazine pages, or paper your child has painted or stamped

Safety scissors

Glue stick

Background paper (large, in a contrasting color)

A cup or round object for tracing circle shapes

Markers or crayons

Gather a variety of patterned papers. Scrapbook paper scraps, leftover wrapping paper, colorful magazine pages, or paper your child has previously painted all work beautifully.

Trace circles onto the patterned paper using a cup, jar lid, or round cookie cutter as a template. You need eight to ten circles.

Help your child cut out the circles with safety scissors. Cutting curves is harder than cutting straight lines, so this is genuine skill practice.

Arrange the circles in a curving, wiggling line across a background sheet. This is the caterpillar body. Let your child choose the order and the curve shape.

Glue each circle in place, overlapping slightly so the caterpillar looks connected.

Draw a cheerful face on the first circle — big eyes, a wide smile, and two curly antennae poking up from the top.

Use markers to add small legs underneath each circle and draw a scene around the caterpillar — a leaf, a flower, some grass.

Cutting circles is one of the more challenging scissor skills. If your child finds it difficult, cut halfway and let them finish each circle.

The mix of patterned papers is what makes this caterpillar special. Every segment is different, creating a visually rich, playful creature.

Talk about patterns on the paper as your child works. "This one has stripes, this one has dots, this one has flowers."

Make a whole family of caterpillars in different sizes for a display.

This project connects beautifully with reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Do both in the same session for a literacy-art combo.