The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle - 5 storytelling cross curricular links

Find out how this timeless story can link to other curricular subjects, to create a 360° school project for primary school students.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar puppet is a great visual aid to introduce the project

Being able to make connections among different compartments is one of the most important skills for the future of your students. Storytelling can help you work with your colleagues, create cross-curricular links and teach transversal skills

Here are five links to subjects different from English, offered by The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

1 - Science

The story describes the butterfly life cycle. You can create a visual diagram of the different stages and ask your students to label it.

Alternatively, you can ask your students to verbally describe what happens in the story, with the help of a class poster.

Butterfly life cycle class poster

2 - Maths

You can organize a class survey on students' favourite food. Votes can be cast in an official ballot box. You can organize teams of students who verify votes and collect results. Once all the data has been collected, students can create a bar chart and describe the information presented.

"Learn data, and you can tell stories that more people don’t even know about yet but are eager to hear". - Nathan Yau, American statistician and data visualization expert

Class surveys are one of the most motivating activities students can conduct in English L2.

3 - Art and Design

Students can create caterpillars and butterfly crafts by using recycled materials such as egg boxes or light paper. You can experiment different colour techniques and collage. The crafts can be then used to create a poster to hang on the classroom walls.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar poster craft

4 - ICT

This activity may be suitable to older students. Using laptops or tables, students can research different types of butterflies and create a Power Point / Canva presentation. This could be an individual or group activity. You may wish to award points / give out stickers for accuracy, presentation skills or design.

5 - Geography

Following the internet research, students can identify where each type of butterfly lives and create a colour coded map to display in the classroom. This is a great opportunity to explore continents, countries and learn to locate main geographical areas.

Storytelling - a fascinating journey

Storytelling can be the solution to children increasing lack of attention and, at the same time, create positive synergies among different school compartments.

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