
DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Bouncy-pillar Paper Craft
This bouncy caterpillar is fun to make and even more fun to play with! It's a fun and inexpensive craft for new babysitters to make with their young charges -- bring along the story "Very Hungry Caterpillar" for some thematic fun! (see our Very Hungry Caterpillar Book Break for extra activities).
Materials:
- one or two colors of construction paper
- scissors,
- tape or glue,
- markers
Instructions:
- Cut two strips of construction paper about 1 or 2 inches wide and 11 inches long (it doesn't have to be exact).
- Optional (this is what I like to do): cut two more identical strips and glue or tape to the first strips to make 2 really long strips (1 inch by 22 inches)... This makes a longer, bouncier caterpillar.
- tape the pieces of paper together in an L shape (be careful not to cover the whole thing with tape so you can draw a face on ... It's best to use a rolled up piece of tape to stick the pieces together).
- spring fold the paper (see the diagrams and video below if you don't know how to fold paper into a spring)
STEP 1
tape as an L
STEP 2
fold bottom piece over top piece
STEP 3
crease to make another L
STEP 4
repeat step 2
- Continue until you've folded the entire thing and tape the end
- Use markers to draw a face on the front of your caterpillar
- Optional: cut a couple of tiny pieces of paper about 3 inches long and roll them up then unroll them (so they're curly). Glue them onto the head as antennas.
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