Wooly Bear Caterpillar Preschool Lesson Ideas

Wooly bear caterpillars are a common sign of fall in many places across the United States and Eastern and Western Canada. These games, activities, and craft will help kids learn more about the life cycle of all moths while focusing on some of the details specific to this insect.

Wooly Bear Caterpillar and Isabella Tiger Moths

Wooly bear caterpillars have distinctive fuzzy bodies covered in bristles in a striped black-copper-black pattern. (It is just folklore that the stripes predict the coming winter.) The adult moth is a dull yellow or orange with a furry thorax and a few black spots on its wings. The moth is small, with a 1-5/8″ to 2″ wingspan.

The caterpillar is a generalist feeder, which means that it doesn’t rely on specific host plants for nourishment. Because of this, it can live in many habitats, from cities to suburbs as well as meadows, grasslands, and marshes.

The caterpillar, also called a larva, emerges from the egg in the fall and overwinters as a caterpillar. The caterpillar freezes solid during the winter and ten defrosts in the spring. Then it pupates and the adult moth flies in search of a mate.

Life Cycle Activities

Go online and download pictures connected to the life of a wooly bear caterpillar. Print the pictures and mount them onto cardstock.

• Picture of the eggs and emerging caterpillars
• Picture of the wooly bear caterpillar
• Picture of a wooly bear caterpillar cocoon
• Picture of an Isabella tiger moth
• Picture of green plants
• Picture of a meadow
• Picture of a suburban or city sidewalk
• Picture of a bird (predator)
• Picture of the caterpillar curled in a ball (defensive move)

Show and Tell – Show the pictures of the life cycle while explaining about the insect’s life.

Life Cycle Order – Shuffle the cards and have the kids put them in order.

Concentration Game – Shuffle the cards and set them face down on the floor or a table. When the kids flip over a card they must explain a fact connected with the image.

Make Believe – Give the kids pieces of sheer fabric. Have the children act out the life cycle of the moth. First, curl up in a ball like an egg; then, stretch out and wriggle like the caterpillar; next, kids wrap themselves in the fabric and remain still in their cocoon. Finally, the kids can stand up and fly around the room with the fabric acting as their wings.

Caterpillar Craft

Make cute construction paper wooly bear caterpillars thatthe kids can lead on “leashes.”

1. Fold a sheet of brown construction paper in thirds and cutthree long ovals.
2. Cut 2″ x 3″ pieces of paper from orange and blackpaper. Fold the pieces in half; cutfringe along half of each piece.
3. Give these pieces to the kids. Add a squiggly of glue over the body. Have the kids attach the strips of paperfringe in a black, orange, black pattern.
4. Cut a two foot piece of yarn and tape to the underside ofthe caterpillar’s body. The kids can nowtake their caterpillar for a walk.

These multiple activities help reinforce information about the life cycle of insects, moths specifically.

Photo by Susan Caplan McCarthy