Weaving Apples

Counting and Writing with a Little Caterpillar

At home, we kept a very easy version, but you can easily adapt it for older kids—for example, by having the caterpillar follow the results of small math problems. That way, the game grows with your child!

Learning numbers and letters can be so much fun when it turns into a game! Here’s a simple DIY activity that you can easily make at home: a playful apple with a tiny caterpillar weaving through it, perfect for practicing counting or even writing letters.

The idea is simple: the caterpillar has nibbled lots of little holes in the apple… and now it wiggles through them to form letters, or to travel from 1 to 10 (or backwards from 10 to 1!).

It’s seasonal, creative, educational, and such a fun way to sneak in some learning before heading back to school 🍏

Materials

• paper plate

• paints + a brush

• cutter

• yarn

• tape

• optional: a caterpillar made of polymer clay or beads (we tried both, and the polymer version was our favorite)

Step-by-step

1. Paint the paper plate.

   

   
   
   
   

2. Cut it into the shape of an apple Then, create 10–20 small holes inside.

   

   

   
   
   
   
   

3. Make a tiny caterpillar and tie it to a 40–50 cm piece of yarn. Tape the free end of the yarn to the back of the apple.

   

   

   

   

   

   

Several possibillities:

• For the counting version: write numbers from 1 to 10 and let the caterpillar crawl through in order—or backwards from 10 down to 1!.

  

• For a free version: make more holes and ask the child to make a shape or letter.