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The United Way of Central Jersey’s PCHP site had a great
Eric Carle-themed summer day!

The United Way of Central Jersey’s PCHP site celebrated Eric Carle’s birthday with a picnic in the park on June 26^th.  Program participants were invited to the Pine Street Park in New Brunswick to make caterpillar dioramas.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and other Eric Carle books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See and The Grouchy Ladybug, are very popular with PCHP participants.  What better way to celebrate Eric Carle’s colorful illustrations than outside in nature?

PCHP staff worked with parents and children on creating their own dioramas.  The fun continued with a picnic lunch and a blanket toss.  Children were able to choose from a selection of donated plush animals to take home, but not before bouncing them around in a blanket first!

The blanket toss is an activity which was a hit at UWCJ’s Teddy Bear Picnic last summer, and we decided to do it again, because the children can never get enough giggles out of this simple and cost-effective game.  All you need is a blanket for this one!  It is fun for children of all ages.

Make a Caterpillar Mobile!

You will need:

• Construction paper in a variety of colors
• Felt fabric in a variety of colors
• Crayons
• Yarn
• Tissue Paper
• Paper plates
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Hole punch

Directions:

1. Cut out the middle of the paper plate so that you are left with a ring. Use a one-hole punch to punch three holes in the plate, one hole next to the other.

2. Use the felt fabric to cut out the shapes of the various fruits the hungry caterpillar eats on his journey, like red felt for strawberries, orange felt for oranges, etc. Glue the felt pieces to the plate. Your child can chose how to position them.

3. Cut the tissue paper into any shapes you want to add even more color to your project! Suggestion: Cut the felt pieces and tissue paper in advance to save time.

4. Finally, draw an outline of a caterpillar, cocoon, and butterfly (or find them online and print them). Your child can color each one, and then you can help the child use a string of yarn to tie them to the plate to complete the diorama.