DIY Toddler Activity – Make a Caterpillar Puzzle with Pouch Tops
Your early learner is going to love this DIY toddler activity. Making your own caterpillar puzzle, is a fun way to use some of those plastic lids from food containers and put them to good use at home! Great for fine motor skills and color learning!
A Budget-Friendly DIY Toddler Activity
Since I’m a big believer in reusing things around the home, it just makes sense that using these colored lids is perfect! I hate throwing things out that have another use left in them, and this is what this puzzle proves.
It’s a great way to test kids interest too! If you find your kiddo absolutely loves this DIY toddler activity, then it’s a good reason to invest in buying a store-bought puzzle that is more durable and long-lasting! If you find they lose interest quickly, then save the money and bring out your DIY version from time to time instead!
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Watch This DIY Toddler Activity in Action!
In this video, you’ll see my daughter (less than 2 years old at the time), enjoying this DIY puzzle. She is at a stage when she is still learning her colors. When kids don’t match the color correctly, that’s ok! This is the perfect opportunity to use our words and guide.
While kids learn colors with this puzzle, they are also majorly working on their fine motor skills and hand eye coordination by placing the caps into the receiver and twisting it open and close!
Watch This DIY Toddler Activity in Action!
In this video, you’ll see my daughter (less than 2 years old at the time), enjoying this DIY puzzle. She is at a stage when she is still learning her colors. When kids don’t match the color correctly, that’s ok! This is the perfect opportunity to use our words and guide.
While kids learn colors with this puzzle, they are also majorly working on their fine motor skills and hand eye coordination by placing the caps into the receiver and twisting it open and close!
More Ways to Learn Colors!
Grab this free printable Dot-the-Rainbow activity for another fun way to play and learn with colors! You can use dot stickers, dot markers, or simply color in the circles!
We have even more free printable activities that are all about learning colors while being hands on. For example, our Rainbow Color Matching Game utilizes cotton swabs, our Discover the Color activity uses cotton rounds and watercolors, and our Color Mixing bundle is filled with ways to learn color mixing that extends beyond the page!
For even more printable activities that cover lots of early childhood education skills, check them all out in our Printables section!
Materials
- Cardboard Box
- Pouch tops with the twisty bottoms
- Tape
- Cardboard Box
- Pouch tops with the twisty bottoms
- Tape
- Permanent Markers
- Googly Eye
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1
Reuse a small cardboard box and on one end, cut six holes.
Step 2
Place the screw-end of a pouch top into the holes, taping them down inside the box for added security.
Step 3
To make the caterpillar come to life, add a googly eye and pipe cleaner antenna to the first cap. As well as legs to the body!
Step 1
Reuse a small cardboard box and on one end, cut six holes.
Step 2
Place the screw-end of a pouch top into the holes, taping them down inside the box for added security.
Step 3
To make the caterpillar come to life, add a googly eye and pipe cleaner antenna to the first cap. As well as legs to the body!
The Benefits of This DIY Toddler Activity
One of the biggest benefits of this DIY toddler activity is that it will help kids learn and match colors. Grown ups can talk about the colors, giving their names, and having the child repeat them as a way to strengthen language development and build vocabulary.
Plus, this activity also gives kids ample opportunity to work on their hand-eye coordination and their fine motor skills. Placing those pouch tops into the twisty-bottom receiver is tricky and requires a ton of concentration for young kids!
The Benefits of This DIY Toddler Activity
One of the biggest benefits of this DIY toddler activity is that it will help kids learn and match colors. Grown ups can talk about the colors, giving their names, and having the child repeat them as a way to strengthen language development and build vocabulary.
Plus, this activity also gives kids ample opportunity to work on their hand-eye coordination and their fine motor skills. Placing those pouch tops into the twisty-bottom receiver is tricky and requires a ton of concentration for young kids!
More Ways to Match Colors
Here are my top picks for toys you can buy that strengthen color recognition skills!
Transfer pom poms or balls to color sort this rainbow! If you use tongs it is great for fine motor skills too! (Caution: small parts!)
This wooden rainbow stacker is not only great for color sorting, it is also a fantastic open-ended play toy!
This wooden board has a magnetic wand and beads that can be sorted based on color! Great for fine motor skills too!
This game is a great way to learn color recognition while strengthening language development.
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