Happy Birthday, Eric Carle~We're Doing a Very Hungry Caterpillar Virtual Food Drive to Help Very Hungry Kids! Join Us!!

Thanks to FSPDT, Pleasantest Thing, Pennies of Time, and Rainbows Within Reach for images in collage.

Summer is officially here (for half of the world anyway). For many of us, school was out well before the First Day of Summer/Summer Solstice on June 21st. While summer means beaches, pools and vacation for many families, it also means increased food insecurity for others. Food budgets increase for almost everyone in the summer, and families that rely on free and reduced school lunches struggle with the loss of these much needed meals (many schools also provide breakfast to children as well and for many children, their only meals are the ones they eat at school). For some reason, thoughts of the summer struggle against hunger surged to the forefront of my brain every time I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, or overheard Wild Thing reading it to himself or his father or brother (he has the whole book memorized). 

Finally, it came together, that caterpillar who is so very hungry and needs all of those food items in order to become a beautiful butterfly made me think of all of the very hungry children who need access to healthy, regular meals if they are to reach their full potential. 

In the U.S., 21 million children receive free or reduced lunches at school, but only 3 million take advantage of free summer meal programs. What are those other 18 million children eating? How will their food needs be met? These thoughts led me to the idea of a Very Hungry Caterpillar Virtual Food Drive that I decided to kick off on June 25th, Eric Carle's Birthday. I am honoring the birthday of a very beloved children's book author who has brought smiles to so many children's faces by encouraging others to help bring smiles to children's faces themselves by taking steps to help children have access to healthy foods this summer. Here's what we did. 

We took The Very Hungry Caterpillar book with us to the grocery store and did a Hungry Caterpillar Hunt to Fight Hunger -- selecting foods that the caterpillar ate that we then donated to our local food pantry, which accepts fresh produce. Wild Thing had a blast hunting for all of the food and getting creative with food items that needed some adjustment. 

We found: 1 apple, 2 pears, 3 plums, 1 pint of strawberries, 5 oranges (as you can see, he took the fruit part very literally. If he could have taken 4 strawberries out of the pint, he would have), a box of cake mix (aka 1 piece of chocolate cake), 1 jar of peanut butter (aka 1 ice cream cone - I like peanut butter ice cream), 1 cucumber (aka 1 pickle), 2 boxes of macaroni and cheese (aka 1 slice of swiss cheese), 2 boxes of red beans (representing the slice of salami and the sausage -- since the beans were also red and sources of protein, we thought it worked), 1 bag of blow pops (aka 1 lollipop), 1 box of cherry fruit bars (aka 1 piece of cherry pie), 1 box of cupcake mix (aka 1 cupcake) and 1 watermelon. I wish I had gotten a picture of Wild Thing grabbing the big watermelon - he was so excited about it. It was the first thing he grabbed at the store. I thought we were done, but Wild Thing reminded me that the caterpillar eats 1 nice green leaf to feel much better, so we went and got a box of salad mix. Finally, we decided to add a bag of rotini pasta and farfalle pasta since the rotini looked like a caterpillar to Wild Thing and the farfelle pasta looks like butterflies. 

If you get inspired to do your own Hungry Caterpillar Hunt to Fight Hunger and your local food pantry does not accept produce, you could always get canned or dried fruit, cereals that have fruit in them or trail mix to substitute for the fruits the caterpillar eats. I am grateful that our food pantry accepts produce because I know from my own experience in working with low-income children that fresh fruits and vegetables are often very rare items to have at home. 

No Kid Hungry

Another important way you can help families struggling with hunger this summer is to spread the word about free summer meal programs. On the No Kid Hungry website, you can find out what locations near you provide summer meals and learn of other ways to get involved in the fight against hunger this summer, including through donations to the organization (or to your local food pantry). No Kid Hungry (and many food banks) can turn $1 into 10 meals, so your donation can make a really significant difference. Plus, this summer Arby's is matching every donation up to $100,000 for No Kid Hungry. 

Finally because we really do love The Very Hungry Caterpillar at our house, I wanted to also share these great activities, parties, games, printables and more that connect to the book.

• Hungry Caterpillar/Eric Carle Round-Ups/Activity Collections: The Nurture Store has 15 Fun Caterpillar Activities, Rainbows Within Reach shared numerous Eric Carle Art Activities and Living Montessori Now has many Montessori-Inspired Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities and other Montessori Activities to go with Eric Carle Books.
• Very Hungry Caterpillar Games + Printables - A Perfect PreK Matching Game from Mama's Learning Corner and Printable PreK and K Learning Pack from Enchanted Homeschooling Mom.
• Parties - I love this Very Hungry Caterpillar Teacher Appreciation Party from The Educators' SpinOn It, as well as this adorable 1st Birthday Party with a Very Hungry Caterpillar them from Learn with Play at Home. Here's a fun milk cap caterpillar party activity from Learn with Play at Home as well. (This party made me a bit sad that I never got around to throwing my VHC 1st Birthday Party for my Caterpillar!) Maybe I finally will and will include this VHC Pinata from Boy Mama, which would be a great addition to a Caterpillar/Eric Carle party or activity day. 
• Creative Art Activities - Fit Kids Clubhouse's Very Hungry Caterpillar Creation Station, Paper Plate Caterpillar Activity from The Chirping Moms, and a Cute Very Hungry Caterpillar Printable Craft from Learn Create Love. I also love this creative VHC Puzzle made from Boy Mama, and Buggy and Buddy's VHC Necklace would be a great fine motor skills activity for little hands. She also has a beautiful storytelling felt board for The Very Hungry Caterpillar that I think many children would absolutely love! Plus, Caterpillar to Butterfly Playdough from Powerful Mothering.
• Caterpillar-Inspired Snacks: Snack & Bento Box from Creative Food, our Very Hungry Caterpillar-Inspired Simple Snack Time and JDaniel4's Mom recently shared a cool food activity and 2 other  clever Very Hungry Caterpillar activities that you must check out. 
• Math and Science - Caterpillar Math from The Educators' Spin On It and Fizzing Caterpillar Science from Toddler Approved - both are part of the Virtual Book Club Summer Camp

For more caterpillar and butterfly fun, plus recipes inspired by the foods in the book, you should also check out my Party Planning-Hungry Caterpillar/Butterfly Pinboard, which I started over a year ago when I was planning Caterpillar's 1st birthday party. The VHC party never happened, but the board continues to grow. Maybe I'll pull off the party someday! 

While I hope you have been inspired to read (or re-read) this beloved children's book, my real hope is that you have been inspired to join me in the fight against hunger. I would love to see the Very Hungry Caterpillar Virtual Food Drive reach communities across the world. I know that Fit Kids Clubhouse will be participating as part of her Summer of Gratitude and House of Hendrix shared with me how they collect fruit for the homeless. I also learned, through this project, about Kaibosh, which is an awesome organization in New Zealand that collects unused food items from restaurants, bakeries, etc. and distributes the food to food banks! I love learning about organizations like these and hearing about the efforts of individuals committed to making a difference in their communities. 

Now, I want to hear from you -- if you have been inspired, please leave a comment or pop over to Facebook and share what you are doing so that there will be no kid hungry this summer. I will be Facebook sharing, tweeting and G+-ing all of your wonderful efforts. Remember, too, that if you cannot donate food or make a donation to an organization, raising awareness/spreading the word is also so important, so please share this post or share the No Kid Hungry link or the link to a food pantry/bank in your area. I also know that many food banks have less volunteers in the summer, so donating your time can make a big difference too. No act of kindness is too small. Thanks so much for reading!

Sharing at: Kid Lit Blog Hop, Tuesday Tots, Mom's Library, Artsy Play Wednesday, It's Playtime, Very Hungry Caterpillar Linky at Powerful Mothering, Read.Explore.Learn, Sharing Saturday, Super Summer Saturday, Stress-Free Sunday and The Sunday Showcase!

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Moms Fight Hunger Go Orange Blog Hop

Blogging to Fight Hunger

Eric Carle Linky Party