Very Hungry Caterpillar

Card Game Instructions

36 food cards

10 leaf/wild cards

4 butterfly cards

4 caterpillar cards

Set Up

Separate the caterpillar cards and place one in front of each player. If less than four players, set aside the remaining caterpillar cards.
Shuffle the remaining cards and deal five to each player.

If a player is dealt more than one butterfly card, place all but one of the butterfly cards back in the pile and draw another card.
Place the remaining cards face down in a pile in the center.

Object of the Game

To be the first player to “eat” all your food cards and “become” a butterfly.

How to Play

The youngest player goes first and flips over the top card of the pile and plays a card with the day of the week that follows the first card flipped over. (For example, if the top card is a Wednesday card, the next card played must be a Thursday card.)

If the player does not have the correct day card, s/he may play a leaf/wild card and then choose any card s/he wishes to play next, resetting the progression of the game.
If the player does not have the correct day card or a leaf/wild card, s/he draws one card from the pile and plays it if s/he can. This player’s turn is over and play moves to the left.

Saturday food cards. As in the book, the caterpillar eats multiple food items on Saturday. Players can play a Saturday food card on top of another Saturday food card as long as that specific food card has not been played. All players should call out the Saturday food cards played to avoid repeats.

Butterfly cards. When drawing from the pile, if a player selects a butterfly card and already has one in his/her hand, s/he places the extra butterfly card back in the pile, re-shuffles the cards and draws again.

NOTE: A player should only have one butterfly card in their hand and must play a butterfly card as his/her last card to win.

Winning the Game

Play continues until one player is able to play all of his/her food cards and then places a butterfly card down as his/her last card.