How many old ladies do you know besides me? I know the “Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.” She also swallowed a pie and a bat and a chick and numbers… She must be getting pretty full! The Old Lady is entertaining, but she also helps children with recall, sequence, phonological awareness, and oral language.
Here are a few visuals and craft activities that can be adapted to any version of the Old Lady. You can find free images online for the different stories or let children make their own illustrations.
Sandwich Bag Old Lady
Give children a circle to decorate for the head of the old lady. Staple the head to the back opening of a zip sandwich bag. Staple on strips of paper for arms and legs as shown. Run off copies of the different items for the book or song you are singing. Children line up items in sequential order and then insert them in the bag as you sing.
Paper Plate Old Lady
Cut the center out of a paper plate. Use the center for the Old Lady’s head and attach with a brad fastener. Attach strips of paper with brad fasteners for arms and legs. Tape a sandwich bag to the back of the plate so you can insert illustrations as you sing.
Flannel Board File Folder
Staple the sides of a file folder together and glue a piece of felt to the front. Add Velcro to the back of pictures and place on the flannel board as you sing.
*Milk filters would be perfect for running off illustrations directly from the book. (If you don’t know about using milk filters for the flannel board use my search engine and you’ll find a blog about it.)
For additional resources check out the following links:
- Printable Nursery Rhyme Books from Dr. Jean
- Nursery Rhymes and Good Times
- Nursery Rhymes Juke Box
- Nursery Rhyme Rap (Common Core Karaoke)
- Teaching Tunes Audio Cd And Mini-books Set: Nursery Rhymes
