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There was an old lady who swallowed a fly...
This is such a popular book with kids of all ages! It's a classic "holes" book (holes peeking through from one page to the next), it has simple and repetitive text, and it's a silly story! A few months back we had a preschool co-op day themed around this book so I came up with a simple activity to help the kids interact with the book a little bit more.
Supplies:
- There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly book
- Clothespins
- This worksheet
- Label maker
- Glue
- Paint stir stick
- Paint
I sketched a simple picture of a lady on the paint stick and used my crayola paints to fill her in. I also added a few details (glasses, ruffles) using sharpie markers. Then I used my label maker to print stickers for each animal/insect in the book. I stuck them to where the old lady's belly might be :-)
That's all there is to making this simple craft! Once the paint is dry and the glue is cured, it's storytime! When I first did this activity with my preschool group, I gave each child a clothespin before the story began. As I read I would ask for the children to place their clothespins on the lady as we got to the correct part of the story. It was a great way to keep them attentive to the story!
My oldest son and I just read the book together and worked on story sequencing and fine motor skills (opening the clothespins). We've done the activity a few times now and he still enjoys it!
There's just something about opening and closing clothespins that is intriguing to toddler and preschool kids (speaking of clothespins, have you see our other activities using them? Search the label "fine motor activity" to see more. I hope you'll check them out and pin/share a few!).
You might also like our clothespin name recognition craft! Check it out here:
