I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly is a great song/poem for children. It is super silly with plenty of repetition for children to join in. All the talking that children do during songs helps prepare them develop their oral language skills, which in turn help them become amazing readers.

I made the resource below using a felt board story pattern I found on the Preschool Printables website. I modified it a bit though. Instead of making a felt board story, I turned it into more of a puppet. I photocopied the patterns onto thick cardstock and coloured them with markers. Then I coloured them in and laminated all the pieces. I changed the old lady by enlarging then cutting her roughly in half where her arms fall. I taped half of a milk bag to her upper half and lower half to make a stomach (it is a bit hard to see with the glare). Children can feed the old lady as they sing the song!




Thanks for this great idea, Peggy! :)

Stop and Go Fun!

I recently used the props above with the song below at a storytime. The preschoolers loved it. The idea is that they pedal their hands like they would pedal their feet on a bike while we sing. When we get to the word "stop", they have to stop right away (which they always get a kick out of). The second verse is fun because when we get to the word "go" the speed up the song and their hand pedals!


I bought a new bicycle, I got it from the shop.
When I see the big red light I know it's time to STOP!

I bought a new bicycle, I ride it to and fro.
When I see the big green light I know it's time to GO...GO...GO...GO...GO...GO...GO...GO...GO!!!


I introduced the song by talking about my favourite summer sport - biking. Most, if not all the children knew what biking is and would have loved to share a personal biking story with me. Then, I asked if anyone knew what the props were. We talked about traffic lights and where we would see them outside. I explained that the colours in the light (red means stop, green means go).

You can also use these props to play "Red Light, Green Light".

Tell Me a Story - Fingerplays, Rhymes and Songs

Go to this website for a very large collection of fingerplays, rhymes, and songs.

It's great for Early Childhood Educators and parents. If your child has taken an interest into a theme, follow their lead. Find a ditty that goes along with their interest to get them ready to read! :)