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There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed The ABC’s Letter Recognition Activity

Are your kids working on learning the ABC’s? Grab this free printable There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed The ABC’s Letter Recognition Activity.

It’s a fun, hands-on resource for your young learners to do after reading the book There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed The ABC’s by Lucille Colandro.

With this letter recognition activity, your preschoolers and kindergarteners can practice identifying capital and lowercase letters by their shapes and names.

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed The Alphabet

Being able to identify letters is an important pre-reading skill. By recognizing the shapes and names of letters, kids can begin to understand how sounds are related to the written symbols. This is essential for learning to read.

Letter recognition is a building block for other skills such as writing too. As children become more familiar with the letter shapes and names, they can learn similarities and differences between how letters are formed.

By teaching kids to identify letters by their shapes and names, we can give them a head start in learning to read and write.

Getting Ready to Use There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed the ABCs Activity:

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What’s Included:

  • Old Lady Picture
  • 26 Capital Letter Cards
  • 26 Lowercase Letter Cards

What Else Is Needed:

  • There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed The ABC’s by Lucille Colandro
  • White Card Stock or Copy Paper 
  • Scissors 
  • Paper Bag or Cardboard Box
  • Glue


To prepare this alphabet activity, fill out the form at the bottom of this page.

Next, download and print the printables on white card stock. 

Then, laminate the letter cards so your kids can use them over and over.

book companion activity

After laminating the printables, cut the old lady and letter cards out.

Finally, tape or glue the old lady on a paper bag or cardboard box and cut out the mouth. 

How to Use the There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed the Letters Activity:

After reading the book There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed The ABC’s by Lucille Colandro, your kids can use this letter recognition activity to practice identifying capital and lowercase letters.

pre-reading skillsThere Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed The ABCs

To play, they will pick a letter card and identify the letter on it as they “feed” it to the old lady. Your children can also use letter tiles, magnets, or other manipulatives.

If your pre-readers are just starting to learn the names of the letters, start with just a few letter cards. You can then add a couple more every time they play.

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed The ABC's

When your kids know all of the letter names, they can say the sound that each letter makes as they give the letter to the old lady. It’s easy to differentiate this activity for your young learners! 

Letter recognition activity

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed The ABC’s Letter Recognition Activity is a fun, hands-on way for your preschoolers and kindergarteners to work on letter recognition!

More Alphabet Activities for Preschool:

For more letter recognition practice, share these picture books and use these other literacy resources with your kids.

Alphabet Books for Kids: 

Reading these picture books to your children will help them learn the letters of the alphabet by their shapes and names. 

Alphabet Adventure by Audrey Wood

I Spy Letters by Jean Marzollo

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert


Alphabet Activities for Kids: 

With these fun, hands-on letter recognition activities, your kids can practice naming, matching, and forming capital and lowercase letters.

Put Me In The Zoo Alphabet Activity

Little Red Riding Hood Alphabet Cards from Teaching with Children’s Books

Mouse & Cookie Letter Mats

Hungry Caterpillar Letter Sound Activity from Books and Giggles

Building Blocks Capital Letter Cards

You May Also Like These Morning Tubs for Preschool:

Are you looking for a new morning routine? These themed Morning Tubs are an entertaining and engaging way to start the day.

This year-long bundle of morning work includes 120 independent literacy and math activities that are perfect for children in preschool or kindergarten.

Click on the picture below to learn more about the activities included in this bundle!

Download the There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed the Alphabet Activity:

To get the printables for this letter recognition activity, fill out the form with your name and email address.

 

Lori Coberly

Friday 6th of October 2023

I love this! Perfect for my kindergarten small groups.

yeshmi devi

Monday 18th of September 2023

thank you for the resources

Andrea

Thursday 22nd of June 2023

You have made learning so much fun for my kids!

Amy

Saturday 4th of February 2023

Thank you!

shelby

Sunday 8th of January 2023

thank you for sharing

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