The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly: A Silly Story Game

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly… This wonderfully silly folk rhyme (first heard in the USA in the 1940s) is a gift for little learners: every verse adds one animal, so the vocabulary builds itself — fly, spider, bird, cat, dog, cow.

Before the story: meet the animals

Don’t start with the rhyme — start with the animals. Show a picture of each one, say its name, make its sound and its movement together: buzz like the fly, creep like the spider, flap like the bird. Two minutes, six words.

Tell it — and ham it up

Now sing or chant the rhyme. Gasp dramatically at every swallow. Pat your tummy. Let your child shout the animal that comes next once they know the pattern — they will, by the second telling.

With very small children (2–3), keep it light and giggly — skip the last verse and end with the cow and a big “Moo!” instead.

The feed-the-lady box

The craft that makes this lesson famous: take a small cardboard box, draw (or stick on) the old lady’s face, and cut a big circle for her mouth. Your child “feeds” her the animal pictures in story order, naming each one as it disappears: “The fly! The spider!”

Sequencing questions turn it into a game: “Who did she swallow first? What comes after the bird?”

Make your own old lady

Older children (4+) can build the lady herself from paper: a big circle for the mouth, drawn-on eyes, wool for hair. Scissors practice and English practice in one sitting.

At home: leave the feed-the-lady box within reach. Children replay stories by themselves for weeks — and every replay is a little English lesson nobody had to organise.