- Use a set of playing cards to play Memory, Snap, Go Fish
- Look at the pictures and talk with your child about all the animals that the old sailor swallows. What things would they eat from the ocean? Would you eat a seal? Why not?
- Count how many things the sailor eats altogether.
- Talk together about imagining what it would be like to live on a boat.
- Read out the rhyming words and have fun making up words with the same ending sounds. It may help to offer some choices e.g. krill and ill both end in the same sound, see if you can pick the rhyming word – cat, bill, sea…
- Visit the library and find a copy of There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly to read together and talk about what is the same/ different.
All of these tips will lead to your child asking questions and engaging you in their answers. There are no right or wrong answers or ways of using the book. Just share and enjoy!