Overview
Tell the children that they will grab like a crab as they recognize and produce words that rhyme with crab, such as grab, dab, cab, tab, and lab. 

Literacy Activities
Grab and dab to make a crab

• Have the children use tongs, clothespins, or tweezers like crab claws to grab a piece of paper and lay it on their workspaces.
• Let the children each grab a crab stencil and place it on their paper.
• Allow the children to use their tongs to grab a Q-tip, brush, or marker to dab paint (or marker) inside the crab stencil. 
• As the children dab on the crab, comment using words that rhyme with jab (e.g., “dab like a crab;” “dab on the crab;” “jab and grab rhyme”).  
• Have the children lift the stencil from the paper to reveal the crab they made. 

More Practice
Chant or sing a rhyming text

• Display the Grab Like a Crab target text large enough for children to easily see. 
• Chant or sing the text to the tune of “Frère Jacques” for the children, as you point to each word in a left to right sequence.
• Invite the children to chant or sing their line at the appropriate time as you chant or sing the text again.
• Comment on words in the text that rhyme with crab, such as how grab and crab rhyme and dab and crab rhyme.

Jab like a crab

• Bury word cards in real or pretend sand (e.g., beans).
• Use the pretend crab claw to show how crabs make little jabs and stabs in sand.
• Let the children use their crab claws to jab and stab into pretend sand to find a word card. 
• Read the cards the children find and invite them to say a word that rhymes with the word on the card.