ABC animal chant

Singing and chanting are fun activities for kids. But songs like the alphabet animal chant are also great ways for children to learn their ABCs and the sounds different letters of the alphabet make.

This chant combines the names of animals kids love with letters of the alphabet. They’ll love singing it and doing alphabet learning activities as they sing.

ABC animal chant activities

As your child becomes familiar with the ABC animal chant, combine singing the song with other activities to extend their learning. For example:

• Point to the letters and animals on the animal alphabet train as you sing.
• Make up your own words for each letter of the alphabet. For example you could make up an alphabet food chant and challenge your child to think of a food starting with each letter of the alphabet.
• Show your child alphabet flashcards as the sing, to help them learn to recognise the written letters.
• Play some ABC song activities as you sing the chant.

When to start singing

Singing is fun for kids. Even when they’re too young to sing for themselves, they’ll enjoy listening to you. It’s really never too early to start singing your children alphabet songs and encouraging them to sing along with you until they can sing it all by themselves.

Lyrics

A is for ant, a, a, a, a, ant

B is for bat, b, b, b, b, bat

C is for cat, c, c, c, c, cat

D is for dog, d, d, d, d, dog

E is for elephant, e, e, e, e, elephant

F is for fish, f, f, f, f, fish

G is for goat, g, g, g, g, goat

H is for horse, h, h, h, h, horse

I is for insect, i, i, i, i, insect

J is for jaguar, j, j, j, j, jaguar

K is for koala, k, k, k, k, koala

L is for lion, l, l, l, l, lion

M is for mouse, m, m, m, m, mouse

N is for numbat, n, n, n, n, numbat

O is for octopus, o, o, o, o, octopus

P is for pig, p, p, p, p, pig

Q is for quail, q, q, q, q, quail

R is for rabbit, r, r, r, r, rabbit

S is for snake, s, s, s, s, snake

T is for tiger, t, t, t, t, tiger

U is for unicorn, u, u, u, u, unicorn

V is for vulture, v, v, v, v, vulture

W is for whale, w, w, w, w, whale

X is for xray fish, x, x, x, x, xray fish

Y is for yak, y, y, y, y yak

Z is for zebra, z, z, z, z, zebra.

Find out more about teaching your child the alphabet at Learning the Alphabet.

References

1. Felton R. Teacher letter-sound association. Arizona Department of Education. 2011. (Cited 23 June 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
2. Virginia Early Childhood Development Alignment Program. Milestones of child development- A guide to young children’s learning and development from birth to kindergarten. 2009. (cited 26 July 2013). Available from: (URL Link)