Transportation Theme
~ Pre-K & Preschool theme ideas for learning about transportation ~
Sections for this Theme:
Books
View Transportation Books & Classroom Resources Amazon store here.
Cars
Trucks
Boats
Airplanes
Trains
Buses
Rhymes
Train Fingerplay
This is a choo-choo train
(Bend elbows)
Puffing down the track
(Move arms forward)
Now it’s going forward
(Push arms forward)
Now it’s going back
(Push arms back)
Now the bell is ringing
(Pretend to ring bell)
Now the whistle blows
(Hold fist near mouth and pretend to blow)
What a lot of noise it makes
Everywhere it goes.
(Cover ears with hands)
Windshield Wiper Fingerplay
I’m a windshield wiper
(bend arm at elbow with fingers pointing up)
This is how I go
(move arm left and right, pivoting at elbow)
Back and forth, back and forth
(continue back and forth motion)
In the rain and snow.
(continue back and forth motion)
Songs
Wheels on the Bus PowerPoint
Wheels on the Bus Song Book
The text of this powerpoint and song book goes with the song “The Wheels on the Bus” on the Six Little Ducks CD, by Kimbo.
Raffi Version of The Wheels on the Bus:
These songs can be downloaded immediately and burned to a CD or synced to your iPod:
Classical Music:
- Spitfire Prelude and Fugue, by William Walton: Pretend to fly around the room like airplanes during this song.
- Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop, by Hans Christian Lumbye: This song sounds just like a train; have children line up and move around the room like a train.
- Pacific 231: Movement No. 1, by Arthur Honegger: Another classical song representing a train.
Train Activities
Train Fingerplay
This is a choo-choo train
(Bend elbows)
Puffing down the track
(Move arms forward)
Now it’s going forward
(Push arms forward)
Now it’s going back
(Push arms back)
Now the bell is ringing
(Pretend to ring bell)
Now the whistle blows
(Hold fist near mouth and pretend to blow)
What a lot of noise it makes
Everywhere it goes.
(Cover ears with hands)
Name Trains
[Literacy]
Children glue squares with the letters of their name onto a strip of construction paper to make a name “train”. We add a paper engine and draw on the wheels.
Scissor Skills
[Fine Motor Skills]
Children pretend the scissors are a train, cutting along the railroad tracks (straight, curved & jagged lines). They stop when they come to the animal sticker.
Train Patterns
[Math]
Children work in pairs, each choosing one color of the Unifix cubes to work with. The children make an AB pattern: one child adding one color and the other adding the next color, taking turns adding to the train.
Airplane Activities
Jet Pilot
[Large Motor]
Children fly around the room when their first initial is called.
Craft Stick Airplanes
[Art]
Children use craft sticks and colored masking tape to create airplanes.
Airplane Counting
[Math]
Each month, we kept track of how many airplanes flew over our playground while we were outside. Whenever the children saw airplanes outside, we would keep a count in our heads (usually no more than 3 flew over). Then when we went inside, we would add that many airplanes to our chart. The children were often spotted at the chart counting how many we had seen so far.
Parachutes
[Science]
Make parachutes with a 14-inch (approx.) square from a plastic trash bag, tape a 16-inch (approx.) string to each corner with masking tape, and tie all four pieces of string to a 3/4-inch metal washer. This is not easy for children to do. You could make this with each child, or send home the materials and directions for a home activity. Either way children will need individual help. I also made a larger parachute using a whole trash bag tied on four sides to a stuffed animal. The kids had fun dropping this from the classroom loft. (Children are exploring properties of air.)
Car and Truck Activities
Windshield Wiper Fingerplay
I’m a windshield wiper
(bend arm at elbow with fingers pointing up)
This is how I go
(move arm left and right, pivoting at elbow)
Back and forth, back and forth
(continue back and forth motion)
In the rain and snow.
(continue back and forth motion)
Red Light, Green Light
[Large Motor]
When green light is on, children roll a car around on the floor. When they see the red light, the cars should stop.
Tire Tracks
[Art]
Children dip the tires of toy cars in paint and roll it across their paper to make tire tracks. Oriental Trading also has some car stamps that can be used for this activity. (Item number IN-56/2906)
Play Dough Tire Tracks
[Fine Motor Skills]
Children flatten out play dough and roll toy cars and trucks on it to make tire tracks.
Car Color Matching
[Visual Discrimination, Science]
Print, laminate, and cut apart the color car cards and the color word cards. Children match the colors of the cars to the color words.
Letter Roads
[Literacy]
We use large foam letters (ours came from Lakeshore). Children drive over the shapes of the letters with mini toy cars.
Truck Stamping Game
[Math, Literacy]
Write a letter or numeral on each truck, and make a copy for each child. Children will draw a number or letter card from a stack (or roll a die), find that letter/numeral on their mat, and stamp it out. You can use rubber stamps or bingo dot makers. As an alternative, you can have children draw an “X” over the truck if stamps or bingo dot markers are not available.
Road Counting
[Math]
This is a really fun, engaging activity the children love. Read the post at this link: Road Counting.
License Plate Game
[Math]
Each child has a turn to be the “driver”. A piece of paper with a number written on it is clipped to the driver’s back. The child drives around the table (or circle area), and parks in his seat. The children find the numeral among their number card sets.
Ramps & Cars
[Math]
The children bring a small car or truck to school for this experiment. We test the cars to see how well they roll on a ramp covered with various materials. We used aluminum foil, sandpaper, and bubble wrap. We used a recording sheet to record the results of our experiment. This sheet came from a Mailbox book called “Science in the Schoolyard”. Please note: I do not use or encourage the use of worksheets in Pre-K; this sheet is a recording sheet for science experiments. Our curriculum guidelines require that children keep records of their observations.
Traffic Light Cookies
[Cooking]
Children mix red, green and yellow food coloring with white icing, and spread the icing onto the three vanilla wafers to make a traffic light.
Trucks & Blocks with Sand
[Sensory Table]
Children can build a small village with the blocks and roll the trucks in the sand to make roads around their village.
Boat Activities
Boats
[Science]
Children drop a ball of clay into a small tub of water to see if it will float or sink. Next, they form a boat from the clay and try to make a boat that will float. They try putting animal counters in the boat to see how many the boat will hold without sinking. You can also try making boats with aluminum foil. (Children are exploring density.)
More Activities
Transportation Same/Different Cards
[Visual Discrimination]
Print, laminate, and cut apart the cards. Three of the four pictures are the same and one is different. Children find the picture that is different and cover it with a bingo chip or token. This set has 8 cards.
Story Retelling
[Literacy]
Choose a transportation-themed book that you would consider good literature (good characters, plot, beginning, middle, end, etc.) Show the book to the children and tell them to think about what happened in the story, and the people (characters) and places they saw in the story. Think about what each character said. Give each child a piece of paper and ask them to draw something they remember from the story. Remind them that this should not be a picture of their cat or their friends, but only pictures of things from the book. After each child has illustrated the story, have them retell the story in their own words. Either record each child with a voice recorder or write their dictation on the page.
Wheels Grid Game
[Math]
To play a grid game, children roll a game die, identify the numeral and count out that amount of manipulatives. Each manipulative is placed over one picture in the grid. Children play until the whole grid is full. This grid game uses wagon wheel pasta found in grocery stores. I spray painted the wagon wheels black. You can use any brand, but I used Barilla Piccolini Mini Wheels and they seem to be very durable.
Transportation Graph
[Math]
I used the transportation clipart pictures (available in the Printables section) to place in the top of the pocket chart graph. Children choose their favorite mode of transportation and placed their name card under it on the graph.
Ramps
Read the post at this link: Ramps in the Science Center.
Science Center
[Science]
Ramps with toy cars
Parachute man
Gears
Wood or foam airplane gliders
Travel Prop Box
[Dramatic Play]
Suitcase, Travel books, Tickets, Money, Maps, Clothes, Grooming items, Pajamas
Printables
Directions for using these printables are given in the Activities area above.
Wheels Grid Game 10 Spaces
Wheels Grid Game 20 Spaces
Wheels on the Bus PowerPoint
Wheels on the Bus Song Book
Truck Game Printable
Same/Different Game
Car Color Matching
Road Counting
Transportation Cards*
*use for pocket charts, flannel boards, graphing labels, matching, games, beginning sounds, etc.
Links
- Transportation Theme Links: my bookmarks on delicious.com
- Airplane Project: Documentation of our project on airplanes
- Wheels on the Bus @ The Virtual Vine
- Transportation Theme @ Enchanted Learning
- Transportation Theme @ Pre-KPages.com
- Transportation Cards at Montessori for Everyone
