Transportation Toddler Learning Activities

This week in tot school features toddler learning activities geared towards transportation and ways we move. From buses to balloons, come explore with us. From incorporating wheel crafts to pulling out some awesome new toys, we had LOTS of fun. And while it’s one of my most loathed songs because of it’s “sticking” ability, we sang The Wheels on the Bus!

Please note, that supplies used for this learning theme are linked to amazon. If you graciously choose to buy supplies through any of my links, I would like to thank you for supporting my family through your purchases!

Supplies for Transportation Learning Activities

Toys

Cars and trains and trucks of course! Since we are all sure to have a variety of options, I will highlight some of our favorite toys and brands.

We absolutely adore wooden toys and some of the best I have ever run across are the Wonderworld wooden toys. We have the fire truck and it rolls so smoothly and is so sturdy that I am sure that it will survive generations of kids! Plus, my daughter loves it too an that’s what really matters.

Janod also makes some great wooden toys, including our awesome helicopter! And Maple Landmark makes some other great wooden vehicles including a recycling truck… and how could I pass up a recycling truck toy?!

And finally one of our favorites is a sweet Double Decker Bus. It’s another I could not pass up because it’s so unique and cute.

Busy Bags

We incorporated several busy bags this time around. We had a fun travel magnet game sorting which vehicle belonged in the air or on the ground.

We had some book and toy combo bags to help connect reading and a fun play activity.

Books were a huge part of the week as we explored lots of ways people travel both far and near. It was a great window on the world too since we don’t ride camels here, but they do in the Middle East!

We revisited the books Sneakers Sneakers from week one to talk about walking in shoes. We also enjoyed “The Race” which was all about different ways to race.

We read A Dragon in a Wagon
which showed multiple forms of transportation and was a fun story ( a favorite this week). Gallop! was also a HUGE hit because it was all about how animals move and transport themselves. If you have never seen a scanimation book, they’re really awesome.

The Wheels on the Bus was also a great book to have since we could do crafts dealing with buses and extend the book and song into fun toddler learning activities.

Our family LOVES music, so any time we can incorporate new and fun songs into our day, we do. I personally get The Wheels on the Bus stuck in my head so I prefer to find other songs when I can find them. One of our favorites is Riding in My Car by Elizabeth Mitchell.

Transportation Toddler Learning Activities

• We spent an entire day one day playing with our vehicles on our race track sheet. I found mine at a thrift store, but I have seen several other bloggers make them from felt and even paper.
• Make your own homemade wheels. We made a bus out of an egg carton this time around. We used an egg carton, two straws, and four pouch caps. For more on how to make axles, check out our last pouch cap car. For this craft we use a hole punch to thread the axles through.
• Make up your own version of the song “The Wheels on the Bus”. This is a fun way to make it personal to your family! (So the Wheels on the Van or something might be appropriate).
• Find some great puzzles to work. We found two great wooden ones at the dollar store that worked. One was a train and the other was an ambulance.
• Plan a field trip to a local fire station. Many stations around here are extremely happy to share what they do with kids and this could be so much fun!
• Plan a field trip or two to local museums. Here in Oklahoma we have a Railway Museum AND a Firefighters museum within a couple miles of each other that have great real-life exhibits of trains and firetrucks.
• Make some homemade road signs to play with like these from B-Inspired Mama

Transportation Schedule/Daily Ideas

Bible verse of the week: Psalm 20:7 “Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.”

Monday: Car, Truck

• Make a car craft
• Eat a banana car.

Tuesday: Bike, Wagon, on Foot

• Take a wagon to the park or zoo.
• Bike around the neighborhood.
• Go for an evening walk.

Wednesday: Bus, Train

• Sing the Wheels on the bus
• Make Bus craft
• Take a bus ride
• Take a short train ride
• With more than one child or family member, play the yarn train game and follow the leader

Thursday: Boat, Raft

• Go to the lake/ocean
• Play with boats in the bathtub

Friday: Animals

• Visit the zoo and find all the load-bearing animals
• Have a family pet pull a small sled (or fake sled if it’s a small animal)
• Go horseback riding or ride on a donkey

Saturday: Plane, Helicopter, Hot Air Balloon

• Act like you’re different air transport vehicles
• Buy some balloons and see how many it takes to lift different objects
• Browse pictures of hot air balloon festivals

Sunday: Emergency and Commercial Vehicles

• Play doctor/emergency worker
• Talk about road safety and pulling over for emergency vehicles
• Prepare a gift to thank your mail person.

Check out the other themes we have completed and download the calendar & planner to start today.