 |
| Transportation |
| Art: Bulldozer Art Have the children pretend to be bulldozers while they paint. Supply each child with a piece of finger-paint paper, finger paint, and a wide craft stick. Have each child choose several colors of finger paint to put on the paper. Show the children how to place the craft stick horizontally on the paper and push the paint--like a bulldozer! While the children work, encourage them to talk with you about their creations. Help them recognize that they are pushing the paint with the craft stick much like a bulldozer pushes dirt with its blade Train Whistle Toilet Paper Tubes, Wax Paper, Rubber Band, Paint What You Do: They simply decorate a toilet paper tube with paint. Then you punch a hole about a half-inch down the tube. Finally put a circle of wax paper over one end secure it with a rubber band. Now your children can pretend to be a train and make whisle like noises (sounds more like a kazoo) Train Whistle Let your children make train whistle sound by blowing across the top of a plastic bottle. Talk to them about how trains have certain whistle patterns that they use when they are crossing a road, meeting another train, etc Egg Carton Trains Give each child a 6-cup section of a cardboard egg carton. Paint the front egg cup red and train cars either red or other colors. Allow to dry. Paint a single cup black. Turn egg carton half so that the empty cups are facing up. Have them glue the black cup on top of the front cup (engine) to represent the smoke stack (upside down). Add buttons or felt circles for wheels. Box Trains Decorate cardboard box (large enough for the child to sit in) as the engine of a train. Add other boxes to be the cars and caboose. Older children who may no longer fit in many boxes, can remove the bottom of their box train and add shoulder straps to carry their car. Make a train using shoeboxes for stuffed animals. Attach together with string, and add a ribbon at the front of the "engine" as a pull string for the entire train Railroad Color Signal Flags Make flags using construction paper. Tape them onto chopsticks or staple them on straws. Red - Stop White - Go Green - Go slowly - caution! Train Shapes Cut out construction paper shapes into the shape of a train (rectangle - boiler, triangle - cow catcher, square - engineer's cabin, upside down triangle - funnel, 3 circles - wheels). Have the children glue together. Add cotton on for smoke. Dramatic Play: Build a village with mountains and tunnels, etc. with blocks. Train Cars Use one large cardboard box per child. Cut top and bottom off. Make shoulder straps from heavy ribbon. Let them paint their own train cars. Use small painted paper plates for the wheels. Line them up and let them march and sing "Workin on the railroad." Creative Movement People Train Make a train using people. Have the person in the back wear a conductor's hat. Have the conductor say where the train will go. One person can use color signal flags to guide the train. Sing train songs as you have the children hold onto each other's waists and choo-choo around the room. Teddy Bear Express Find several boxes large enough to hold a teddy bear or another stuffed animal. Hook the boxes together with strong tape or rope. Ask the teddy bear if he would like to go for a train ride. Ask your toddler to put the teddy into a box. Ask your toddler if he wants any of the other animals to go for a ride. Give the rope to your toddler and see if he can pull the train as you recite this poem. Teddy bear train, Choo, choo, choo. Teddy bear train, Choo, choo, choo, Go a little faster. (Talk and pull faster) Go a little slower. (Talk and pull slowly) Everybody at the station. (Talk very slowly) STOP!! Games Railroad Tag As few as five can play but more is better. This is a version of tag where a group does the tagging rather than just one person. Choose two players to start the train. They join hands and chase the other players in order to "tag" one. When tagged, a player joins hands with them and becomes part of the train. The game is over when everyone forms one train. All Aboard the Color Train Cut out many "tickets" from different colors of construction paper. Give each child three or four tickets. Tell the children that you are the conductor of a Color Train and they can ride the train if they have a ticket that matches the color you call. Set up chairs or have the children line up to march around the room. Announce "All aboard the Red Train" or the color of your choice. Have the children give you their ticket and have them march around the room. After a minute, announce a new color. Variations: use numbers, letters or shapes instead of colors. Clickety Clack Have the children spread out around the room. Pick one child to be the engine of the train. Give each child a ticket with a number on it. The ticket should be large enough so the number can be clearly seen. Have the child who is the engine pick up the passengers in order. For younger children, just have them pick up the passengers, or have them use color tickets, pick up the red, then orange and so on. Train Movement Divide your class into three groups. Have each group form a train. Instruct the children to move around the class and remain connected (hands on the shoulders on the person in front of them). Every minute or two switch engines. Whistle Game Have all the children line up and make a train. Instruct the children that one short whistle means stop and two short whistles means go slowly. If they do well with the two signals add more, three whistles mean back up, 1 long whistle, stop and turn around etc. Pass the Whistle Everyone sits in a circle and passes the train whistle from one person to the next. Someone calls time or stops the music and the person left holding the Train whistleis out. Continue until there is only one person left. Crooked Tracks Draw a crooked line on the floor with chalk. It's "train tracks ". The object of the players is to walk along the"train tracks " looking at it through binoculars turned upside down. The player who walks the "train track" the fastest is the winner. Language: Trains Here's a little choo-choo train Chugging down the track Now it goes forward Now it goes back Now the whistle blows Whooooo, Whooooooo! What a lot of noise it makes Everywhere it goes Chooo-chooo-chooo! The train comes running back. The Little Train The little train, Goes up the track. It says, "Toot, toot", And comes right back.Red Light (Submitted by Gayle) Red on top, green below Red says stop, green says go Yellow says wait even if you're late 2 little cars sitting on a hill, 1 named Jack, 1 named Jill Drive away Jack, Drive away Jill Come back Jack, Come back Jill Here's a little choo-choo train Chugging down the track Now it goes forward Now it goes back Now the whistle blows Whooooo, Whooooooo! What a lot of noise it makes Everywhere it goes Chooo-chooo-chooo! The train comes running back Here Comes the Choo Choo Train Here comes our choo choo train Coming down the track First it's going forwardThen it's going back Hear the bells ringing, ding a ling, ding a ling Hear the whistle blowing, woo woo What a lot of noise it makes Everywhere it goes Little Red Caboose Little red caboose, chug, chug, chug Little red caboose, chug, chug, chug Little red caloose, behind the train, train, trian Smokestack on the his back, back, back Chugging down the track, track, track Little red caboose behind the train Engine On The Track Here is the engine on the track hold up thumb Here is the coal car, just in back pointer Here is the box car to carry freight middle Here is the mail car. Don't be late. ring Way back here at the end of the train. little Rides the caboose through the sun and rain. The little train went up the track (hand runs up arm) It went toot, toot, And then it came back. The other train went up the track (other arm) It went toot, toot, And then came back. Choo, choo, choo, choo (rub palms together in circular motion to make a noise, slowly at first, gradually increasing speed) Too-too, too-too, too-too ........... (keep hands rubbing fast and call too-too for whistle) Choo-choo, choo-choo, choo-choo (rubbing hands gradually more and more slowly) Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong ..... (stop altogether and call ding-dong) The Train Hear the engine puff, choo-choo-choo, (hand made into a fist) Hear the whistle blow, toot-toot-too. Hear the big bell ring, ding-dong-ding, Hear the brakeman shout "All Aboard". Math Train Sort Set up a few boxes to make them look like train cars. Supply the children with different things (cargo) to sort into the boxes. Ask them to sort by color, shape, texture etc. Or let them sort and tell you how they chose to sort the items. Number Train Cut out a train engine and 5 box car shapes from construction paper. (You may choose to laminate them to make them last longer. Number the cars from 1 to 5, then ask the children to line the cars up in order. How Far will it Go Place a train at the top of a ramp and ask the children how far it will go. Record their answers with making tape with each child's name on it. If you do this on carpet first switch to a smooth surface and try it and vice versa. Try a different train or a car. How Big is Train Talk to your children about how long and heavy a train is. Tell them that a train engine weighs more that three cars. They will be impressed with the sheer size of a train Music Traffic Light (Submitted by Tonya) Twinkle, twinkle, traffic light Standing on the corner bright Green means go, we all know Yellow means wait, even if you're late Red means stop Twinkle, twinkle, traffic light Standing on the corner bright Train Whistles Supply each child with an empty plastic soda bottle. Invite the children to decorate the bottle however they wish. With stickers or glue on paper etc. To make the whistle sound, blow across the bottle's opening. Have the children blow all at once and pretend to be a train. Down By the Station Down by the station Early in the morning See the little pufferbellies All in a row See the station master Turn the little handle Puff, puff, toot, toot Off we go! I Have Been Working on the Railroad Recipes: Twinkie Trains Take one twinkie and 6 vanilla wafers. Use those decorator gels in the tubes (or you can use cream cheese to glue the wheels on) and have the kids decorate the twinkies then "glue" the wheels on the sides. Use a marshmallow for the smoke stack. Marshmallow Trains Use pretzel sticks to hook the "cars" together and use peanut butter to glue cheerios on as wheels and other features. Engines Spread peanut butter on a graham cracker, add two banana slices for wheels and a triangular piece of cheese for the front of the engine. Use a small cracker for the smoke stack and away we go.... Bread Engines Cut a bread square into two rectangles. Put one of the rectangles on a piece of foil and cut the other into two squares. Put on of the squares above the rectangle to make a cab for the engine and cut the other square into two triangles. Put one triangle above the cab and the other in front of the engine. Spread the train with tomatoe sauce, sprinkle with cheese and add sliced tomatoes for the wheels. Bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. Science: Balloon Powered Train You will need scissors, tape, a straw and a round balloon. Cut off the lip of the balloon. Cut the straw in half. Stick the straw into the balloon and tape it in place, be sure to make a tight seal. Tape the straw to the top of a car or train so the straw is off the end. blow up the balloon through the straw and seal the balloon by pinching the straw. Set the car down on a smooth surface and let it go. Sensory: Working On the Railroad Show your children how to draw railroad tracks in the sand with craft sticks or unsharpened pencils. Have them make the tracks go up hills, down valleys and around corners. Then give the children small toy trains to run over the tracks Car air freshener Need: Thin cardboard, marker, scissors, scraps of felt in different colors, tacky glue, clear essential oil (non-alcoholic perfume), string Directions: 1. Draw a shape or trace a large cookie cutter on a piece of cardboard. 2. Cut out the shape. Use it to trace and cut out two replicas of felt. 3. Glue one felt piece on either side of the cardboard. Add felt decorations. 4. Rub 10 - 15 drops of essential oil onto the felt. 5. Poke a hole in the top, thread with string Outdoor Car Wash Materials: Riding cars, sponges, and shallow dishes of soapy water. Description: During outside time, set up an area where the children can pretend to be a car wash. Place many shallow bowls containing soap and water outside and give each child a sponge. Promote sharing and cooperation as preschool children work together washing the cars. The children will absolutely love this idea. Before you know it they will be washing all of the outdoor toys and equipment. Recipes: HoBo Chicken Soup 2 chicken breasts 1 cup sliced carrots 1 cup celery 1 box dry chicken soup 1 cup egg noodles Cook first 3 ingredients until done. Remove chicken and dice. Add soup mix and noodles. Cook until noodles are tender. Add chicken and remove from heat. Siderail Salad 1 cup mandarin oranges, drained 1 (8oz) can chunk pineapple 1 cup sour cream 1 cup coconut 1 cup miniature marshmallows Drain oranges and pineapple. Mix sour cream, coconut and marshmallows. Fold in drained fruits and mix. Set in refrigerator several hours before serving Choo Choowey Fudge Brownies 1/4 cup butter 6 oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate chips 3/4 cup of sugar 2/3 cups of all purpose flour 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/4 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 2 eggs 1/2 cup chopped nuts Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom only of a square pan, 8x8x2 inches, with shortening. Heat butter and chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted; remove from heat. Stir in nuts. Bake until the center is set, about 30 minutes. Let brownies cool completely, then cut. Makes 20 brownies. |
Have you Tried?. . . Room Decoration TRAIN DEPOT I recently painted a wall mural of a train pulling into an old-fashioned train station. Under the mural I placed my child's Brio table. On the other side of the room I put cabinets for storage, each cabinet painted to resemble a building in a town (library, auto mechanics shop, pet shop). For the comforter, a blue-and-white ticking design to resemble an engineer's cap and overalls looks great, along with solid pillows with railroad crossing signs monogrammed on. TRAIN TRACKS ON FLOOR A canvas floor cloth with train tracks painted on it works well, esp. when the background matches or fades into the carpet color. TRAIN STICKERS ON MURAL I painted my son's bedroom with hills on the bottom half and sky with clouds on the top half. I painted a train track and bought removable train stickers to go on the tracks. He loved moving the trains around! I also got free samples of wallpaper and borders (anything appropriate to the room) and cut out pieces to paste on the walls. I made one area a construction zone with a hill made out of cut-out rocks and vehicles. Cutting out these pieces was easier than painting them, and I could do it while he was sleeping. His friends all thought he had the coolest room. We have since moved and miss that room a lot. using train music or sound effects transforms musical chairs into a train game arts and crafts using train stencils and stickers "duck, duck, goose" becomes "boxcar, boxcar, locomotive" Sing "The Wheels on the Bus" as "The Wheels on the Train" Have an adult in an engineer costume (or an entertainer) read a train story, lead train games and songs Read the story "The Little Engine that Could" c.2005 - 2008 |
| Idea Web Introduce and explore the following topics to expand and inspire new activity ideas. Engine Freight Car Caboose Tank Car Box Car Flatbed Car Breakdown Trains Coal Powered trains tender coupling hook and chain Steam Engines firebox Deisel Engines Tram Engines Train Track Railroad Design junction viaduct |
Prop Box Ideas Include the following collections of objects and materials for children to create, discover, and use for imaginary play. Store collections in boxes or baskets to be accessible at any time (indoors or outdoors) for children to enhance their dramatic play. small chairs, hats , tickets, a hole punch, rubber stamps, ink pads, table, old suitcases (small), and pictures of trains, conductor's hat and vest, dress up clothes for traveller's, train whistle, |
 |
| "The work can wait while you show the child the rainbow, but
the rainbow won't wait while you do the work." Patricia Clafford |
 |