T is for Transportation: Themed Activities


Alphabet:  A is for Airplane, A is for Auto, B is for Bus, B is for Boat, C is for Car,  C is for Canoe, etc.  Can you find a form of transportation for every letter A to Z?

Books:  Up, That's Not My Car, Blue Boat, Pete the Cat: Wheels on the Bus, Disney CARS series, Cars, Trucks and Things that Go!, Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks from A to Z, Thomas the Train, If I Built a Car, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, Sheep in a Jeep, Freight Train and more!

Crafts:  Roll toy cars in paint and make tracks on paper, Popsicle stick boats, Glue people and wheels onto a bus, decorate cardboard boxes as racecars or trucks, decorate pylons, chalk roads on black paper or the sidewalk, make a checkered flag (black marker on white cloth or weave b&w paper)

Dramatic Play:  Airport/Pilot Play,  Emergency Personnel (Fireman, Policeman, Paramedic), Community Helpers (Bus/Taxi Driver, Sanitation Truck Driver, Car Mechanic), Farm Life with Tractors

Experiments: Fill up a balloon with baking soda and a bottle with vinegar and attach the balloon to the opening carefully, then lift the balloon to drop in the contents to the vinegar and watch the balloon inflate.  Sink or float? transportation theme.   Does it roll? Try a variety of items.

Fine Motor: Practice circles of wheels, waves of water, lines to make a rectangle for a truck. Trace (with utensil, finger or vehicle) C for Car or a winding road or the outline of a vehicle. Complete transportation themed colour by numbers, dot-to-dots, mazes and colouring pages.

Gross Motor:  Car or Trike riding,   Parachute Games,   Red Light/Green Light Game,   Simon Says Car Signs Version (Stop, Go, Slow, Bumpy roads, Reverse, Idle (march in place) etc.    Tire HopScotch (jumping) ,  Tire TicTacToe (bean bag toss to get three in a row)  STOPLIGHT TOSS (try to get a red, yellow and green in the correct order for a three tire (hulahoop)'stoplight')   Car Relay Race: put on the (seat)belt, go around the pylons, through the car wash, spin the wheels (hulahoop), honk the horn, reverse to the starting line.

relay race
-put on the seatbelt (a belt), go around the pylons, go through the car wash, jump in the tire (or spin the tires
(hoolahoop?) for a distance), pick up the horn and honk it and reverse back.
relay race
-put on the seatbelt (a belt), go around the pylons, go through the car wash, jump in the tire (or spin the tires
(hoolahoop?) for a distance), pick up the horn and honk it and reverse back
opinion
relay race
-put on the seatbelt (a belt), go around the pylons, go through the car wash, jump in the tire (or spin the tires
(hoolahoop?) for a distance), pick up the horn and honk it and reverse back

Sensory:   Puffy Clouds Dough or Shaving Cream Clouds with people and planes, Smooth Road/Bumpy Road bins (gravel, sand, stone, sandpaper, aluminum foil, bubble wrap, wax paper, corn starch as possible textures), Playdough with transportation cutters, Boats in Water play (actual toy boats or make your own with various materials)  Identify the vehicle by the sound it makes (bike, motorcycle, truck, ambulance etc), 

Songs:  The Car's in the Garage, The Wheels on the Bus, Row Row Row your Boat, Driving My Tractor, Up, Up, Up.

Vocabulary: Name colours of a rainbow parachute or name them as you match a toy car to a same colour paper parking spot. Complete a Road Trip Word Search Puzzle or Crossword puzzle. Play a Car Vocab Bingo Game: tire, flag, car or steering wheel, window, light, horn, oil, helmet, stop sign, + 

If any of these ideas need further clarification or if you want to add to the list, please send a message!

Have fun incorporating some of these ideas as you spend quality time with the child(ren) in your life!



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