Transportation Theme

The following rhymes can be great for circle time, transitions, storytime, dramatic play, or just for fun! Sharing childhood rhymes is a great way to build early literacy skills, like phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the smaller sounds in words. Phonological awareness includes the ability to hear and create rhymes, to say words with sounds or chunks left out and the ability to put two word chunks together to make a word. (Most children who have difficulty in reading have trouble in phonological awareness, so getting a head start with encouraging this literacy skill is beneficial.

Transportation Theme Rhymes:

Engine On The Track
Here is the engine on the track (hold up thumb) 
Here is the coal car, just in back (pointer finger) 
Here is the box car to carry freight (middle finger) 
Here is the mail car. Don't be late. (ring finger) 
Way back here at the end of the train. (pinky finger)
Rides the caboose through the sun and rain.

Bus Driver, Bus Driver
Bus driver, bus driver, may I have a ride? (Hold up fist and wiggle thumb.)
Yes, yes, please step inside. (Hold up other fist and wiggle thumb.)
Put in some money. (Bend down first thumb.)
Step on the gas. (Bend down other thumb.)
Chug-a-way, chug-a-way, (Pretend to steer bus.)
But not too fast.

Get a Ticket
Get a ticket, ticket, ticket for the train
Get a ticket, ticket, ticket for the train
Don't stand out in the wind and the rain,
Get a ticket, ticket, ticket for the train.

Get a ticket, ticket, ticket for the bus
Get a ticket, ticket, ticket for the bus
Climb aboard, you can ride with us!
Get a ticket, ticket, ticket for the bus!

Get a ticket, ticket, ticket for the boat
Get a ticket, ticket, ticket for the boat
The water's too cold to swim or float
Get a ticket, ticket, ticket for the boat


Enjoy this video by Rebecca Frezza and Big Truck:

Pick of the Week: Toot Toot Zoom!

Toot Toot Zoom! by Phyllis Root, illustrations by Matthew Cordell (Candlewick Press, 2009)

Pierre lives by himself at the bottom of a mountain. He's lonely and looking for a friend. So he sets out in his red car - toot toot zoom! - up the mountain in search of a friend. Along the way he meets several animals that say just the right thing and join him in his search. When car trouble hits, Pierre discovers that he needn't look far to find a true friend. This is a great read aloud!

Pick of the Week: Beep Beep!

Are you doing any traveling during the next few weeks with a baby or toddler?
Here's a fun board book you might enjoy.

Beep Beep by Petr Horacek (board book)

 A family has a wonderful time traveling...going broom, broom through the town and vroom, vroom, along the highway...all the way to Grandma's house!

New book for little fans of Things That Go!

Big Noisy Book of Vehicles: with fully animated DVD by Britta Teckentrup (Boxer Books, 2008)

I just ran across this book in our collection yesterday and it has become an instant favorite with a little boy I know. This large-sized, brightly illustrated book covers numerous vehicles - from submarines to bicycles to hovercraft to pogo sticks to ultralight aircraft to spacecraft to trains and emergency trucks - all driven by adorable animals. Young transportation lovers will find a lot here to pour over here. A fully animated wordless DVD brings each page of the book to life. Young viewers can watch the whole book play out on screen or choose a specific environment/page to watch.

Pick of the Week: What Do Wheels Do All Day?

What Do Wheels Do All Day? by April Jones Prince, illustrated by Giles Laroche (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)

Many a small child is fascinated by things that go and what makes things turn. Wheels! This fantastic book introduces a variety of wheels with great cut-paper illustrations and very simple text. Certain to be enjoyed by fans of transportation and curious young minds. This would also be a useful title to use to prompt conversations about wheels, how they are used and how they work to make things move. A simple math lesson could even follow.