Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello - this is our traditional opener and since the kids are used to it, it's a signal that we're ready to begin storytime.
Book: Red Light, Green Light by Anastasia Suen, illustrated by Ken Wilson-Max (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2005). Before we read this one, we talked about red lights, green lights, and yellow lights and identified what they mean. This book's rhythmic, rhyming text lends itself to being sung and I sing it to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".
Felt: Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia (Boxer Books, 2008). At one point we had a damaged copy of this book, which we cut up and turned into a felt story. To tell the story, I start with all the vehicles on the board and we make the sound of each vehicle as it drives off. When there are no vehicles left, I remark about how quiet it has become and ask where the cars have gone before showing them the spread of the cars "sleeping" in the parking garage. This is a great book to read in storytime, too, and the kids love the colorful illustrations with their cartoony eyes.
Book: Who is Driving? by Leo Timmers (Bloomsbury, 2007). This guessing game asks kids to guess which animal is driving each vehicle. If you look closely at the animals' outfits, you will be able to tell! (Although many kids just want to shout out whatever the largest animal on the page is...) This is a really fun book and our copies have been well-loved.
Action Song: Dump Truck
(Tune: Ten Little Indians)
Bumpity-bumpity comes the dump truck,
Bumpity-bumpity comes the dump truck,
Bumpity-bumpity comes the dump truck,
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuump out the load.
Source: Pre-K Fun, via Storytime Katie
I have the kids stand up and bounce as we sing (for babies, you could just bounce them on laps) and then we tilt over to dump out our loads. I always repeat this one and ask the kids to act like they're carrying a REALLY HEAVY load (slower, bouncing lower) and then we repeat like they're carrying a REALLY LIGHT load (faster, higher bouncing). This not only stretches out the song a little bit, but it's a good opportunity to insert some STEM knowledge: when we're carrying a heavy load, the work is harder so we move slower.
Book: A Plane Goes Ka-ZOOM! by Jonathan London, illustrated by Denis Roche (Henry Holt, 2010). This rhyming book has bright, colorful illustrations. As I read it, we looked for rhyming words, which are great to recognize with children since it helps children learn that words are made up of smaller sounds. Jonathan London has a number of transportation-themed books along the same ilk: A Train Goes Clickety Clack and A Truck Goes Rattley-Bumpa.
Felt Rhyme: Engine on the Track
Here is the engine on the track.
Here is the coal car, just in back.
Here is the coal car, just in back.
Here is the box car to carry freight.
Here is the mail car. Don't be late.
Here is the mail car. Don't be late.
Way back here at the end of the train
Rides the caboose through the sun and rain.
I just said the rhyme as I put the engine and train cars on the board. Children can chime in, holding up a finger for each car.
Closing Song: Do You Know What Time It Is?
Stations:
- Felt board: I put out our two felt story pieces for children to play with. They enjoyed playing with the colorful pieces.
- Blocks and toy cars. I dug out some toy cars that we had stashed away, leftover from another program, and added them to the carpet for block play. Children designed roads, bridges, and garages in addition to their other structures.
- Name trains. I pre-made the strips with die-cut train engines (a great volunteer project!) and then cut scrap construction paper into squares and rectangles for the train cars. Source: Prekinders.
Additional resources:
- Flannel Friday Transportation Pinterest Board
- Jbrary Transportation Playlist
- Mel's Desk: Baby Storytime: Things That Go
- Nevershushed STEAM Storytime: Things That Go
- Storytime Katie: Things That Go and Transportation
- Sturdy for Common Things: On the Road
- Sunflower Storytime: Things That Go
There are tons more resources available online. Search for "Things That Go" or transportation or any of the following: trains, trucks, cars, planes, bikes, boats, etc.
