From pretend play to artsy adventures, preschool-appropriate activities with a school bus theme can bring out your little learner's creativity, help her to problem solve and even build academic skills such as math and literacy. Whether it's the start of the school year or you're talking about transportation, put the wheels on the bus and tackle a hands-on project that is as engaging as it is educational.
Before your preschooler takes the big yellow bus to school next year, help him to understand how this vehicle helps people get moving. Talk about transportation and why school buses -- like other types of buses, cars, trains and planes -- are musts in the modern world. Start by reading a bus book, such as "School Bus" by Donald Crews. Compare the school bus to other types of transport by reading picture books that feature a variety of vehicles. Try titles such as "The Big Book of Things That Go" by DK Publishing or "Whose Vehicle Is This?" by Sharon Katz Cooper and Amy Bailey Muehlenhardt, and have your preschooler point out the differences between school buses and other vehicles. Make a chart of the differences -- such as color, size or shape -- on a piece of poster board.
Make a small-sized collage or a wall-covering mural that features a school bus. Give your preschooler yellow paper rectangles and squares, and ask him to glue them onto either a piece of construction paper or rolled butcher paper. A long rectangle works as the body of the bus and a square at the front functions as the cab. Give him circles to make wheels. Encourage your preschooler to decorate the school bus with glitter, glue and sequins, making his own type of transport vehicle. Another option is to help your child cut out pictures or photos of school bus parts from kid-friendly magazines. Assemble them on a piece of cardboard to make one mix-and-match bus.
Drama on the Bus
Engaging in pretend play can help your preschooler to build language abilities, acquire social skills and problem-solve. Reuse a large-sized cardboard box -- such as a moving box -- and turn it into a "school bus." Open the top, set the box on a large sheet of paper and let your preschooler use paint or crayon to color the outside yellow. Give her paper plates to glue near the bottom as wheels. She can add windows or a few letters on the sides with a black marker. After the paint dries, cut a slit all the way down the side to create a door. Encourage your child to act as the bus driver, taking you on a magical ride.
Even though going to school on the bus is an exciting experience for the young child, preschoolers need to know the safety issues that go along with the ride. Following the tips of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, give your child the rules of the ride, such as always stay seated, face forward, ask the driver for help if you drop your book-bag or something else while entering or exiting the vehicle, and where to walk when he is near the bus. Look through child-friendly magazines for pictures of kids observing proper school bus safety rules. Help your preschooler to cut them out. Glue the pictures onto pieces of card stock to make a school bus safety book. Stack the pages and staple them together or punch holes along the left side and bind the book with yarn bows.
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