Farm Animals on A Bus?

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate The Wash is a great book filled with the funny stuff that kids like. Jimmy's class takes a trip to a farm, but things get a little crazy. Somehow the animals wind up on the bus!!

You may want to take this opportunity to reinforce the color yellow, the letter Y for Yellow and B for Bus, you may also want to sing a new version of the "Wheels On The Bus". Change the song up by singing "The pigs on the bus go oink, oink, oink...The cows on the bus say...(you get the idea).

This book will serve as a bridge into a farm animal theme, but the activities are great as stand alone activities as well.

The next activity is one of my favorite kinds of puppets for little ones. There are many cute paper bag puppets out there, but paper bag puppets can be difficult for little fingers to operate. You will find that I use this same style of puppet again and again (check out 5 Little Monkeys).

This is a simple stick puppet. No need for a fancy pattern. Your little one is going to enjoy creating something special with you no matter how artistic you are. It is also important that kids learn to use their own imaginations to create and problem solve. If they always observe you using patterns, and not trusting your own abilities they will feel less confident in their own creativity. (This is not to say that there is no place for patterns and following directions.)

Today we made the pig, but check back for other animals on Thursday.

I found simple household objects to trace for the face and snout, and then drew 2 simple ears. Use this as an opportunity to talk about the number 2, circles and the color pink (or whatever color you choose to use).

My little one is not quite old enough to cut on a line so I cut the circles out and let him color the snout brown and glue the pieces together, I then drew a mouth and eyes, but older children could do it on there own. It is helpful to draw a small x where the pieces are to be glued, this way your little one will know just where to place the glue and object.

We then glued our little piggy to a popsicle stick and sang "the pig on the bus goes oink oink...

Have a delightful day!!

Big Yellow Bus and Cupcakes Too

In keeping with our "Wheels On The Bus" theme we pulled out our own Yellow Bus (I really think it would be fun to make one out of a refrigerator box).


We are going to have fun acting out the Wheels On The Bus song, and later we'll drive the Big Yellow Bus to the kitchen for Yummy Yellow Cupcakes. This will give us the perfect opportunity to talk about the letter Y and review the color Yellow. You can find my favorite recipe for cupcakes on my other blog Fancy That. This a super easy recipe that starts with a mix, but is Oh so Yummy.

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

Candid Carrie is hosting a photo show and tell of sorts. This is one of my favorites, it's my daughter and 3 nieces at the zoo. Looks a little like Planet Of The Apes, don't you think?

Have a delightful day!!

Wheels On The Bus --- Snack

The other day i posted an activity based on the book and song "The Wheel On The Bus", today I would like to share a fun food activity.

You will need:
graham crackers (for bus)
golden graham cereal (for windows and door)
teddy grahams
yellow frosting
small Ritz crackers


I could give you the procedure step by step, but it's easy and I'll just share some photos. My 3 year old, 11 year old and her friend all made one. The buses required several paint jobs, and window replacements (somehow the frosting and windows kept disappearing from their buses).

ENJOY!!

The Wheels On The Bus

This is an old standby. Nothing too original, but always fun for little ones.

The Wheels On The Bus is a great song, but can also be found in several different book versions.

We checked Raffi's Wheels On The Bus out from the library. We sang the song, and listened to the song on CD. Now when we read the book together my little one can "read" right along with me.

This is a great opportunity to check out all of the yellow school buses. We look for buses as we drive around town, and talk about the color yellow. For fun we finger painted with yellow. I then drew a bus on the painted yellow paper, cut it out, and added wheels (complete with brads so the wheels go "around and around").



Stay tuned for more bus activities, stories, and songs.