Transportation Storytime

This storytime was for a preschool-aged group at my library.

Today's storytime is brought to you today by the letter 'T'. So, on the board as the kids walked in was: (that first word was a great vocabulary builder!)

Read Aloud Books

How to Train a TrainWritten by Jason Carter Eaton, illustrated by John Rocco

So you think you want a pet train? Well this guidebook can help you wrangle, teach, and love your new train. This was great for the kids because there are two definitions of "train" right in the title! They thought it was pretty silly to have a train as a pet, too. But, it was pretty long, so I actually nixed it the second time for the shorter Supertruck.

Steam Train, Dream TrainWritten by Sherri Duskey Rinker, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

Each car in the train is just the right type to have certain kinds of freight. And the crew works late into the night, filling and getting it going. This was great for the rhyming text as well as the educational aspect of teaching different types of cars. Went really well with the felt below.

Let's Go for a Drive!Written and illustrated by Mo Willems

Elephant and Piggie want to go for a drive! But they need lots of supplies to carry out their plan...including a car?? Basically, any day I get to read Elephant and Piggie is a good day indeed. The kids thought it was hilarious (or maybe they just laugh at me because of how much I get into it).

SupertruckWritten and illustrated by Stephen Savage

Firetruck puts out flames and tow truck saves stranded buses. Garbage truck? He just takes out the trash. Until, one day, a blizzard comes and he transforms into supertruck! It's short and sweet, easy to read. I think the kids got the whole alter ego part of it...

Songs & Rhymes

Hello Song

Song: Choo Choo Train

Choo-choo train, choo-choo train

Chugging down the track

Now it’s going forward, now it’s chugging back

Now its bell is ringing, now the whistle blows

Choo-choo train, choo-choo train

Down the track it goes!

Song: Drive The Fire Truck

Hurry, hurry drive the fire truck

Hurry, hurry drive the fire truck

Ding ding ding ding!

Hurry, hurry put the ladder up…

Hurry, hurry put the fire out…

Hurry, hurry drive the fire truck…

Song: Riding In My Car

(We danced around with scarves to this song)

Goodbye Song

Games & Activities

Flannel: Clickety-Clack

Inspiration from Storytime Katie: more practice with different train cars!

Clickety-clack, clickety-clack,

Here comes the train on the railroad track!

Clickety-clunn, clickety-clunn,

Here comes ENGINE number one.

Clickety-clew, clickety-clew,

Here comes COAL CAR number two.

Clickety-clee, clickety-clee,

Here comes BOX CAR number three.

Clickety-clore, clickety-clore,

Here comes TANK CAR number four.

Clickety-clive, clickety-clive,

Here comes COACH CAR number five.

Clickety-clicks, clickety-clicks,

Here’s the CABOOSE, that’s number six.

Clickety-clack, clickety-clack,

There goes the train on the railroad track!

Choo-choooooooo! Goodbye!

Craft: Design Your Vehicle

With some basic shapes (squares, rectangles, circles, triangles, ovals), I let the kids' imaginations take over as they built whatever vehicle they wanted! We got rockets, trains, and whole houses on wheels. It was pretty fun!

Other Book Ideas

I'm Fast!Written by Kate McMullan, illustrated by Jim McMullan

Little Blue TruckWritten by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry

Pete the Cat's Train TripWritten and illustrated by James Dean