Young children love to move to music, and when we sing children's song with action, we give them an opportunity to have some fun and develop gross motor skills. The important aspect of action songs, as the adult caregiver, is to move along with the song's lyrics too. A transportation theme with young children is conducive to movement.
Children's Action Song about Transportation
Young children will learn that transportation is how we get from one place to another. The teacher (or whoever is leading the singing) can ask the children in a group setting what they think transportation means and record their answers. If the numbers are small, the teacher can try and incorporate the children's answers into the following song along with their names by adding more verses. In this way, children are honoured for their input and individuality.
With each form of transportation, actions can be included for the children to partake in. For the plane, hands are out wide and if applicable, the children can fly around the room. Similarly, the car will have a steering wheel for children to drive. Lastly, when singing the boat lyrics, the teacher and children can make a boat shape with their hands and move the sailboat gently up and down.
To the tune of Old Macdonald Had a Farm
Pete the pilot flies his plane
Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom
And on the plane, there are some wings
Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom
And the planes flies up high, into the clouds
And down low, he sees the ground
Pete the pilot flies his plane
Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom.
Dan the driver, drives his car
Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom
And on the car, there are some wheels
Vroom, vroom, vroom ,vroom, vroom
And the car goes up,down and all around
Up, down all through the town
Dan the driver drives his car
Vroom, vroom, vroom vroom vroom
Sally the sailor, sails her boat
Swish, swish, swish
On her boat, there is a sail
Swish, swish swish
And the boat glides up here, and down there
Up here, and down there
Sally the sailor, sails her boat
Swish, swish, swish
Children Activity to a Transportation Song
This action song involves children's ideas being recognized by allowing those who are chosen to explain the form of transportation which will get them to their trip destination. The song follows the actions of the classic song, Farmer in the Dell. The children will be sitting or standing in a circle singing the song while one player walks around inside the circle.
At the end of the verse, the chosen child will take a partner to go on a trip, and will decide how they will get there. The children standing inside the circle will then act out the form of transportation as the song continues. The song continues with a new child chosen and will continue until everyone has an opportunity to participate inside the circle.
The following song is sung to the tune of Farmer in the Dell and for convenience sake we will choose the names Jack and Jill and the form of transportation will be a plane.
Jack takes a trip
Jack takes a trip
He packs his bags and calls a cab
Jack takes a trip
They travel there by plane
They travel there by plane
Up and down and all around
They travel their by plane
A New Version to the Classic Song "Wheels on the Bus"
A well known children's action song is the "Wheels on the Bus" which includes a list of verses with attached actions for the children singing. For a different version of the song, try singing the same tune but with the following verses:
The wheels on the plane go in and out...all around the sky
The steward(or stewardess) on the plane says coffee or tea?...all around the sky
The babies on the plane go wah wah wah...all around the sky
The mothers on the plane go sshh, sshh, sshh...all around the sky
The pilot on the plane says seatbelts on....all around the sky.
A transportation theme correlates so well to action songs as the children can play out the forms of transportation they see and experience in their daily lives.
Christine Moore - Early Childhood Educator, Preschool/Daycare Resources, Online Workshop Instructor, ECE, BGS
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