Transportation Theme Activities for Preschool
A preschool transportation theme is a traditional topic in most preschools but why?
Preschoolers love activities that include playing with all types of transportation theme items including vehicles such as cars, trucks, airplanes and more.
This topic is part of their everyday lives.
They drive or walk to school, have seen or ridden on a bus or taken an airplane to go on vacation.
This natural interest in transportation is something they experience in their lives brings life to the theme and your preschool classroom.
Preschool children learn through play.
Providing hands-on activities in all of the Interest Learning Centers in your classroom with a theme in mind will draw them in to play and learn!
This Transporation Theme page is filled with preschool activities and ideas for all areas of your classroom.
Let the Transportation Theme planning begin!
You can either scroll down through this page to see all of the preschool activities for your transportation theme or click the link below to go to specific preschool activity types you are looking for.
Transportation Theme Art
Traffic Lights
Materials Needed: Cardboard egg cartons (in sections of 3); craft sticks; paint; clay
Provide red, yellow and green paint. Place craft stick into bottom. Once painted, place stick into a piece of clay as a base. These are great to use with cars, trucks etc. or in the block area!
Monster Trucks! Thank you Lisa B. for this idea!
Monster trucks! My children can’t get enough of reading about them and playing with them.
We did an art activity with paint. They drove the trucks through the paint onto the paper. They loved it!
Also, they like to drive the trucks through shaving cream mixed with brown paint!
I haven’t done this yet, but, I thought if I used a Monster truck template, I could have one of each color. They could count them also!
Hot Air Balloons
Materials Needed: Round balloons, watered down glue (or other paper mache recipe you like), strips of newspaper, colored tissue paper, yarn, colored paper or strawberry baskets
Help children (if needed) to cover balloon with at least one layer of newspaper. It may be easier if you encourage them to completely “paint” the balloon with the glue or mache liquid and then cover with strips of news paper and then “paint” over the newspaper.
(Preschoolers tend to give up quickly when they have to pick newspaper out of a tray of glue and water. It is a lot of fine motor activity for them all at once.). After a layer is covering balloon, encourage them to place colored tissue paper over the newspaper and re”paint” with glue.
Let dry for several days. Pop balloons (favorite part in our classroom!). Hole punch a hole on each side of the opening of balloon shape. Using yarn, Tie strawberry baskets onto balloon shape (or have children paint paper to make their own baskets and tie them on).
Extension: Hang Hot Air Balloons