This is a version of bingo that is appropriate for children in kindergarten or first grade. Provide each student with a 3-by-3-inch or 4-by-4-inch card divided into 1-inch squares. Use clip art to put a simple picture in each square. Use pictures that have words that rhyme with them, such as "chair" and "hair," "can" and "pan" and "clock" and "sock" -- just like "The Little School Bus." Make a separate set of the rhyming word cards that you can pull out of a bag while playing. Laminate the cards for future use. To play, pull pictures out of the bag and have students use pennies to mark the pictures they have that rhyme with your card. The student with the first set of three or four in a row calls out "bingo" and wins.
This activity is designed to help students learn the names of their classmates. Make a large yellow bus from butcher paper and attach it to a bulletin board or wall. Put enough windows along the side of the bus for each student to have one of their own. Have each student draw a self-portrait of themselves to hang in the windows. Take a photo of each student as well to hang with the portrait so that it is clear who the picture is of. For the first couple weeks of school, have one student each day take a pointer and try to name all the faces in the bus windows.
Graphing can be done as early as kindergarten. This simple graph uses pictures to help students see which modes of transportation each student uses to get to school. Make three columns on a large piece of paper. Poster board is a good size for this activity. Make enough pictures of people walking, a car and a bus for each student to put one on the graph. Attach one picture at the top of each column to represent each mode of transportation. (You should have a good idea of how each student gets to school to know how many of each picture to make.) Have each student stick the appropriate picture in the matching column for how they get to school. Count with the class how many students rely on each mode of transportation.
"The Wheels on the Bus" is a classic children's song. It allows for movement while singing, which young children thrive on. This version is made up by the students as you sing it. This song helps relieve stress that some students may have about riding the bus by making the bus seem fun and carefree. During your morning meeting or circle time, take turns going around the class and letting students make up the actions for the bus. An example is, "The shoes on the bus go tap, tap, tap" or "The hair on the bus blows in the wind." Students tap their shoes on the floor or blow like the wind.