A transportation unit should include some books about different types of transportation and community helpers. As you read the books to the preschoolers, you will increase their vocabulary, expose them to various sentence structures and strengthen their reading comprehension. Stop periodically throughout the books and ask questions, such as “What do you think will happen next?” or “What would you do in this situation?” This encourages the kids to make inferences and draw conclusions.
When you talk about transportation, you can tie in some math lessons. Have the preschoolers count how many vehicles there are in a box. Ask them to line vehicles up smallest to biggest. They can divide them into groups according to color or type. The wheels on each vehicle can be counted. Discuss the different shapes that various vehicles have, like the tires are circles, while the bumper is a rectangle.
Transportation art projects keep those little fingers busy while they learn. These help foster creativity and offer sensory stimulation. Talk about the colors associated with certain vehicles, like school buses are yellow and car tires are black. Let the kids sponge or finger paint different modes of transportation. Encourage them to cut paper and glue the pieces on a milk carton to make their own vehicle. Drawing pictures of airplanes, boats and space ships works, too.
A transportation theme introduces the kids to different occupations and ways of getting from one place to the next. Young kids may not realize that you can get to school by other means besides a car or the various ways to get across the ocean. Talking about emergency vehicles can be tied in with safety and community helpers, like policemen, firefighters and paramedics.
As the preschoolers go through various transportation activities in the classroom, they're also working on their social-emotional development. They must learn to play with others, share, take turns and implement patience. Using their words to ask for certain car, truck, plane and boat toys are an importance aspect of this experience. They must also share art supplies, books and toys.
As those kids move through this unit, they will be working their fine and gross motor skills. Fine motor skills are required when they pick up small objects during transportation art time or during sensory play, like a sensory table filled with sand and construction equipment. Gross motor skills are needed to play transportation games, like Red Light, Green Light, and during dramatic play, like community helper dress up.
Incorporating some safety topics into the lesson plan helps tie the concepts in with real-life scenarios. Talk about topics like traffic signs, road safety, bike safety, seat belts, how to enter and exit a bus or how to identify danger zones when it comes to vehicles.