Transportation Songs for Preschool Theme

Transportation is such a classic topic for preschool environments. Following are some songs to include into a transportation theme.


Song #1
"The Wheels on the Bus":

The cars on the road go beep beep beep...all around the town

The planes in the sky go zoom zoom zoom...all around the town

The trains on the track go chug, chug, chug...all around the town

The boats on the water go swish, swish, swish....all around the town

Song#2
Suggested tune: “Old Macdonald Had a Farm”

Drake (child’s name) the driver drives his car

Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom.

And on his car there are some wheels,

Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom.

And the car goes beep beep here and beep beep there.

Here a beep, there a beep, everywhere a beep beep.

Drake the driver drives his car,

Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom.

Pat the pilot flies the plane,

Zoom, zoom , zoom, zoom , zoom.

And on the plane there are some wings,

Zoom, zoom ,zoom.

And the plane flies up here, and lands there,

Up here and lands there.

Pat the pilot flies the plane,

Zoom, zoom , zoom ,zoom, zoom.

Sally the Sailor has a boat,

Swish swish swish, swish, swish.

And on the boat there is a sail,

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.

It glides up a wave, and down a wave,

Up a wave and down a wave.

Sally the Sailor has a boat,

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.


Song#3

To the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Twinkle twinkle traffic light

Standing on the corner bright

Green means GO, we all know

Yellow means WAIT, even if you're late

Red means STOP......

Twinkle twinkle traffic light,

Standing on the corner bright.


Song#4
To the tune of Farmer in the Dell

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
 

 Further reading suggestions:

Car Preschool Theme by Christine Moore

Transportation Theme by Christine Moore

Preschool Songs for Learning Colors

Young children begin to learn the names of colors as early as two, and should know their basic colors by preschool age. Sometimes, without the repetition of labeling colors, the learning process will take a little longer. Music is a great way to incorporate repetition and teaching with young children.

Young kids are not only drawn to music naturally, but when combined with visual presentation and actions, the songs can be an effective teaching tool. The following article provides a variety of songs to sing, and listen to, with young children to guide them with color recognition.

Rainbow Songs for Young Children

The rainbow is a wonderful way to teach colors to young children, and in addition, introduce some lessons about weather and science concepts. Song lyrics can teach children that rainbows come out with the combination of sun rays and rain. In addition, try finding some color scarves at second hand stores and dancing with them to the lyrics. If you can find enough to make a rainbow, then have the child or children find the color scarf that matches the lyrics to the song.

Moreover, there are great you tube videos with rainbow graphics providing more visual aides.

The following song was written by Arthur Hamilton and was sung by Peggy Lee in a 1955 movie, titled Pete Kelly's Blues. Recently, the song was recorded for Tourism Australia in 2004 by Delta Goodrem. There is critique of this song because it does not provide all the right colors of the rainbow, but the song still provides teachable moments for color labeling.

I Can Sing a Rainbow

(Chorus)

Red and yellow and pink and green

Purple and orange and blue

I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow

Sing a rainbow too

Listen with your eyes, listen with your ears

And sing everything you see

You can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow

Sing along with me.

Found on KidsTV123 and you tube, The Rainbow Colors Song by AJ Jenkins has vibrant graphics for viewing and the easy listening lyrics correlate more effectively to the actual colors of the rainbow.

This song about rainbows can be sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:

I see a rainbow in the sky

All the colors streaming by

When there's sunshine and rain too

A rainbow forms for me and you

I see a rainbow in the sky

All the colors streaming by.

 

Children's Action Songs about Colors

This song is a song that works well for a group circle in an early childhood setting, but can also be sung for a small group of children or just one. If only one child is doing the actions to the song, he/she should wear clothes with a lot of different colors. The lyrics explain the actions in this song:

Red, red is the color I see

If you're wearing red, then show it to me.

Stand up, turn around

Show me your red, then sit back down.

Blue, blue is the color I see....

Try singing the classic song, the Hokey Pokey but call it the Color Pokey. A child will put different color stickers on his/her shoe, hand, elbow, knee and so on. Then the song will be sung with the following lyrics and actions:

The Color Pokey

You put your red shoe in, you put your red shoe out,

You put your red shoe in, and you shake it all about.

You do the color pokey and you turn yourself around

And that's what it's all about.

The song will continue with the color which is sticking to whatever body part that was chosen.

Children's Game with Music

A fun color game that goes along with music is called Do You See?

(To the Tune of Do You Know the Muffin Man?)

Do you see a red color, a red color, a red color

Do you see a red color, sitting in this room?

The child or children can go and find something red by bringing it to you or simply pointing to something red. The song can continue with many different colors and in various scenarios and locations, such as replacing room with car or playground, and so on.

FURTHER SUGGESTIONS

Visit Felt Board Ideas for felt stories and activities to correlate with learning colors!

 

Circle of Ideas offering Online Workshops

            

What Exactly is Sensory Processing Disorder?

Sensory Processing Disorder is a term that is becoming more common among parents, teachers and childcare providers. A diagnosis that occurs with an Occupational Therapist, this disorder was once called Sensory Integration Dysfunction. Although common among children under the Autistic Spectrum, some children can be diagnosed solely with Sensory Processing Disorder. Regardless of any diagnosis, learning of the term and its symptoms can help parents and educators understand the way individual brains are wired to deal with the sensory inputs we receive each day.  

Sensory Integration Dysfunction was first developed in the 1970s by A. Jean Ayres, an occupational therapist and neuroscientist. As stated on the SPD Foundation website, she describes it as a "neurological traffic jam that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information needed to interpret sensory information correctly." All of our information about the world arrives to us through our senses. We experience life through sensory input, and everyone is on a sensory spectrum. We adjust and regulate ourselves to maintain balance, otherwise known as an optimal level of arousal. We can all think of circumstances in our daily living where we adjust our behavior due to sensory input sensitivities. For example, if someone has a migraine, she might find that she has an increased sensitivity to light and noise, and manage that by going into a dark room alone. Those who are diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder have a brain that is wired differently, affecting their sensory input process and creating a disorganization.These individuals will experience over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity throughout their day. So, for example, a child might be extremely reluctant to put on a particular type of sock due to the tactile feeling of it. To the child, the sock fabric might feel like pins and needles, whereas to the rest of us, it is simply a sock.


Our Five Senses and More

We are all familiar with the five senses of touch, smell, sight, sound and taste, but in addition, there are two other senses we do not hear about, which are very crucial when discussing Sensory Processing Disorder. The first one is our vestibular sense. Lenora Delaney, an Occupational Therapist describes it as a sense which, "provides information about where the head and body are in space in relation to the earth's surface." In addition, this sense tells our body about the direction and speed of our body's movement. So, if we were on something like a roller coaster or speedboat with our eyes closed, we would feel our bodies moving fast.

The second sense is called our proprioceptive sense, which is when our muscles and joints tell our brain about our body's position and what our body parts are doing. This sense allows us to skillfully comb our hair and eat with a spoon. So, if there is a disorganization in how the brain receives information with motor planning, it will affect many areas of a child's life, turning simple tasks into extreme challenges, such as doing up a button, riding a bike, or using a pencil to name just a few.

Each Child is Different

For every one of us, how we regulate and manoeuvre through our day of sensory input will differ, each day and throughout the day, depending on the experiences we are participating in, how we feel inside and our individuality. How one person might handle the sensation of focusing on a task in a noisy room might be different than another person. Similarly, if one person is very hungry he or she　might not be able to focus at all. Those children who are diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder not only have disorganization with sensory input, but they will also differ in how it affects them daily and throughout their day. In addition, the diagnosis might only affect one or two senses in one person, whereas another might have challenges with all their senses. Regardless, a young child will find a way to deal with, or communicate through behavior, and if we are not aware of the sensory challenges going on inside, we may not understand why a child is having such difficulty or challenging behavior over something the rest of us would have no reaction to. A child might scream when you comb her hair, if she hears a vacuum or if she is on a swing. These behaviors are the child's way of avoiding the uncomfortable situation for which she is overly sensitive. On the other side, a child might seek sensory stimulation, and twirl around in circles or crash himself into objects due to being under responsive. Over time, a child will develop strategies to self regulate.


Sensory Processing Disorder: the Emotional Impact

When children are struggling with motor coordination, learning and other abilities necessary for childhood accomplishments and milestones, it can begin to affect their self esteem. Unfortunately, these children may develop emotional and social challenges on top of everything else. But, when a child is diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder　through an Occupational Therapist, a treatment program occurs. More importantly, when there is an understanding from the support network in a child's life about his or her daily challenges, it helps the child profusely. We all vary in our life experiences due to our senses. With careful observation and understanding, we can determine whether a child's behavior might be due to a sensory sensitivity. With that knowledge, a parent, teacher or caregiver can help a child through the challenge.

Resources:

Delaney, Lenora.　Sensory Processing Disorder. Early Childhood Newsletter. (2012). Vancouver Coastal Health.

SPD Foundation.  About SPD. Revised May, 2013.
Sensory Processing Disorder. SPD Resource Center.　Accessed　2012