Children will pretend to ride a bus and engage in different roles and verbal interactions.
Learning Area(s): Language and Communication
MATERIALS
- Child-sized chairs
- Stuffed animals or dolls
- Optional: hole punch, index cards
LET'S PLAY
Riding on a bus can be very exciting to young children. Tell your child that you are going on a pretend bus ride! Set up chairs to resemble a bus and invite your child to climb aboard (sit on the chairs). Stuffed animals and dolls can be used as passengers as well.
Pretend to be the driver, asking your passengers where they are going, handing them a ticket, making vehicle noises, and pretending to use a steering wheel and horn. Talk about different places the passengers might want to go (e.g., zoo, beach, restaurant, gas station, or library), and pretend to stop and start the bus at each location so the passengers can get on and off the bus.You can model or initiate conversations with your child about where to go and what to see. Some vocabulary words you can use include bus, ride, driver, passenger, ticket, wheels, seat, on, off, go, stop, and wait.
Next, help your child take turns being the driver and doing the actions a bus driver would do. Help your child remember past experiences riding a bus or places you have visited together.
If index cards and a hole punch are available for use, tickets can be made and punched.
TIPS
- If chairs are not available, pillows or cushions can be used as seats on the bus.
- There are many variations on this pretend play, such as riding an airplane, a boat, a fire truck, etc., and the roles and conversations can change to fit the scene.
- You can read a book about a bus ride or sing the song “The Wheels on the Bus” before this activity and then remind your child of the song or book when you pretend to take your bus ride. Take this opportunity to extend your child’s learning and talk about transportation in your neighborhood and community helpers.
- If you don’t regularly ride a bus, consider taking your child for a ride on a real bus.