15 Fun Transportation Activities For Preschoolers

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One of the best ways to teach children about the various modes of transport is by engaging them in transportation activities for preschoolers and toddlers. These activities can range from singing rhymes to making paper planes and boats and visiting a port.

You will often find boats, airplanes, and cars in a toddler’s toy collection. Ask them about these toys, and they might surprise you by giving you the details of each toy.

Point to consider

Transportation classes are the best means to teach children road safety and traffic interaction.

15 Preschool Transportation Activities

Preschool transportation theme activities can be performed through a bunch of transportation crafts. Here are some fun preschool transportation activities (1):

1. Banana boats

Cut the banana in half, lengthwise, to look like a boat. Now tell the children to add toppings to it. Let them fit as many as they can. If they add too many, some toppings may fall off, teaching them how to accommodate anything in the given space.

2. Visit a bike repair shop

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Here, children will get to see different types of bikes as they are repaired. In addition, they can learn about the tools used to make the bikes work again.

Quick tip

Keep the child away from small vehicle parts, power tools, and dangerous liquids (such as oil, polish, grease, etc.). Ensure they wear gloves and goggles and maintain a safe distance from the vehicles undergoing repair.

3. Visit a car junkyard

Recycling is an important subject that children may learn from a young age. Taking kids to a junkyard would help them understand how various dumped parts of a car can be put to some use by recycling them.

4. Train ride

Take a short trip to a subway. Let children buy their tickets independently and learn how to use it during the train ride. This activity may help them gain both exposure and confidence as well.

5. An airport visit

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This activity can be a fun opportunity for the little ones to see how huge planes take off and land. In addition, you may also show them the security measures, duty-free shops, the parked planes, and more.

6. Visit a train station

For this activity, you would need to carry some colors and papers. Once you reach the station with children, ask them to sit down and draw pictures of things they see. It can be the engine, train, railway track, seats, vending machine or just about anything. Don’t forget to keep a close watch on them to ensure their safety at all times.

7. Building roads

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In this simple yet informative activity, children can build roads. Grab color papers in black, grey, blue, brown, and green. Use black paper and cut it in the shape of a long road, green to make trees, and brown to make buildings. Now, it’s time to put it all together and have your very own network of roads.

8. Letter activities

Choose a letter every day and come up with a word related to transportation beginning with this letter. For example, the letter “T” can be used for “Truck” or “Train”. Write this word big and clear and let children learn more about it.

9. Transportation books

Make it a routine to read a book that relates to a transportation activity. For example, the book named “Five little monkeys wash the car” by Eileen Chistelow can become your child’s favorite. Another such book would be “Cars and trucks” by David Stewart which has pictures of vehicles drawn in black and white.

10. Transportation tot trays

Make a scenario on a tot tray in connection. Here’s an example: place a number of small boats on the tray and place a container next to it. Now ask the child to keep counting each boat as they pick them up. Tell them to drop it into the container. This activity can also help them with learning numbers.

11. Candy train craft

This activity is filled with sweets and goodies. Collect a lot of candies to build a train. Use the round candies as wheels, chocolate boxes as bogies, and a caramel stick on top of the train. This will give the children a memorable visual experience and help them learn more about train’s parts too.

12. Flotilla cottage

Take a large light blue sheet of paper. Ask children to cut a dark blue paper in the shape of waves and paste it on the sheet. Now take some brown paper and let children make boats out of it and stick them on the waves. This craft activity is not just fun but creative as well.

13. Fire engine craft

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Give children a long cardboard box. Ask them to paint it red and paste a ladder on the top (you can make the ladder using white straws). Use black paper to make wheels and draw small orange circles as headlights. Cut out the word FIRE and stick it on the front and back of this vehicle. Your fire brigade is ready.

14. Fruit box mayflower

Take a small brown box or a bucket. Ask children to stick three straws upright in it. Tell them to take a piece of paper and cut out three triangles. Ask them to glue it on the top half of the straw and they would be surprised to see the sailboat that they just made.

15. Airplane craft

Grab a sheet of paper and help your child make planes using them. You may also make many planes in various colors. Now fly your papers planes and see how they land.

Infographic: Modes Of Transportation

Children love to travel, be it by road, train, or air. Educating your toddlers about the various means of transport is essential for promoting their general knowledge. Here is an infographic that provides the attributes of the primary modes of transport to help teach your preschooler.

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Illustration: Momjunction Design Team

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Theresa BertuzziEarly childhood educator

Theresa Bertuzzi is the chief program development officer and co-founder of Tiny Hoppers, an early learning center and daycare provider located all across Canada. Theresa is a certified and experienced primary school teacher; she did her graduation in Child Studies from Carleton University, bachelors in Education from University of Ottawa and another bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Algonquin...more

Manjari SrivastavaBA (Psychology)

Manjari Srivastava is a graduate of psychology. She also holds certificates in Basics In Clinical Psychology and Identifying Early Signs Of Psychosis In Adolescents And Young Adults.  Previously, she volunteered with an NGO specializing in positive psychology, where she took up individual counseling sessions for students. She also taught English to underprivileged children and helped them with their studies. At MomJunction,...more