Returning to the theme I skipped last week – Things that Go! Honestly, with this theme the challenge is choosing what NOT to include. There are so many rhymes, songs, books and activities that go along with cars, trucks, busses, planes, boats, and trains. And that’s not even including the construction and work equipment that could fall into the mix!
So, I tried to highlight each of the main categories of vehicles and use rhymes and songs that I like. I also broke out the rhythm sticks for this program! We use shakers and scarves regularly in storytime, but less often rhythm sticks. This age group (0-3.5) find them a little harder to manipulate, and my own cache of rhymes and songs that use them is slim. But I had a windshield wiper rhyme I’ve been wanting to use, as well as the motions from Jbrary for Wheels on the Bus that worked perfectly for the theme. Keeping a few props that are less used isn’t a bad thing, either. It increases the novelty and fun factor when they do come out.
See other versions of transportation storytimes here.
Early Literacy Tip: The use of small percussion instruments such as bells, shakers, drums, and rhythm sticks helps children with muscular development and coordination, and games that give them the opportunity to stop and go and do specific movements help them develop their impulse control to follow directions! adapted from The Early Literacy Kit: A Handbook and Tip Cards by Betsy Diamant-Cohen & Saroj Ghoting
Welcome Song: Hello, Friends* †
Warm Up Song: Wake Up, Feet*
This is a repeated song that everyone seems to enjoy. I always begin and end with feet and tummies, but find two other body parts to wiggle in the middle. I rotate between elbows, cheeks, hips, noses, arms, chins, thighs, heads, shoulders, ears, knees, and fingers.
Lifting Rhyme: Toast in the Toaster*
Intro: What goes vroom, vroom, and beep beep? Cars! What about Chugga choo choo? Splash, splash? It’s so fun to think about all the ways we can get around – with things that go!
I’ve got a long black rectangle, and three colored circles. What colors do I have? Red, yellow, and green. Look at what these shapes make all together! If you’re driving in your car or truck, you might see this on the road.
We go over the ASL sign for stop before we start, and it’s a good time to mention that freeze rhymes/songs are great for practicing impulse control!
Action/Flannel Rhyme: Green Means Go
Green means “GO!” Go! Go! Go! (roll arms quickly)
Yellow means “Slow.” Slow… slow… slow. (roll arms slowly)
Red means “STOP!” (ASL sign for stop: one hand making a chopping motion onto flat opposite hand)
Go! Go! Go! (roll fast)
Slow… slow… slow. (roll slow)
Stop! (ASL sign for stop)
Source: Jbrary
Transition: If You’re Ready for a Story*
The fun of this title is that the sound and die-cut showing an animal turns out to actually be the sound of the vehicle the animal is driving/riding in! Clever and fun. The pictures are a bit small and complex, so it’s a difficult book to share with a large group.
Read: Animals Go Vroom! by Abi Cushman
This is a new-to-me book that I just happened to see on the shelf in my library. It’s simple and exciting and covers a range of vehicles. We pretended to be in each vehicle as it came up, with toots and chugga-chuggas and airplane arms.
Read: On the Go Awesome by Lisl H Detlefsen & Robert Neubecker
Time to go on a trip! How will we get there? Let’s start on this boat!
I love when I can build flannels from pieces I already have. The car is from “Five Cars so Squeaky Clean” and the plane is from “Guess Whose Shadow.” I just had to add a boat and bus to make it complete.
Action/Flannel Song: Row, Row, Row Your Boat/Car/Plane/Bus
Row, row, row your boat (row arms)
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream!
Drive, drive, drive your car (steering wheel with hands about 6″ apart)
Gently down the street
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a treat
Fly, fly, fly your plane (airplane arms)
Gently in the sky
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Watch the clouds go by
Drive, drive, drive your bus (steering wheel with hands about 12″ or more apart)
Gently down the way
Stop to let some people out
To ride another day
Source: Grandview Heights Public Library
(this is the source I had in my notes, but I’m not finding a link now)
I am so glad that I saw Jessica’s post at Storytime in the Stacks with some new verses for this classic bounce rhyme. I use them often with my little one, and it inspired me to come up with a few more! They have been fun to share with my library kids both here and in my Book Babies programs. We don’t always do all of the animals, but it’s fun to take suggestions for the audience.
Speaking of taking the bus, there’s an animal that likes to get on!
Rhythm Rhyme: Hippopotamus on a City Bus
(slap thighs rhythmically or bounce baby until the last line of each verse)
A hip, a hip, a hippopotamus
Got on, got on, got on a city bus
And all, and all, and all the people said,
“You’re squishing us!” (squish face or hug baby)
Additional verses:
A cow… “Mooooove over!” (lean far to one side)
A snake…“Ssssssit down!” (fall thru knees)
A sheep…“Baaaack up!” (lean far back)
A chicken… “Buk-buk-buckle up!” (hug over waist)
A horse… “Howdy, neigh-bor!” (wave)
A pig… “Oink we glad to see you!” (snuffly kisses)
A bee… “Buzz off!” (buzz and tickle)
Source: Jbrary, Storytime in the Stacks (chicken/horse), and original verses (pig/bee)
We haven’t yet talked about one of my favorite things that go – trains!
I encouraged them to think about whether they want to use their arms or legs the first time we went through this one. Then before the second time, I said they could choose a different limb, OR they could see if it’s okay to do the rhyme on their grownup’s arm or leg. We had a couple of enthusiastic older kids who chose the latter! And since I had a full train flannel set, I went ahead and put up a short train so we could talk about the caboose before the next song, too.
Tickle Rhyme: This Little Train
This little train ran up the track (walk fingers up arm or leg)
It went Choo! Choo! (tap nose or belly button)
And then it ran back (walk fingers back down)
The other little train (other arm or leg) ran up the track
It went Choo! Choo! And then it ran back
Source: King County (WA) Library System
Which car goes at the end of the train?
This is a fun song – and it inspires great chugga motions! Our program room is right next to the preschool one, and we often coordinate programs at the same time. One of the moms popped her head in after their session and asked “Did you do the train song?” Apparently her kiddo (who had formerly been one of my regulars) heard it in the other room and recognized it from my virtual program on trains! She said, “We probably account for half of your views on that video!” LOVE.
Ukulele Song: Little Red Caboose
Little red caboose chug, chug, chug
Little red caboose chug, chug, chug
Little red caboose behind the train, train, train, train
Smokestack on its back, back, back, back
Coming down the track, track, track, track
Little red caboose behind the train, Woo-woo!
Little red caboose chug, chug, chug
Little red caboose chug, chug, chug
Little red caboose behind the train, train, train, train
Always at the end, end, end, end
Comin’ round the bend, bend, bend, bend
Little red caboose behind the train, Woo-woo!
Always on time, time, time, time
Comin’ down the line, line, line, line
Little red caboose behind the train, train, train
Never running late, late, late, late
Comin’ through the gate, gate, gate, gate
Little red caboose behind the train, Woo-woo!
Source: Lindsay Munroe, from the album I Am Kind
Get a downloadable ukulele songsheet for “Little Red Caboose” here!
Rhythm Stick Intro: Let’s practice! Can you make your sticks go Fast & Loud? Slow & Quiet? In a Circle? Rest them on your shoulders? Tap the ground? Okay, listen carefully! Fast, Quiet, Shoulders, etc.
Our rhythm sticks are actually just unsharpened pencils, which are more manageable for little ones (and less likely to hurt when accidentally bonking someone else.) I learned this intro and practice from the Laptime and Storytime blog.
Okay, it’s time to get in the car. Let’s fasten our seatbelts and car seats! We’re ready to head out – wait, it’s raining! What can we do when it’s raining?
Rhythm Stick Rhyme: Windshield Wipers
It’s a rainy day and down the street we go
It’s only raining a little bit so the wipers are going SLOW
(Swish…swish…swish…swish)
It’s starting to rain more now but it’s not a disaster
We know what we need to do: Make the wipers go FASTER!
(swish, swish, swish, swish)
Oh no, it’s really pouring now We hope that it won’t last
Turn those windshield wipers up and they’ll go FAST-FAST-FAST!
(Swish-Swish-Swish-Swish!)
The rain is slacking off again We’re not sad to see it go
We’ll turn those windshield wipers down and they’ll go back to SLOW
(Swish…swish…swish…swish)
Oh, look, is that the sun I see? And here comes one last drop
The rain has stopped now, Yessiree, and we turn our wipers OFF!
(Swish…ker-chunk!)
Source: One for the Books blog
Okay, I think you’ve proven that you are ready. Can you be a bus driver? Let’s get into the bus!
All the verses below work well with rhythm sticks, and I added a steering wheel one.
Rhythm Stick Song: The Wheels on the Bus
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round
The wheels on the bus go round and round
All through the town!
Additional verses:
The doors on the bus go open and shut…
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish…
The people on the bus go up and down…
The money on the bus goes clink, clink, clink…
The driver on the bus says, “Move on back”…
The [steering] wheel on the bus goes turn, turn, turn…
Source: traditional, stick movements from Jbrary
Action Song: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!*
Craft:
My library is going through a transition, where our interim programmer who covered my maternity leave is no longer doing the Monday/Tuesday sessions while the new person who will be the permanent full time programmer is getting onboarded. Because we were down two sessions that are often full, I offered to do a second session back-to-back on Wednesdays. So, no crafts in the month of October. Crafts will be back in November!
Play Time
I put out a laundry basket of baby toys – rattles and cars, sorters and stackers, toy phones and spinners. For the older toddlers and siblings, we have foam blocks, soft food toys, puzzles, plastic farm animals, and lacing cards and I rotate among a few of these options each session. We play for 5-10 minutes at the most, then I ring the bell and ask the kids to help me clean up. The clean up bit is good practice for them – I often say “it’s hard to say goodbye to toys, so that’s why we practice every storytime!” I think that helps the grown ups who may be embarrassed that their kid is crying or refusing to put a toy away. So much of what we do in storytime is practicing skills, and I don’t expect the kids to “do it right’ every time, or even most times.
Goodbye Song: See You Later Alligator*
SO many other books I had available for families to browse (and may work for you on this theme)
Towed By Toad – Jashar Awan
Beep! Beep! Vehicles on the Go – Byron Barton
Not Just the Driver! – Sara H Ackerman & Robert Neubecker
Listen Up! Train Song – Victoria Allenby
The Babies on the Bus – Karen Katz
Red Canoe Shows Up at Two! – Victoria Allenby
Never Take Your Rhino on a Plane – KE Lewis & Isabel Roxas
The Sleeper Train – Mick Jackson & Baljinder Kaur
Is This the Bus for Us? – Harriet Ziefert & Richard Brown
On This Airplane – Lourdes Heuer & Sara Palacios
Honk, Honk, Vroom, Vroom – Jennifer Shand & Barbara Vagnozzi
Snakes on a Train – Kathryn Dennis
Whose Vehicle Is This? – Sharon Katz Cooper & Amy Muehlenhardt
Vroom! – Barbara McClintock
Trucky Roads – Lulu Miller & Hui Skipp
Puppy Bus – Drew Brockington
Hooray for Trucks! – Susan Hughes & Suharu Ogawa
Harbor – Donald Crews
The Airport Book – Lisa Brown
Look Up High! Things That Fly – Victoria Allenby
Truck, Truck, Goose! – Tammi Sauer & Zoe Waring
Monster’s Trucks – Rebecca Van Slyke & Joe Sutphin
This storytime was presented in-person on 10/15/25.
Storytime Handout:
*Lyrics to these songs can be found on the Repeated Songs & Rhymes page.
† Click the image of rhyme/song sheets to download a non-branded PDF
Storytime with Ms. Emily Library 