This exciting gross-motor transportation game for preschoolers is a great way to work off some energy, learn about forms of transportation and just simply have a blast! Shiloh wanted to play for hours & I’m sure your kids will love it too! #PlayfulPreschool is doing the transportation theme this week, so be sure to check out all the other great activities at the bottom of this post!
Materials needed for the gross-motor transportation activity for preschoolers:
Yourself!!
and your imagination
This is an absolutely no-prep activity. In fact, we were outside flying paper airplanes and it just sort of happened!
We had a really nice day, so we played outside, but you could very easily do this activity inside to on a rainy or cold day when the kids are getting antsy and need something to get them moving.
Some of Shiloh’s new words recently are plane, truck, and train. She loves pointing up to the sky and shouting every time she sees a plane or jumping around excitedly when she hears a train in the distance. Some of the places we’ve stayed over the past few months have been right beside railroad tracks and each time she heard the train, she would run to the window to watch it go past.
We played this game a bit like follow the leader and Simon Says mixed together. You could very easily use either format to change up the game a little bit or make it more doable with a large group of preschoolers.
Either I or my oldest daughter, who was playing with us, would call out a form of transportation and demonstrate it and Shiloh followed along with her version.
We did a truck, complete with a big horn (low-voice BEEP!) and rumbling while we pretended to drive and run around the lawn.
Then we did an airplane with our arms outstretched.
Next we did a boat. We got a bit creative for this one and put our hands together in front of us and bobbed up & down while walking to demonstrate the boat bouncing on the waves of the ocean.
And Shiloh’s favorite, the train. Chug-a-chug-a-chug-a Choo-Choo!! We moved our hands back and forth in mini-circles at our sides and then reached up to pull the whistle.
I’m totally serious when I say that she wanted to play for hours! Even after I had stopped playing she would walk up to me, tug my arm and say “Twain, Twain” and pull me into playing with her again!
I hope that your kids enjoy this just as much as we did!
Our Favorite Kids Transportation Books:
We can’t live without these!
Once your child’s creativity is sparked with this fun activity, take it a step further with these engaging resources:
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Transportation in My NeighborhoodCars, Trains, Ships, and Planes: A Visual Encyclopedia of Every Vehicle
Richard Scarry’s A Day at the Airport (Pictureback(R))
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Things That Go
Pete the Cat: Go, Pete, Go!
Old MacDonald Had a Truck: (Preschool Read Aloud Books, Books for Kids, Kids Construction Books)
The Pigeon Loves Things That Go!
More from our Shop
Find even more engaging activities in the Life Over C’s shop!
Learning Letter Sounds on Alphabet Road
Alphabet Activities: Transportation Letter Maze
Wind Powered Boat Eggsperiment
Sorting Transportation Vehicles