Buses seemed like a fun change from some of the usual transporation theme I do.  Especially because some of the newer books on this topic work great with toddlers!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands, Clap Your Hands” from Tickles and Tunes by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

The Bus is for Us! by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Gillian Tyler

MOVEMENT: “Reach for the Ceiling” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Buses

FLANNELBOARD:
Wheels on the Bus

Template and song taken from Felt Board Fingerplays
by Liz & Dick Wilmes, art by Janet McDonnell.  Pieces inspired bySouthCentralFlannelboardFactory.

The wheels on the bus go round and round, (roll arms in front of body, fist over fist)
Round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town.

Other verses:
The wipes on the bus go swish, swish, swish… (move arms back and forth like wipers)
The door on the bus goes open and shut…  (palms facing out, move hands apart then together)
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep… (pretend to be pushing on a horn)
The windows on the bus go up and down… (palms toward you, hands horizontal, move apart, then together)
The babies on the bus go waa, waa, waa… (fists up to eyes and twist)
The parents on the bus go shh, shh, shh… (finger in front of lips)

MOVEMENT: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Grandma’s Spectacles*

BOOK:

The Bus Stop by Janet Morgan Stoeke

MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Fingerplays and Footplays by Rosemary Hallum and Henry “Buzz” Glass

VIDEO:

“Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” from Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus … and more stories by Mo Willems (The Mo Willems Cartoon Collection Vol. 1)

MOVEMENT:  Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: The Little School Bus by Carol Roth, illustrated by Pamela Paparone (may need to do some editing to make it shorter for toddlers, but this would also make a cute flannelboard story)
Book: My Bus by Byron Bartonl
Book: The Seals on the bus by Lenny Hort, illustrated by g. Brian Karas (also Storytime Katie has a great version of this as a flannelboard)
Book: The Wheels on the Bus by Jane Cabrera
Book: Don’t Squish the Sasquatch! by Kent Redeker and Bob Staake
Flannelboard: The Lonely Bus Driver from Read, Rhyme and Sing

HOW IT WENT:
Buses was a great topic to use for storytime.  I’m surprised I haven’t done a bus storytime prior to this!  The kids seemed to get excited about the theme, and that’s always fun when that happens.  In the 10am storytime, we also had some older sibling present, which was good when it came to the movie — the older ones said “No” to the pigeon much louder.

I was also thinking I could probably just do a storytime all around the different variant of The Wheels on the Bus.

ATTENDANCE:  10 am:  31 people      11 am: 40 people

* For these songs, please see my Storytime Movements & Music page