Wild Thing (3.5 years-old) has been a train fan for awhile now (probably for two years). He loves all things that go, but trains were his first obsession in this area, which begin when he was probably Caterpillar's age (18 months) or perhaps a bit younger, so when it came time to select a Gail Gibbons book for us for the Virtual Book Club for Kids, her book Trains was the obvious choice. Each month with the Virtual Book Club for Kids we share a way that we move, eat, draw and learn with the book. So, here's 4(+) fun ways to play (and learn) with Trains! (Though I am flipping the order and sharing move, draw, eat, learn - you'll see why).
I also absolutely love the Pool Noodle Train Tracks that Play-Trains recently shared on her blog. What an awesome way to get train-loving kids moving and outside this summer!
Draw - For our art component this week, we made trains using recycled boxes and milk caps. (If you read the blog, you know how much I love to use milk caps!) The boys had lots of fun painting their trains and glueing on the wheels.
![]() |
Wild Thing is making sure we have what we need to get started. |
![]() |
After he glued the wheels on the train, he enjoyed painting the train. |
![]() |
![]() |
Caterpillar enjoyed transferring milk caps between freight cars too. |
![]() |
Staple ingredients are: honey, rolled oats, sunflower seed butter. Wild Thing added in some peanut butter cups, which we typically do not do. |
![]() |
The Freight cars delivering the ingredients. |
![]() |
Now the cookies are ready to eat. |
As you can see, Trains by Gail Gibbons offers many fun learning and play activities. We have also been enjoying some other books by Gibbons. Our other favorites are Dinosaurs, Corn and Vegetables. Dinosaurs and Vegetables both lend themselves quite well to sorting activities. We plan to sort Wild Thing's dinosaur fact cards using the book putting all of the sauropods together and such. I also plan to have Wild Thing and Caterpillar sort vegetables too. I also thought I would share some other dinosaur, vegetable and corn activities we have done in the past that would work as extensions/connections to those Gibbons' books: Composting and Dinosaurs, Cornmeal Sensory Bin, Popcorn on the Cob and Vegetable Recipes for Kids from A-Z.
Have you read any books by Gail Gibbons? Which are your favorites?
(P.S. My son is actually playing trains with chairs as I finish this post right now!)
Sharing at: Eco-Kids Tuesday, Artsy Play Wednesday, Mom's Library, Kid Lit Blog Hop, It's Playtime, Stress-Free Sunday, The Sunday Showcase and Kids in the Kitchen!
You have such great activities to go with your books and I'll have to try out your cookies! They look delicious! Thanks for linking into the Kid Lit Blog Hop. :)
ReplyDeleteI love how you broke down the categories of your activities. Each one is so cool. Your recycled train is just wonderful. Thank you for linking this post to Read.Explore,Learn. I will be sharing this post.
ReplyDeleteLooks like so much fun! I love tying activities to a book! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Eco-Kids Tuesday! I hope you join us again today! http://likemamalikedaughter.blogspot.com/2013/06/eco-kids-tuesday_25.html
ReplyDeleteThis is cool!
ReplyDelete