essay on means of transport for kindergarten

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Means Of Transport For Kids – Land, Air and Water Transportation

What Is Transport?

What are the different modes of transportation.

Activities That Will Help Your Child Learn About Modes Of Transport

Interesting Facts About Modes Of Transport For Kids

Writing an essay on a topic can be met with a lot of excitement if your child knows about the subject, or can be met with some trepidation if they are uncertain about a topic they need to think of before writing. Certain topics are easy to understand and write about, for example, what we plan to cover in this article – modes of transportation for kindergarten children and some examples of transport names in English. Now transportation is a topic that every child would love to know more about – they see cars, trucks, cycles, bikes, boats and even aeroplanes around them, so they do know what each type of transport does, but there’s a lot to discover about transportation besides them just being modes to ferry you from one point to another. In this article, we cover the different modes of transport in English, and delve a little deeper into facts about them as well.

Land, water or air! The meaning of transportation or the means of transport meaning is basically the way to move from one place to another. Buses, boats, trains and aeroplanes are the most common means of transport that children have heard of, which can help people move from one part of the world to another. Learning about all these modes of transportation is one of the first things children can do when they start communicating with their families.

When you want to get into transportation for kids at a personal level, you can start with how they were carried as babies in your arms, then, on a stroller to move around in lanes and streets near home, and then, in cars to travel in the city so so on. Also talk to them about how, when the time is right, they get to ride a tricycle or cycle to explore the area around them, and yes, this is a means of transport! This will help them understand the types of transportation and talk and slowly write about this naturally, through their own experiences.

There’s one more thing that little ones can learn thanks to transportation – verbs! Words like ‘going’ ‘cycling’ ‘riding’ are what will help kids understand the concept of transportation so much better, and these words, that act as connectors, will also teach them more about the English language.

Depending on where you want to go to and the destination of choice, there are a number of vehicles that can be used to travel to different places. If you want to go by land, you can use the road- cars, busses etc. or even the train. If you want to go by sea, you can pick a ship, boat or yacht. If you want to travel by air, you take a plane.

Let us look at a list of different means of transport:

1. Land Transport

Land transport refers to the vehicles that can be used to ferry us around from one spot to another on land. Let’s take a look at some examples below –

2. Air Transport

Air transport refers to the vehicles that can be used to ferry us around from one spot to another via the sky. Let’s take a look at some examples below –

Hot Air Balloon
Space Shuttle
Blimp/Zepplin
Hang-glider

3. Water Transport

Water transport refers to the vehicles that can be used to ferry us around from one spot to another via any water body. Let’s take a look at some examples below –

Cruise Ship

Other Air, Water & Land Transportation Modes To Learn

Let us take a look at some other transportation vehicles that will help children understand this topic a little better. Here’s a chart on transportation to help –


Aircraft	Bathyscaphe	Ambulance
Crop Duster	Cargo Ship	Auto Rickshaw
Helicopter	Dinghy	Bicycle
Hydroplane	Ferry	Compact Car
Jetpack	Galleon	Wagon
Jet	Ice Boat	Convertible
Airbus	Ketch	Crane
Concorde	Ocean Liner	Delivery Van
Hang-glider	Oil Tanker	Dray
Ropeway	Row Boat	Dump Truck
Biplane	Sail Boat	Earth Mover
Glider	Warship	Excavator
Cargo Plane	Cabin Cruiser	Fire Engine
Fighter Jet	Tanker	Garbage Truck
Blimp	Banana Boat	Limousine
Parachute	Windsurfer	Lorry
Hot Air Balloon	Air Boat	Jeep
Rocket	Kayak	Recycling Truck
Space Shuttle	Speed Boat
	Trawler	Trailer
	Cruise	Minibus
	Submarine	Race Car
	Catamaran	Trains
	Barge	Snowmobile

Activities That Will Help Your Child Learn About Modes Of Transport

Let’s take a look at some activities that will help your child learn about modes of transport.

1. Pictures & Sounds

What sounds do the various modes of transportation make? (train – whistle, truck- horn, police car – siren)
What would these sounds look like if we were to draw them?
Provide crayons and paper to experiment and play with the colours and shapes of transportation sounds!

2. Car Prints

Using old toy cars and paint, let the kids dip the cars in bright paint.
Then “drive” them across the paper to see what kinds of marks the tires on each vehicle make!
It’s a fun and creative activity that your kids will love.

3. Shapes Of Vehicles

It’s fun to see how many types of transportation vehicles can be made using basic geometric shapes (triangles, squares, circles, rectangles).
Let the kids cut their shapes out of paper and arrange them to create vehicles.

4. Paper Airplanes

Make paper airplanes in the simplest way.
Ask your kids to colour them using bright colours.
See how they fly.
Make this a competitive game to see whose plane flies highest, or hands farthest.

5. Paper Boats

Make boats using paper folding technique.
Fill a bucket of water.
Ask your kids to make them float on the surface.
This will help them understand how and why things float.

6. Around The Neighbourhood

Make a huge map of your neighbourhood area.
Mark all the places that they know of and others they might not know of yet.
Let the kids play with their toy cars on the map so that they can learn more about their neighbourhood.

7. Vehicles In A Day

This is a fun activity to play when you want to distract your little ones!
Make them look at all the different types of vehicles in a day, whether they are moving outside or even if they spot it on TV.
Ask them to write down all the names.
Bonus: This will also help with their spellings!

Let us now look at some interesting facts when it comes to the different modes of transportation!

The most popular car colour in the world is white.
One of the oldest types of transportation is by boat! Sea traders long ago set out in small boats to trade their goods with other people. Did you know that today, ships still use the old sea trade routes?
In some parts of the world, the most popular mode of travel for a lot of people is by walking or using animals, such as donkeys, horses and camels.
Flying or using a plane is probably one of the most popular ways to reach faraway destinations. Did you know that over half a million folks are in the air at any one time at a stretch!
If any new-age car drove at a speed of an average of 60 miles per hour, straight up in the air, it would reach the moon in less than a month! Wow, thats crazy, right?

Teach your child about all the different types of vehicles and enjoy your next family trip with the knowledge gained from these means of transport ideas and charts.

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Means of Transport for Kids

Learn About the Means of Transport System for Kids

Hop onto the ride! There are loads of transport systems that are available in the world, which one is your favourite? Do you love to transport by land, by air, or by water? Seems so interesting that we have so many choices in the mode of transportation.

But do you know all the modes of transportation? If not let us find out all from this learning.

Here in this article - ‘means of transport for kids,’ you will find the names of the vehicles that will enrich your transportation vocabulary.

Importance of Learning About Vehicles from an Early Age

Starting from an early age the kids are introduced to toy cars and buses which amazes them when they move on with their little wheels probably making a honking sound! The kids are been fascinated by these colourful vehicles since childhood. Thus, now it is time to introduce them to a variety of other means of transportation.

What are the Means of Transportation?

Means of Transportation

Means of transportation is a mode that helps human beings, things, and animals to travel from one location to another location. Four common means of transportation are as follows:

Now, let us know about air transport or airways.

Travelling by air proves to be the fastest mode of transport. Let us see the different vehicles under airways:

Hot air balloon

Space shuttle

Do you know how we travel through huge oceans or even small rivers? Let’s read to know.

Waterways are the mode of transport that is used to travel on the surface of the water. It includes:

Cruise ship

Pirate ship

This mode of transport is very common. This is the transport with which we travel on the road or land. We can use the following means of transport to travel:

Garbage truck

Railways are the means of transport that allow the vehicle to run on tracks. These transport systems are the second-fastest system after the airways. These include:

Electric train

Bullet train

Well, these are some names of means of transport which help in carrying people, animals, and goods from one place to another. Each system has its own importance. For carrying people faster, we have airways and railways but for carrying heavy goods we have waterways. Thus, we are very much thankful for the modes of transportation as they definitely made our life super fast and easy.

FAQs on Means of Transport for Kids

1. Which is the cheapest mode of transport?

The cheapest mode of transport is the roadways and railways. Roadways like cars, bikes, or scooters can easily be accessible and cheap. Also, to travel further distances, we have another cheap transport system that is the trains, which are not only affordable but also fast.

2. Why do we need modes of transport?

We need the modes of transport to help us move. The world moves because of this transport system. This helps us link far places faster and easier. Like fields and factories are linked by roadways that help the crops to reach the factory in a lesser time.

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transportation

Introduction

The movement of people and goods from place to place is known as transportation. Together with communication—the movement of ideas—transportation has been essential in bringing about the integration of regions and nations into a single world community. Transportation movements, combined into various systems and networks, are by way of land, water, and air and by such means as automobile, airplane, railroad, ship, and pipeline.

The Need for Transportation

Transportation is needed because few economic resources—raw materials, fuels, food, manufactured goods—are located where they are wanted. Each region or place on Earth produces more than it consumes of some goods and services and less than it consumes of others. Through transportation, goods are moved from where there are surpluses to where there are shortages. Improved transportation has extended the areas in which various goods can be profitably marketed and thus has helped make the goods widely available.

The moving of people to places of work, education, and recreation and for their other needs and wants also requires transportation. Like goods, people are moved to where they are needed. But as decision makers people also travel to where they want to be. In recreational activities, such as pleasure driving, transportation can be an end in itself.

The demand for transportation is derived from the need for people and goods to be at a particular place. In satisfying this need, transportation gives people and goods greater value and place utility. Sometimes, as in the aging of wine or the ripening of bananas while they are en route to their destinations, goods may acquire greater form utility. The in-transit storage of goods provided by a vehicle may reduce the need for warehouse space at the destination. This is an example of time utility—getting goods to a destination at the time of their greatest usefulness.

The demand for transportation—and the rate of actual traffic flow—tends to be proportional to the population of the destination area. Traffic flow between two areas also depends on their proximity—flow generally tends to be greater the closer the areas are to each other.

The concentration of transportation services in heavily urbanized and industrialized areas is a result of the great amount of traffic. However, political or military considerations or prospects for future economic growth may lead to the construction of transportation facilities even where they are not profitable. Economic development in nonindustrialized countries, for example, commonly requires extensive investment in roads, airfields, harbors, and other transport facilities long before there is much traffic.

In industrialized countries such as the United States, transportation routes traditionally have been provided for in advance of other economic development. The Cumberland Road, for example, was built early in the 1800s to open the Ohio Valley to settlement. The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, helped settle the Great Lakes region. Federal land grants to railroad companies in the 19th century helped settle the West. In Canada roads and railroads were being extended to the north in the 1960s and 1970s to facilitate settlement and the exploitation of natural resources. In the long run, transporting goods from one place to another is justified only if the goods can be produced cheaply enough at the first place so as to offset the transportation cost to the second.

Transportation Modes

The various means, or modes, of transportation consist of both the specific types of vehicles used and the facilities needed for their movement. The modes include people walking and carrying loads, human-powered machines such as bicycles, draft animals pulling wagons and coaches, and pack animals; motor-powered highway vehicles such as trucks, buses, automobiles, taxis, and motorcycles; water carriers such as ships, barges, hydrofoils, and hovercraft; railroad trains; aircraft; and devices such as chutes, conveyor belts, pipelines, and electric lines.

Transportation modes can be classified by whether they are by land, water, or air; by how they are powered; by whether they use continuous flow or not; by whether they carry passengers or freight or both; and by whether or not they use fixed routes. Such distinctions are blurred somewhat by the fact that several modes are typically used for the entire movement of persons or goods from initial origin to final destination.

For example, a woman traveling from Chicago, Ill., to New York City may take a bus and a subway train to get to Chicago-O’Hare International Airport, where she can board an airplane for New York’s La Guardia Airport. At La Guardia she may reverse the process, riding buses and subway trains until she reaches her destination. For the trips to and from the airports she might instead have used an automobile or a taxicab. She might have traveled cross-country by automobile, bus, or train instead of by airplane.

A transport vehicle such as an automobile, an airplane, or an ordinary ship has both its motive power and its facilities for carrying goods or people in the same unit. In other cases, such as a train of railroad cars pulled by a locomotive, the barges pushed or pulled by a towboat, or the highway trailer pulled by a truck tractor, the motive power and the cargo or passengers are in separate units. When power and payload units are separate the power vehicle can be utilized elsewhere while the carrier vehicles are being loaded or unloaded or are in storage. Separation of units also permits changes in the number of carrier vehicles, as with a railroad train or a barge tow, as the volume of traffic varies.

The power for moving a vehicle may be furnished by a natural process such as wind or gravity. The power may be generated in an engine by the burning of fuel such as wood, charcoal, coal, gasoline, kerosine, or fuel oil. Power may also be furnished by an electric motor operated from batteries, an overhead wire or third rail, or a diesel engine such as in a diesel-electric locomotive. Diesel engines have increasingly replaced steam engines in maritime and railroad transportation and are also used in buses and trucks. Gasoline engines are used in automobiles and also in many buses and trucks. Turbines—both jet and propjet—have replaced engines using reciprocating pistons in most airline transportation.

Freight Transportation

Heavy or bulky goods and those of low value in proportion to their weight or bulk generally tend to be moved by transportation modes that use large vehicles such as ships and barges, which travel at slow speeds. Compact, perishable, and high-value goods tend to be moved by transportation modes that use small vehicles such as trucks and especially aircraft, which travel at high speeds.

Goods being transported can be classified into general cargo, or package freight, on the one hand and bulk cargo on the other. General cargo usually consists of merchandise, including manufactured items such as machinery, that has a high value in proportion to its weight or to the space it occupies in a vehicle. Bulk cargo generally consists of goods that are of low value in proportion to their weight or bulk. They include ores, grains, coal, oil, petroleum products, and other raw materials and fuels.

General cargo may be transported in boxes, crates, bales, barrels, and other containers. Because of the great variety of shapes, sizes, and weights of general cargo, its handling is less easily mechanized and requires a larger labor force than the handling of bulk cargo. Bulk goods can be conveniently taken on and off ships, railroad cars, trucks, barges, and other carriers by means of gravity, suction, conveyor belts, pipes, or other continuous-flow devices. When being loaded, bulk goods also are able to flow around obstructions in a vehicle and thus fully occupy the available cargo space. Most of the world’s shipping is designed primarily for the movement of bulk goods.

Bulk cargoes can be classified into dry bulk and liquid bulk. Dry bulk goods can be packaged, such as in bags or bales, but more commonly they are not. Sugar, for example, formerly handled only in bags, is increasingly being transported in bulk. Dry bulk goods often are moved in specially designed vessels. They frequently are handled in ships as “bottoming cargo,” to fill any last-minute unused capacity. In some cases dry bulk goods are moved by overland pipeline. Even some solids, such as coal and ores, can be moved through pipes in a liquid suspension, or slurry. Electricity is transported by power lines, a continuous-flow device.

Liquid bulk goods are transported either by continuous flow in pipelines or by tankers, barges, trucks, or railroad cars. Tankers account for about half the tonnage capacity of all oceangoing merchant ships. Their average size is much larger than that of any other type of ship. Some supertankers have capacities of more than 300,000 tons. The principal cargo carried by tankers is crude oil, the leading commodity in international trade ( see petroleum, “Transportation and Distribution of Oil” ).

Many small tankers, uncompetitive with supertankers for moving oil on the longer voyages, are used for moving grain. Some vessels, known as oilbulk-ore vessels (OBOs), carry oil in one direction and ore on the return voyages. There also are specialized tanker ships that carry such chemicals as heated liquid sulfur or extremely cold liquefied natural gas. Specialized railroad tank cars and highway trucks also are designed to carry chemicals and other products under controlled temperatures and pressures.

Freight transportation in the United States is dominated by railroads. They carry about 40 percent of the total volume, measured in ton-miles. Railroad freight traffic, while chiefly bulk, is the most diversified of any transportation mode. Motor truck traffic between cities in the United States has been increasing rapidly since the 1920s when it first became a significant mode of transportation. Trucking accounts for about 20 percent of total freight volume. But because trucks carry general merchandise with a high average value per ton, they account for more than half the revenues from all domestic freight. Even when cargo is moved between major terminals by rail, air, or water carriers, it is usually picked up and delivered by truck.

Inland waterways in the United States, including the Great Lakes, account for about 15 percent of the total freight volume. Traffic is almost entirely of bulk goods, chiefly iron ore, coal, petroleum, lumber, steel, grain, and chemicals. Powerful diesel towboats and barge tows on the rivers can carry about 40,000 tons of cargo each. Oil pipelines in the United States account for more than 20 percent of the total freight traffic. Pipeline transportation of crude oil and petroleum products has largely replaced coastal tanker and railroad tankcar transportation. Air cargo traffic, although increasing rapidly, accounts for less than one percent of the total. The goods carried tend to be perishable, compact, and valuable.

One of the most common methods of handling freight cargoes is stacking individual crates, boxes, and bales on wood or metal platforms known as pallets. Pallets are moved onto or off vehicles by forklift trucks, cranes, or various kinds of conveyors specially designed to transport pallets.

Cargo can also be stuffed into large, uniform-size metal containers. Such containers are placed in general-cargo ships, in specially designed container ships, and on barges. They can be carried “piggyback” by railroad trains as trailer-on-flatcar (TOFC) or as container-on-flatcar (COFC) cargo. In TOFC, truck semitrailers (with their wheel assemblies) are loaded; in COFC, containers (without wheels) are loaded. Truck semitrailers and containers are also placed on flatbed trailers hauled by highway truck tractors. The semitrailers and containers can easily be loaded aboard a ship or barge, either by large cranes or, in the case of vessels known as Ro-Ro (Roll-on Roll-off), by means of ramps. Some containers are carried on wide-bodied jet aircraft.

A large container ship, because of its greater size and speed and less time spent loading and unloading in port, can often replace four to six conventional general-cargo vessels and can move the cargo at much lower cost. Container ships were first built in large numbers in the late 1960s. As a result, many conventional ocean freighters were made obsolete, as were the port facilities that had been designed and located to handle their cargoes.

Containerization is not new. Ordinary trucks and railroad boxcars are forms of containers. But unlike modern containers, each may be loaded with a variety of merchandise that must be divided at a freight station and sent to several destinations. Such less-than-carload (LCL) traffic can be handled more efficiently by truck than by railroad because a truck can be driven directly to a destination area and provide door-to-door service.

Passenger Transportation

In metropolitan areas of the United States, movements of people between home and work account for about 40 percent of the total number of passenger journeys. Recreational trips account for about 15 percent of all trips in the typical urban area. Automobile riding, for example, is not only a means of reaching a destination but is a popular form of outdoor recreation. Recreational boating also is popular. Cruise ships have made up the major proportion of ocean-going passenger vessels since jet aircraft became the favored mode of transoceanic travel. ( See also travel and tourism .)

The automobile dominates intercity passenger transportation in the United States. It accounts for more than 80 percent of the total passenger miles. No other mode of transportation approaches the flexibility and convenience of the automobile, which provides door-to-door service independent of schedules.

The railroad is no longer a major means of intercity passenger transportation in the United States, though railroad passenger service thrives in much of the rest of the world. As recently as the early 1940s there were more than 20,000 daily intercity passenger trains in the United States. By the early 1970s there were only about 200. Whereas railroads accounted for almost 70 percent of the total passenger-miles by public carrier in 1930, by 1970 they accounted for less than one percent. In 1971 the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, a federal agency that is also known as Amtrak, took over most of the intercity railroad passenger service. Most Amtrak trains operate in the Northeast corridor between Boston, Mass.; New York City; Philadelphia, Pa.; Baltimore, Md.; and Washington, D.C. A large proportion of the New York-Washington service is by high-speed electric trains called Metroliners. There is suburban railroad passenger service in the metropolitan areas of such large cities as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, and San Francisco. Electric interurban railroads and street railways in cities have almost disappeared.

Intercity scheduled buses in the United States serve many more communities than do railroads. Using modern expressways, they provide swift service between major cities, though many communities not on expressways now have much less bus service than they formerly had. Air carriers dominate public intercity passenger transportation in the United States. The growth of air passenger traffic has been rapid, increasing from only 14 percent of the total in 1950 to more than 85 percent in the 1980s. Passenger travel by water carriers in the United States is insignificant except for some ferry services.

Carrier Organizations

There are several types of transportation carrier organizations. Common carriers offer their services to the general public at standard terms and rates. They usually operate over fixed routes and on regular schedules. In the United States all interstate common carriers are regulated by the federal government. Almost all railroads and intercity bus services are common carriers, as is much of intercity trucking, inland waterway barge traffic, and petroleum pipelines. All are regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) or by individual states. Almost all scheduled airlines in the United States are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Shipping lines participate in international conferences, or cartels, which set the schedules and usually the rates charged for common carriers on most major ocean routes. They compete with nonconference lines, however, and face the possibility that large-scale users of ships might operate their own vessels if conference rates are too high. International scheduled airline services are operated by agreement with the affected countries. They are largely regulated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Contract carriers carry people or goods by agreement with a limited number of shippers. They do not operate over fixed routes or on regular schedules. They include tramp ships, which operate under charter and mainly carry shiploads of bulk cargo rather than general cargo. Nonscheduled, or supplementary, airlines and the charter services of scheduled airlines also are examples of contract carriers, as are urban taxicabs and charter buses. Contract carriers carry a large share of the world’s ocean cargo.

Private carriers serve individual or corporate owners. They are not for hire to the public. Most automobiles in the United States are private carriers. Many companies operate their own truck fleets, and some of the largest shippers, especially petroleum companies, operate their own ships and barges.

Transportation Terminals

A transportation terminal is the place where goods and people are transferred from one carrier or mode to another. It is the place where vehicles are loaded and unloaded or where several vehicles are assembled into or separated from trains. Terminals are located where transportation routes intersect and where journeys or shipments begin or end. They include seaports, airports, railroad yards and depots, truck terminals, bus stations, and automobile parking lots.

Transportation terminals tend to be located within or close to a city’s downtown area. But the need for large tracts of land at relatively low cost often requires locations in outlying areas. For example, a 700-foot- (200-meter-) long berth for a container ship requires as much as 25 acres (10 hectares) of adjoining land for assembling and distributing cargoes by truck and rail. As a result, many port terminals, often located along congested downtown waterfronts, have been abandoned. Larger terminals have been established most commonly on the seaward edges of such large port cities as Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Modern commercial airports require even more space. Chicago-O’Hare International Airport, for example, covers ten square miles (25 square kilometers). Even larger are airports such as those for Dallas-Fort Worth, Tex.; Kansas City, Mo.; and Los Angeles, Calif. Airports also need unobstructed space for long distances past the ends of their runways. A modern railroad classification yard, in which trains are assembled and disassembled, may be as much as 1 / 2 by 5 miles (1 by 8 kilometers).

In many cases, the relocation of freight terminals has been due to the increased decentralization of the industrial and commercial establishments that are the sources and destinations of freight traffic. Decentralization is also a result of the improved access that modern highways have given to outlying areas. The traffic congestion, noise, and air and water pollution associated with transportation activities also make it desirable to locate terminals away from residential areas. As a side effect of decentralization, much of the land formerly needed by railroads and ports for central-city terminals has become available for nontransportation uses.

Passengers wait for the arrivals and departures of common and charter carriers at airport, railroad, and bus terminals. Amenities include ticket offices, waiting rooms, toilet facilities, and a variety of business establishments. In terminals handling international traffic, there are customs, immigration, public health, and quarantine facilities. In and near major railroad stations and airports there often are hotels.

Transportation Routes

A transportation route is the regular path that is followed by a movement of people or goods. Ideally it follows the shortest possible distance—a straight line, or what is known on the curving surface of the Earth as a great circle. But natural barriers, such as intervening landmasses on ocean routes, often block such direct paths. Inland waterways usually follow the winding courses of river valleys. Land routes bend to avoid steep slopes or to go around bodies of water. Air routes deviate from straight lines to avoid bad weather or to make use of tail winds. Transportation routes may also deviate from straight lines to tap intermediate sources of traffic or to avoid crossing specific political boundaries.

The world’s largest volume of ocean traffic is across the North Atlantic between the highly urbanized, industrialized, and densely populated regions of eastern North America and Western Europe. Branches of the North Atlantic sea route on the North American side lead to ports up the St. Lawrence River and on the Great Lakes and to ports on the East and Gulf coasts. On the European side one branch leads to and from ports in northern Europe; another passes through the Mediterranean Sea, leading to and from ports in southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa. Mediterranean ports compete with those on the Atlantic and on the North and Baltic seas for the trade of the European interior, much as the Great Lakes, Gulf coast, and Atlantic ports compete for the trade of the North American interior. Through the Suez Canal the Mediterranean route connects with Indian Ocean routes to India, Japan, and other countries in southern and eastern Asia.

Another major sea route, through the Panama Canal, links the seaboards of Western Europe and eastern North America with the western coasts of North America and South America. Major routes also extend from the Panama Canal across the Pacific Ocean to Australia and New Zealand and to Japan and the eastern and southeastern coasts of Asia. Other transpacific routes directly link western North America and eastern Asia.

Another major world shipping route across the Atlantic links Western Europe with Brazil and eastern South America. A branch of this route that curves around southern Africa links Western Europe with ports in Africa and on the Indian Ocean, replacing the Suez Canal route. Another major route is that between the Persian Gulf and Japan.

The world pattern of air routes is similar to that of ocean routes, though an airplane can follow a more direct route than a ship can. The heaviest volume of international air traffic, like sea traffic, is across the North Atlantic between North America and Europe. There is also a great volume of air traffic between the various countries of Europe as well as on domestic flights within such major countries as Russia and the United States. The most heavily used airways in the United States are between Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C.; New York City and Chicago; and Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Inland waterways are concentrated in the world’s heavily populated river basins and lowland plains. Among the busiest are the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Seaway and the Mississippi and Ohio rivers in North America, the Rhine River and other rivers and canals in northwestern Europe, and the system centering on the Volga and Don rivers in Eastern Europe. The United States has about 25,000 miles (40,200 kilometers) of inland waterway routes, including the Atlantic and Gulf intracoastal waterways. Land transportation routes are densest where urban commercial and industrial activities are the most extensively developed. Such core regions are in the central and eastern United States and southeastern Canada, in northwestern Europe, and in Japan. Other major transportation concentrations include the Pacific coast of North America, the Rio de Janeiro–São Paulo area of southern Brazil, the Ganges plain of northern India, the eastern areas of China, and south-eastern Australia.

The nets, or webs, of transportation routes are less densely developed in regions such as the interior western United States, the southern part of western Canada, Spain and Portugal, and southern Sweden and Norway. Some regions are served by railroads and highways that connect with transportation nets only at one end. Such transportation tentacles extend to otherwise isolated localities such as mining areas, logging camps, and other resource-extracting settlements. Examples are the rail lines and highways extending into northern Canada and into Siberia. Because of geography some sparsely settled regions such as the Amazon Basin of South America have few or no railroads and are served by inland waterways, air routes, and a few roads.

In the United States and Canada the transportation web is densest in the general area bounded by the Ohio and Potomac rivers on the south, the Missouri River on the west, and the St. Lawrence Valley. Several corridors within this densely populated, highly industrialized core region of North America generate extremely heavy movements of both goods and passengers. The most noted corridor is through the megalopolis stretching between Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Others are the axis between Detroit, Mich.; Cleveland, Ohio; and Pittsburgh, Pa.; the corridor from Chicago to Milwaukee, Wis.; and the corridor connecting Detroit; Toronto, Ont.; Montreal; and Quebec, Que.

In the southeastern United States, goods traffic very often moves to and from ocean and river ports. There also are major centers of passenger and freight traffic in the interior, such as at Atlanta, Ga.

In the interior of the western United States, transportation routes are spaced much farther apart, a reflection of the low population density. But on the heavily populated Pacific coast, a north-south corridor of closely spaced rail, highway, and air routes links San Diego, Calif.; Los Angeles; the San Francisco Bay area; and the Willamette Valley–Puget Sound–Strait of Georgia cities of Portland, Ore.; Tacoma and Seattle, Wash., in the United States and Vancouver, B.C., in Canada.

There were only about 172,900 miles (278,250 kilometers) of railroad routes in the United States in the late 1980s, as compared with about 254,000 miles (408,760 kilometers) in the peak year of 1916. Railroad mileage has steadily fallen as little-used branch lines have been abandoned in favor of highways. The United States has about 3.5 million miles (5.6 million kilometers) of surfaced roads. A network of pipelines links the Gulf coast and interior oil fields to the northeastern urban areas. Other major pipelines serve the Pacific coast.

All-water transportation routes via southern Africa, the Panama Canal, and the Suez Canal (before 1967) have faced increasing competition from land-sea combination routes that cross North America or Eurasia. Traffic from Japan to Europe, for example, may be routed first by ship across the Sea of Japan to Russia and then on the Trans-Siberian Railroad across Eurasia. Traffic from Japan to the eastern United States may be routed first by ship across the Pacific and then by rail or highway across the United States. Traffic from North America’s West coast to Europe may be routed first by rail or highway across to the East coast and then by ship across the Atlantic. Speedier transfer of cargoes between ships and overland carriers at the ports has greatly facilitated this choice of routings.

The world pattern of transportation routes changes slowly. The most important recent changes are a result of the growth of air transportation; the development of routes from new sources of fuels and metals in formerly isolated regions such as Labrador, northwestern Australia, and central Africa; the closing of the Suez Canal in 1956 and 1967; the opening of the enlarged St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959; and the opening of the Arkansas River to large-scale barge navigation in 1971. Transportation routes also have changed as supertankers, OBO vessels, container ships, and railroad piggyback service have been introduced.

Transportation Costs

Transportation costs depend primarily on distance and on the amount of goods or the number of people being carried. Reduced costs are generally achieved through the use of transportation modes that permit larger volumes or numbers to be moved. Savings are also realized by using as much as possible of the capacity of a particular mode or vehicle. For many movements of passengers and goods, however, the primary aim is not low cost but greater speed, convenience, or comfort. Such convenient modes as the private automobile or the taxicab, for example, are much costlier to use than a bus or train.

The cost of transportation includes both terminal costs and line-haul costs. Terminal costs are those incurred in assembling and distributing passengers and goods and loading them onto and unloading them from the vehicle. In the case of railroads they include the costs of making and breaking trains. The transfer from one mode to another, as between land and water carriers at a port, also is a terminal cost. Linehaul costs are those incurred in the actual movement of goods or people between terminals. They are generally proportional to distance, or length of haul (and fuel costs), and to time (and labor costs).

Another distinction is between fixed costs and variable costs. Fixed costs—also known as overhead, or constant, costs—include administration, sales, financing, insurance, rents, depreciation, and taxes. They are largely independent of particular transportation movements. Variable costs—also known as marginal, or out-of-pocket, costs—such as for fuel, are those attributed to a particular transportation movement and depend on actual traffic volume.

Costs are partly related to the load factor, the proportion of the capacity of the vehicle that actually carries the payload of cargo or passengers. If, for example, a 100-seat airplane carries 60 passengers, its load factor is 60 percent. Transportation operators try to achieve as high a load factor as possible by offering less frequent service during off-peak periods than during peak periods. In this way they can meet the increased demands of peak periods but not be saddled with unused capacity at other times.

Most rates and fares charged shippers and travelers fall between what are known as the value of service and the cost of service. The value of service is the maximum rate or fare that can be charged. If the charge is higher, transfer or substitution will take place—the traveler or shipper will find another transportation mode, another carrier of the same mode, another destination, another source of supply, another market, or cancel altogether.

If the carrier is a private enterprise, as are most transportation services in the United States, the total rates and fares charged must be sufficiently above the cost of service so as to give the carrier a profit. If traffic is carried at below cost, the loss must be made up by some form of public subsidy—that is, the government and the taxpayers share the transportation costs with the operators and the users. The desirability of a public subsidy is based on estimating whether the public benefit is great enough.

Early History of Transportation

Throughout most of human history, people’s movements on land were restricted to those speeds and distances that could be attained by walking. The use of sledges, pack animals, and then draft animals pulling wheeled vehicles increased the distance that early men could traverse and the amount of goods that they could transport ( see wheel ).

Long-distance transportation was mainly by water—on rivers and lakes, along seacoasts, and from island to island, usually in sight of land. Early vessels, propelled by currents and by paddles or poles, included rafts made of reeds or branches, boats made of skins, and dugout canoes. Later vessels used sails, which harnessed the wind. Extensive water commerce was carried on by the civilizations in ancient Phoenicia, around the Aegean Sea, and along the valleys of the Nile River in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia, the Indus River (now in Pakistan), and the Yellow River in China.

Some of the earliest long-distance overland trade routes date from around 2000 bc . These were the trails along which amber was carried from near the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. Starting in the 6th century bc , the Persian rulers Cyrus and Darius built a road system in their empire. Around the end of the 4th century bc a road system was built in the Maurya Empire of India. Camel caravans carried silk from China to Europe on trails that perhaps predate the 4th century bc . By the 3rd century ad the road network of the Roman Empire had reached Britain, Gaul (modern France), and the eastern Mediterranean region.

During the Middle Ages, improved sailing vessels and the magnetic compass made open-sea voyages out of sight of land much safer ( see navigation ). Voyages of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries greatly enlarged the world known to Europeans. An extensive sea trade developed, with merchant vessels carrying gold and silver from Latin America, tea and spices from Asia, and enslaved Black people captured from Africa.

Meanwhile, advances were being made in bridge and road construction, and the lock gate for canals was developed. Between the 16th and 18th centuries an extensive canal system was built in France. Transportation improvements in 18th-century Great Britain included the establishment of a turnpike (toll road) system and the use of iron for bridge construction. In 1815, John Loudon MacAdam first built a macadamized road, surfaced with compacted broken stone.

The American Indians did not have wheeled vehicles. Some tribes carried goods on an A-shaped drag called a travois. Indian trails often followed animal trails. For inland water transportation the Indians and later the European colonists used dugout, bark, or skin canoes ( see Indians, American ).

Late in the 18th century gravel roads were introduced in the United States. One of the first was a toll road, the Lancaster Turnpike in Pennsylvania. Plank roads and corduroy roads, made of lumber or logs laid side by side on the roadbed to overcome dust and mud, were built in the 1830s and 1840s. By the early 1800s transportation was being provided by animal-drawn Conestoga wagons and stagecoaches.

Flatboats were common on inland waterways. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 heralded a great era of canal building that linked the Atlantic seaboard with the lands west of the Appalachians. After 1818, packet ships regularly sailed across the Atlantic to Europe. In the mid-1800s, fast, efficient clipper ships were built to sail from Atlantic ports around South America to California and Asia.

Steam Power

The use of steam power to drive vehicles was applied as early as 1769 when a Frenchman, Nicolas Cugnot, demonstrated a steam carriage intended for use on common roads. It was in water transportation, however, that the early use of steam power was the most successful and enduring.

A short-lived steamboat service was begun by John Fitch on the Delaware River in 1790. In 1807 Robert Fulton established a successful steamboat line on the Hudson River ( see Fitch ; Fulton ). By the 1820s, steamboats plied the Great Lakes and the rivers of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. Along with the development of canals, their use greatly reduced shipping costs to and from the interior and helped open vast areas of North America to settlement. During that same time, steamships were introduced onto European sea routes. The first oceangoing steamship, the Savannah, crossed the Atlantic from Savannah, Ga., to Liverpool, England, in 1819, although it used sails for most of the voyage. By the 1840s, vessels were crossing the Atlantic entirely by steam power. In 1840 Samuel Cunard established the first regularly scheduled steamship line between England and North America. These early steamships were wooden and were propelled by side paddle wheels. They were primarily passenger and mail ships, since their cargo capacity was limited by the large space needed to carry coal for fuel on long ocean voyages.

With the adoption of the speedier screw propeller, the building of stronger iron-hulled vessels, and the establishment of coaling stations along their routes, ocean steamships by the 1890s had exceeded sailing ships in tonnage carried. Sailing ships soon were eliminated from long-distance ocean trade.

New, shorter ocean routes were established. The Suez Canal, opened in 1869, enabled vessels to bypass the long voyage around Africa on routes between Europe and Asia. The Panama Canal, opened in 1914, bypassed the voyage around South America on routes between Atlantic and Pacific ports.

Growth of Railroads

Railroads were used in European mines as early as the mid-1500s. Men or animals pushed wagons loaded with ore along wooden tracks. Later, iron tracks were used and, with the advent of steam power, wagons were hauled by ropes connected to stationary engines. In Wales in 1804, Richard Trevithick demonstrated the first successful railroad steam locomotive. In 1825 the Stockton and Darlington railway near Newcastle, England, became the first common carrier to use steam locomotives.

In the United States the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the South Carolina Railroad began operation in 1830. Like the early roads, they were inland feeders to ports. Railroads spread rapidly in the eastern and southern United States, with short lines being merged to form through routes. By the mid-1850s, railways linked the Atlantic seaboard and the Midwest. In 1869 the first transcontinental route was completed to the Pacific coast.

Railroads became the dominent mode of overland transportation in the last half of the 19th century. Faster and more powerful locomotives and larger freight and passenger cars were built. Standardization of track gauges and the adoption of standard time zones aided efficiency. The invention of air brakes, automatic signaling, and the automatic coupler increased safety. Sleeping cars and dining cars increased passenger comfort and convenience ( see brake ; locomotive ).

In 1832 the horse-drawn tramcar on rails was adopted in New York City and in the following decades became widely accepted as an inexpensive form of public urban transportation. In the 1870s, steam-powered cable-drawn trams became popular. Beginning in 1863 in London, England, steam-powered underground railways (subways) were built ( see subway ).

Electric power was introduced to land transportation in the mid-1880s when electric street railways began operating in the United States, Canada, and Europe. By 1900 they had replaced horsecars and cable cars as the chief form of urban transportation. Electrified elevated or subway lines were built in several European cities and in Boston, Chicago, and New York City ( see street railway ) Electrification spread early in the 20th century to intercity railroad lines but later the diesel-electric locomotive became dominant in the United States ( see diesel engine ). By the 1950s, the automobile, bus, and airplane had replaced the railroad train as the principal passenger carriers in the United States. Trucks, waterways, and pipelines also competed increasingly with railroads in freight hauling.

The Automobile and the Air Age

Some of the first successful gasoline automobiles were developed in Germany by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler in the 1880s and in the United States by Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea in 1893. Although some early automobiles were powered by steam and electricity, the internal-combustion gasoline engine soon became the favored form of motive power.

The early farm-to-market roads in the countryside were rarely paved. By the 1890s, however, some roads near the cities were being paved in response to the growing popularity of bicycle riding. As the automobile came into common use in the 1900s, 1916 the Federal Aid Road Act provided for massive federal aid in highway construction. Limited-access express highways originated in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s with the building of the first Italian autostrada and German autobahn. One of the first expressways in the United States was the Pennsylvania Turnpike, opened in 1940. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 and later amendments provided for a network of 42,500 miles of interstate expressways to be completed by the mid-1970s.

The first successful manned, engine-powered flight in a heavier-than-air craft was achieved in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, N.C., by Orville and Wilbur Wright ( see Wright, Wilbur and Orville ). Airplanes were used in combat during World War I. Regular airmail routes began in the United States in 1918. During the 1920s and 1930s, mail planes commonly carried passengers. In the 1930s, scheduled flights were begun over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The development during World War II of multiengine long-distance planes, aided by reliable electronic navigation and weather forecasting, led to the rapid advance of commercial air transportation. As a result, shipping lines rapidly declined as major passenger carriers.

With the introduction of jet power to commercial air service in the 1950s, speeds were doubled and costs were greatly reduced. Propeller planes were largely replaced on major transcontinental and trans-oceanic routes. The testing of supersonic jet transports began in Europe and the United States in the late 1960s. During that same time, jumbo jet aircraft, with capacities of nearly 500 passengers each, were brought into service.

Transportation Problems

The world’s transportation facilities are elaborate but unevenly developed. Many underindustrialized countries cannot afford the transportation services they need. At the same time, some highly industrialized countries are oversupplied. In the United States, for example, there are many miles of underused railroads, inland waterways, and rural roads.

Transportation movements are hampered by economic barriers such as tariffs and import and export quotas. Different railroad gauges on opposite sides of an international boundary often require a costly transfer of freight and passengers from one national railroad to another.

“Cargo preference” laws of some countries, restricting those vessels eligible to take particular cargoes, may impede the most economic operation of the world’s shipping fleets. The desire of many countries to have their own fleets of ships or to promote their own airlines may also divert traffic from the most efficient carriers.

Many countries regulate their transportation services so that the various modes are complementary rather than competitive. In the United States, however, government regulations vary widely from mode to mode and between those transportation movements that cross state boundaries and those that do not. A major step toward developing a unified national transportation policy was taken in 1966 with the creation of the Cabinet-level Department of Transportation.

Laws, customs, and labor agreements often require the employment of more persons than are needed for efficient transportation service, especially as technological advances such as container ships are introduced. But layoffs of unneeded workers may result in large-scale unemployment and create severe social problems. Similarly, the building of modern terminal facilities in certain ports and cities may so concentrate traffic that other, bypassed ports and cities face economic depression.

There often are costly and inconvenient delays when people and goods are transferred from one transportation mode to another. These delays include time spent by a traveler at a corner bus stop, at an airplane loading gate or baggage counter, or in the air while an airplane is waiting for clearance to land. They include the time spent by general cargo ships while in port being loaded or unloaded.

The building of expressways and tollways, with their wide rights-of-way and complex intersections, is very costly and has forced the relocation of hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses, particularly in cities. Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed. Many of the people displaced are from low-income areas in the inner cities and are those least able to find new homes.

Traffic congestion in the United States has been relieved somewhat as cities have decentralized and population and business densities have decreased. But rush-hour traffic jams and lack of parking space, especially in downtown areas, are still acute problems. Greater use of mass transit services is a likely solution. Unless mass transit is heavily subsidized, however, it can neither meet its costs from a fare structure that would be low enough nor provide service that would be frequent enough to induce people to leave their cars at home. Meanwhile, the decline of public transportation services has hit hardest at the poor, the elderly, the young, and the handicapped, who are least likely to have access to private automobiles.

Transportation facilities and operation also affect the quality of the environment. In an effort to reduce air pollution, laws in the United States set limits on automobile emissions. Such antipollution measures, however, may add to the expense of building and operating motor vehicles. Similarly, design changes required by laws limiting the noise levels and air pollution of aircraft may decrease the operating efficiency of the aircraft. The development of supersonic aircraft, in particular, has been opposed because of the loud sonic boom they create while in flight. Fear of pollution from massive oil leaks has affected plans for new pipelines and the building and operation of supertankers. Natural scenery may be marred and historical landmarks destroyed by construction for highways, railroads, and airports.

Transportation facilities also present a safety hazard. The private automobile, in particular, is one of the most dangerous modes of transportation, though accident rates are slowly being reduced. Major accidents on other transportation modes are relatively rare, though when they do occur, as in the crash of an airliner or in the collision of passenger trains, the loss of life may be great.

Advances in Transportation

Technological advances in transportation have included the development of superspeed trains, such as Japan’s “bullet train” of the 1960s and France’s TGV (Train de Grand Vitesse) of the 1970s and 1980s. These advances gave engineers the inspiration to design such experimental railroad systems as the magnetic levitation, or maglev, train, which by the early 1990s had only short test systems set up in Germany and Japan. Improvements in power generation and transmission and concern for the air and noise pollution caused by diesel engines have prompted automobile makers to develop cars that will run on alternative types of fuel. One result has been the prototype of an electric car. ( See also automobile ; railroad .)

A greater variety of ships, including submarine tankers and fast, multiple-hulled surface ships, have been developed. Other new types of vessels that are available include the hydrofoil, which travels on sea wings with its hull above water, and the surface-effect ship, or hovercraft, which rides above the water on a cushion of air.

The widespread use of atomic power for ship propulsion is a major research goal. STOL (short takeoff and landing), VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing), and supersonic aircraft have been adopted. These new technologies have made vehicles quieter. Passenger travel has improved in speed and comfort. Freight transport costs less because larger vehicles are used and operating efficiency has increased. The computer is used for record keeping, traffic control, navigation, and other routine operations.

In the more distant future, rocket transportation may become feasible, perhaps in combination with orbiting satellites, enabling all points on Earth to be connected in less than an hour’s travel time. Underground gravity vacuum tubes may permit freight and passengers to travel between stations thousands of miles apart also in less than an hour.

Improvements may be expected in transportation management techniques. Some forms of transportation now under private ownership, management, and operation will increasingly depend on public financing or control, just as urban mass transit now does. Some forms of transportation will be integrated into multimodal organizations, both public and private, in order to move people and goods with a minimum of cost, inconvenience, and delay.

The need for modes of transportation will endure. Innovative communications systems, however, have already made much travel unnecessary. Teleconferencing enables people to hold meetings and see each other without having to travel. Computer networking makes cooperative work possible, without the workers leaving home or office ( see telecommunication ).

Additional Reading

Ancona, George. Freighters: Cargo Ships and the People Who Work Them (Crowell Junior Books, 1985). Ardley, Neil. Air and Flight (Watts, 1984). Barner, Bob. Elevator Escalator Book: A Transportation Fact Book (Doubleday, 1990). Brandt, Keith. Transportation (Troll, 1985). Brown, Richard. One Hundred Words About Transportation (Harcourt, 1989). Gakken Company Limited Editors. Wheels and Wings (Time-Life, 1988). Kerrod, Robin and others. Land (Silver Burdett, 1984). Kerrod, Robin and others. Water (Silver Burdett, 1985). Little, Karen. Wings, Wheels and Water (EDC Publishers, 1988). Williams, Brenda and Williams, Brian. Wings, Wheels and Sails (Random, 1991). Arnold, James. All Drawn by Horses (David & Charles, 1985). Bulliet, Richard. The Camel and the Wheel (Columbia Univ. Press, 1990). Bushell, C.J. Jane’s Urban Transport Systems (Jane’s Information Corporation, 1990). Cain, Wilma. Story of Transportation (Gateway Press, Inc., 1988). Evans, A.N. The Automobile (Lerner, 1985). Fargo, O.J. Western Transportation (Green Valley World, 1990). Graham, Ian. Transportation (Watts, 1990). Lowe, Marcia. Alternatives to the Automobile (Worldwatch Institute, 1990). Nentl, J.A. Big Rigs (Crestwood, 1983). Norris, Ann. On the Go (Lothrop, 1990). Papageorgiou, M.N. Concise Encyclopedia of Traffic and Transportation Systems (Pergamon, 1991). Pollard, Michael. From Cycle to Spaceship: The Story of Transportation (FOF, 1987). Radford, Don. Looking at Flight (David & Charles, 1984). Schulz, Marjorie. Transport: Careers for Today (Watts, 1990). Stein, Barbara. Kids’ World Almanac of Transportation: Rockets, Planes, Trains, Cars, Boats, and Other Ways to Travel (Pharos Books, 1991). Wilkins, Frances. Transport and Travel from Nineteen Thirty to the Nineteen Eighty’s (David & Charles, 1985).

(See also bibliographies for Airplane ; Automobile .)

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Modes of Transport

By land, by air, or by water talking about transportation is important for children's language development and their general knowledge. here you'll find the names of vehicles, and lots of transportation vocabulary..

Buses, boats, and trains! What’s your little favorite transportation system ? There are many modes of transportation that allow us to move from one part of the world to another, and learning about them is one the first things that little ones do as soon as they start communicating with their families.

During early childhood , children are dependant on their parents to carry them around before they start walking, they hop up into their little strollers and travel the city with mom and dad guiding them. As soon as they start getting older, children start playing with toy cars, learning how to drive through their houses, which turns out to be a great exercise for children’s spatial awareness . As they reach a certain age, bicycles are the way to go for many kids that wish to set out on adventures with family and friends!

So, talking about the different types of transportation comes almost naturally to the little ones. But there’s more to this topic than just learning names of vehicles : it’s also important to learn to express the action of using the different transportation systems. When talking about transport, we can use prepositions or verbs to express ourselves. Let’s learn the most common vocabulary about transportation and also verbs related to transportation .

Types of Transportation

Depending on the destination, there is a myriad of vehicles that are suited to travel to various places . For example, you can go by land if there are roads and highways available; or maybe by air if the distance is too long ; or even by water if you live on an island . Let’s check out the different means of transport there are.

⛅ Air Transport

Is the fastest mean of transport, and it consists of a vehicle traveling by air.

hot air balloon

airplane (plane)

space shuttle

✈️ Airport Vocabulary

airport / aircraft / air traffic control

airline / baggage / aisle seat / cabin

window seat / boarding pass / carry-on luggage

check-in desk / copilot / pilot / customs

flight / landing / flight attendant / jet lag

round trip / seat belt / terminal / take-off

Water Transportation

It refers to all the transport made over a body of water, such as a lake, an ocean, a sea, a river, or a canal.

cruise ship

pirate ship

amphibious vehicle

coast guard ship

Sailing Vocabulary

port / starboard / anchor / launch

hatch / sails / course / pier

quay / stern / bow / harbor / aboard

paddle / lifeboat / dam / embark

scuttle / lighthouse / fleet / rudder

breakwater / merchant ship / shipyard

️ Land Transport

It refers to all the vehicles that can transport people or objects by land.

motorcycle (motorbike)

pick-up truck

trolley bus

garbage truck

ambulance - English for kids - Lingokids

convertible

s nowmobile

transport - English for kids - Lingokids

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Transportation Theme Lesson Plan

Transportation theme activities for preschool.

You can start your transport topic for preschool like this, by talking about and educating kids first.

Transportation is everywhere in our society today and in the World around us. It is responsible for the advancement and supply of the entire World.

With our many modern methods of travel and transportation using various machines and vehicles, you can virtually travel anywhere.

Transportation gets us supplies, food, travel and other essentials so we can survive. It’s also essential for shipping these items around the World.

Toddlers and preschoolers are fascinated with trains, airplanes, boats and different vehicles.

Why not try teaching preschool children about the different types of travel or teaching a transport topic for preschool by using and building your own?

Simple transport lesson plans or theme activities can be based on vehicles like cars, trucks, boats, and airplanes using a variety of methods below to teach children why they are important for us all today.

Transport Topic Overview

Teaching preschoolers about transportation can be a fun and engaging way to introduce them to the world around them. Here are some quick lesson plan ideas for a transportation theme unit:

Introductory Discussion (Circle Time) :

Begin with a discussion about different modes of transportation. Show pictures or small models of cars, buses, bicycles, trains, boats, airplanes, etc. Ask the children what they know about each one.

Read-Alouds :

“Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site” by Sherri Duskey Rinker
“Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” by Mo Willems
“The Little Engine That Could” by Watty Piper

Art and Craft :

Collage using cut-out pictures of different modes of transportation.
Make a paper plate steering wheel or propeller.
Finger paint with wheels and tracks.

Sensory Play :

Set up a sensory bin with toy cars, trucks, and construction vehicles. Add sand, rice, or beans for texture.

Dramatic Play :

Create a transportation-themed play area with costumes (e.g., hats, scarves, vests) and props (e.g., steering wheel, tickets) where children can take turns being the driver or passenger.

Math Activities :

Have different types of toy vehicles and ask the children to sort them by color, size, or type.
Count how many wheels different vehicles have.

Science Activities :

Provide different toy boats and ask the children to predict which ones will float and which will sink.

Outdoor Play :

Set up a small obstacle course with cones, hula hoops, and jump ropes for the children to “drive” through on pretend vehicles.

Music and Movement :

Sing songs like “The Wheels on the Bus” or “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” with accompanying movements.

Field Trip or Virtual Tour :

If possible, plan a field trip to a local transportation hub (e.g., bus station, train station) or arrange a virtual tour of a transportation-related site.

Writing and Fine Motor Skills :

Provide pictures of different modes of transportation for the children to trace.

Literacy Activities :

Encourage children to make up their own transportation-themed stories or draw pictures to go along with a story they create.

Cooking Activity :

Make a simple snack that resembles a mode of transportation (e.g., “banana boat” with a banana and pretzel sticks for sails).

Remember to adapt these activities to the specific needs and interests of your preschoolers. Incorporate their ideas and encourage open-ended exploration to make the learning experience as engaging and enjoyable as possible.

Check out the sample Lesson plan theme below on this subject.

Transportation Lesson Plan for Kindergarten & Pre K

You want to use basic, common vehicles and means of transportation that are familiar, interesting and easy to remember for preschoolers and young children when using this lesson plan.

Use transportation vehicles that are in your local community, or that they see in everyday life and find interesting.

The preschool children will be eager to learn about all the different machines, vehicles and equipment they see in the world around them and on TV.

Vehicle Ideas for This Transport Lesson

Garbage truck/Recycling truck
Transport Trucks
Helicopters

How to Start Your Kids Transportation Theme

Be sure to provide a variety of books about types of cars and trucks as well as magazines that show colorful pictures of different vehicles in the class library area.

You want to have coloring pages on various means of transportation available for the preschool kids and toddlers to color and study.

Coloring Pages or printables with the names of the transportation vehicles are also great for them to become familiar with the names of the vehicle as shown.

Art Activities About Vehicles

Build a Car or Vehicle from a Box:

Try building a car or vehicle out of a cardboard box and use it as part of a dramatic play center area. The children could pretend to wash it and fix it. Place an empty bucket with some sponges, and some toy tools and watch the children have a blast washing and fixing it.

You could also make a fire truck from a cardboard box and place that in the dramatic play area for the next week along with a firefighter play activity etc. This is a great way to extend the subject of vehicles while keeping it interesting.

Real Life Car Wash for Kids

You could set up a real life car wash on a nice warm day – You could use your car or one of the other staff members vehicles. We have done this before and it was so much fun!

Set the preschool children and toddlers up with some simple items so that they can wash it like a bucket with warm soapy water and some sponges. (the kids will get to see a car or truck up close and will have fun checking it out and exploring.)

Use the following carwash items with your preschoolers:

Bucket of warm water
Carwash Soap
Soft rags or cloths

*Obviously you would NEVER have the keys available to the children and always SUPERVISE the children.

Talk About Being Safe Around Vehicles:

This would be a good time to discuss safety when around certain vehicles and transportation with the children.

You can emphasize that children should NEVER play around cars or any vehicles. Children should NEVER stand behind vehicles and should always be aware of vehicles backing out of driveways and parking lots and that these are NOT areas to play.

Toy Trucks & Cars for Play Learning

You can click on any of the above -toy vehicle’ images to search on Amazon for toys you can buy to go along with your transit lesson plan. *The above links are affiliate links for Amazon, and we will receive a small commission should you go ahead and buy anything*

Toy Transportation Vehicles for Play

It is a great idea to bring in some model or toy cars and trucks etc. that depict the mode of transportation you are discussing.

Try to have toy cars and vehicles on the toy shelf and possibly a small play carpet that has a city or neighborhood on it with small roads and waterways.

This will give the children an opportunity to use the toys and put them into action.

Activity Extension Activities:

Use masking tape* to map out some simple roadways for the children to use their toy trucks and cars on. You can do this by putting masking tape on a small area of flooring in the classroom or outside in a suitable area.

Make the masking tape criss-cross to make intersections and roadways that turn.

If possible try to find small road accessories such as small trees and road signs (dollar store) to add to this activity.

*Masking tape will not leave residue on low-pile carpet. Always test in a small area and make sure you take it off at the end of the day.

If you are outside, sidewalk chalk is a great simple way to draw some roadways, bridges, and waterways that can be cleaned up by spraying with a water hose or a few good rainfalls.

Discuss Different Vehicles for Your Transport Topic:

During circle time, discuss with the pre k children the different vehicle types and what they do.

Pick 1 or 2 vehicles a day and discuss them so as to not overwhelm the kids. During circle time you can read books on different modes of transportation that are age appropriate to the kids in your class.

Find Real Life Vehicle & Transportation Images for Your Class Library:

Find real life, colorful pictures of vehicles from magazines, calendars etc. and be sure to have them posted on the walls around the school classroom so the children can see the different transportation vehicles.

Plan a Community Field Trip:

Plan a field trip to a local community fire station and/or police station. You can simply call these places and request setting up a simple visit with your preschool class. The kids will get a tour and learn about everything that happens at the station and how they use the equipment etc.

Books About Vehicles & Transportation

There are some kids books about transportation on Amazon. Your kids will enjoy these books and learning about different vehicles. *These are affiliate links, so we will receive a small commission if you decide to buyon amazon*

Kids Songs About Transportation

It is important to always try and be creative when setting up your preschool theme and lesson plans for preschoolers and kindergarten children.

Take the time to pay attention to the pre k children and who knows, you may get a new lesson idea from observing them and listening to their conversations, and discovering what they like and do not like.

This is where some of the best educational ideas and lesson plan ideas come from, watching and observing the kids.

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Transport facts for kids

Transport , or transportation , is moving people or things from one place to another place. Transport can be divided into infrastructure , vehicles and operations .

Infrastructure includes roads , railways , airports , canals and pipelines . The infrastructure is the network where things are carried. Infrastructure also includes airports , railway stations , bus stations and seaports (docks). Infrastructure is usually built by governments and paid for by taxes from the citizens of a country or region. Infrastructure such as roads and railways are designed by civil engineers and urban planners .

Vehicles or vessels travel on the infrastructure. Vehicles include cars , trucks , trains and airplanes . Vehicles are usually designed by mechanical engineers . Vessels include boats , ferries , and barges which travel on canals and use docks and seaports. In the same way that trains use train stations, airplanes use airports. In the same way that trains use railway lines (train tracks), airplanes use flight paths and then fly in the sky.

Operations control the system. Operations include traffic signals , railway signals and air traffic control . Operations also include the government policies (a policy is a plan of action to guide decisions and actions) and regulations (a set or group of laws and rules) used to control the system, such as tolls , fuel taxes, and traffic laws.

Transport and communications

Transport, energy, and the environment, kinds of transportation, images for kids.

Transport and communication can be used instead of each other (someone could telephone a person rather than visit them). Transport traffic also needs communication. For example, air traffic control lets more airplanes fly. So, an increase of either transport or communication usually leads to an increase in the other one.

Transport uses a lot of energy . Most transport uses hydrocarbons ( oil and gas ). This can create pollution . Environmental regulations (laws) and low-pollution fuels (for example liquified natural gas) can reduce pollution. But as more vehicles are used, more pollution is created. Ethanol and biodiesel pollute less than petroleum.

Transport can be by land, water or air:

Land transport using walking, roads and railway tracks by bicycles and other vehicles
Water transport using ships and barges in canals and in rivers and seas
Air transportation using airplanes and airports and helicopters

A bulk carrier, BW Fjord

An Air France A380 on approach to Washington Dulles International Airport

Human-powered transport remains common in developing countries.

An Air France Airbus A318 lands at London Heathrow Airport .

Intercity Express , a German high-speed passenger train

The Harbor Freeway is often heavily congested at rush hour in Downtown Los Angeles .

Automobile ferry in Croatia

Trans-Alaska Pipeline for crude oil

A Fiat Uno in 2018

Incheon International Airport , South Korea

A local transit bus operated by ACTION in Canberra , Australia

Freight train with shipping containers in the United Kingdom

Transport is a key component of growth and globalization, such as in Seattle, Washington , United States.

The engineering of this roundabout in Bristol , United Kingdom, attempts to make traffic flow free-moving.

Traffic congestion persists in São Paulo , Brazil, despite the no-drive days based on license numbers.

Bronocice pot with the earliest known image of a wheeled vehicle in the world, found in Poland

The Wright brothers ' first flight in 1903

This page was last modified on 9 August 2024, at 02:05. Suggest an edit .

Lesson Plan

Let's move: identifying modes of transportation, view aligned standards, learning objectives.

Students will be able to identify different modes of transportation and the vehicles used for each mode. Students will learn about the uniqueness and similarity of the different vehicles.

Introduction

Sing "Wheels on the Bus" with your students.
To mix it up, add "Planes in the Sky" or "Boats on the River" to the song. Remind your students that people can get from one place to another through the air or above water, too.
Tell them that vehicles are used for moving from one place to another. Explain that people use vehicles as transportation , or as ways to move around.
Ask them to name different vehicles, such as cars, planes, and trains.
Now, ask them where they see these vehicles. For example, cars move on the ground.

Means of Transportation Lesson

Topic: Means of Transportation Lesson Dialogue
Communication Objectives: This lesson will teach students how to talk about means of transportation in English.
Language Objectives: This lesson will focus on using various ‘how’ question word to ask questions about means of transportation and length of time. Other questions will also be reviewed – where, when.

Dialogue Story: Dad is about to leave for the city. The children want to come. They are going to the airport to pick up Freddie’s aunt, Mona. On the way, they choose different means of transportation and talk about it. They also ask many questions related to time.
Are you going by car?
How do we get to the subway?
Where does this train go, Dad?
When does Aunt Mona arrive?
She arrives in five minutes.
How is she going to arrive?
How long does it take to get to the car park?

This lesson has a related vocabulary video. Click here to watch the vocabulary and grammar break down of this lesson.

Feedback or questions are welcome.

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Transportation Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten

Today I’m sharing a huge list of transportation activities for preschool and kindergarten. This list will be handy if you are planning a whole transportation unit OR simply looking for a few ideas.

This list of transportation activities for preschool and kindergarten includes books, poetry, props, music, craft ideas, and more!

So let’s get started!

How do you explain transportation to a preschooler?

First of all, let’s talk about how to explain transportation to you kids. Simply put, transportation is the way we get places (how we move from one place to another.) Have your kids name some things that take them places (Cars, trucks, boats, airplanes, etc.)

Next, challenge your students to come up with people or things that can be transported (people, groceries, products, animals, etc) Lastly, point out that there are modes of transportation that are for land, sky, and water. Discuss what some of those things might be. Here are some questions about transportation you can use to get your kids talking:

What do we drive in to get to a grocery store?
Which one of these is NOT something we use to travel? Bus, bike, frying pan, boat?
What else could a car carry besides people?
What could carry more people, a car or an airplane?
How could we get to another state or country?
Names some vehicles that transport people or things you might see on the road.
What types of transportation might we see in the sky?

Objectives for a preschool transportation unit

If you are doing a transportation unit, here are a few suggestions for learning goals you could consider trying to attain:

Identify various modes of transportation
Differentiate modes based on land, sky, and sea
Build preschool and kindergarten skills through transportation-themed music, crafts, activities, math, language, and imaginative play.

Picture Books for Prek-Kindergarten Transportation unit

(This list contains Amazon Affiliate Links.)

Now for a list of picture books about transportation. Reading is a fantastic way to show the different ways that people get around and the various modes of transportation!

Picture Books about Transportation:

The Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Toy Boat by Randall de Seve
Amazing Airplanes by Tony Mitton
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
The Pigeon Loves Things That Go by Mo Willems
The Bus for Us by Suzanne Bloom
Boat Book by Gail Gibbons
Steam, Smoke, and Steel: Back in Time With Trains by Patrick O’Brian
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess

Transportation poem for Transportation unit

Another good transportation activity for preschool and kindergarten is learning a poem together. Kids latch onto songs and poetry. Here is a poem that teaches about transportation and is included in the free transportation lesson plan builder pack. (located in the free resource library, see below.)

Toy and prop ideas for preschool transportation unit

Since play is a huge part of learning for this age, here are some transportation toy and prop ideas that you can give your kids:

Transportation toy and prop ideas for preschool:

Numbered Race Cars
Vehicles wood puzzle
Trucks coloring book
Numbered boats
Helicopter toy
Wooden traffic signs
Wooden Airplane
Construction vehicles
Transportation stickers
Water beads
Road map floor map

Music AND videos for Transportation Unit

Songs and media also help to teach preschoolers about transportation! Here are just a few to songs and videos to get you started:

Transportation songs for preschoolers:

The wheels on the bus
Ten little airplanes
Row, row, row your boat
Here Comes the Firetruck
Water Transportation Vehicles (video)

Transportation crafts for preschoolers

Now for a few transportation crafts that you can do with your preschoolers and kindergarteners! From traffic lights and road maps to license plates and airplanes, there are tons of transportation crafts you can do with your little ones!

Transportation crafts for preschoolers and kindergarteners:

license plate rubbing
Transportation cutting collage
Draw a road map.
Size and Color Match Traffic Light Craft
Craft stick airplane
Transportation coloring book

Games and activities for transportation unit

Build vehicles with legos
Sensory play with water beads and water vehicles
Freeze vehicles into ice then break them free
Red light, green light

Math activities for transportation unit

Sort vehicles by land, air, and sea.
Train patterns – Make a train pattern using blocks or other objects.
Number hunt using numbered cars- Hide the numbered cars around the house and have your kids search for the correct number.
Transportation pattern block designs

Language and writing activities for transportation unit

Build a name rocket
Count syllables of vehicle names.
Transportation-themed prewriting
Retell a story from the picture booklist.
Transportation beginning sound clip cards

Imaginary play ideas for transportation unit

Auto repair shop
Road building with masking tape on the floor.
Airplane flight deck
Train cars using boxes
Boats in water-beads (transportation sensory play)

Printable Transportation Unit Builder for Teachers

For my fellow homeschool moms and teacher friends, I’ve complied all these ideas into a printable resource. This unit builder includes everything in this post and also leaves room for you to add material lists and notes. (The transportation poem in also included in this resource.)

Whether you are creating a transportation lesson plan for preschool or kindergarten or just thinking of adding some activities into your homeschool preschool unit later this year, this is a great printable preschool resource to reference with a lot of ideas to choose from!

Download Transportation Unit Plan Pack

This printable is part of the Inspire the Mom free resource library. If you are already a member, hop on over to the free resource page. If not, fill out the quick form below and join for access to this freebie as well as other great content.

What are some of your favorite transportation activities for a kindergarten or preschool?

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How to Teach Transportation to Preschoolers

Transportation is an important part of everyday life, and as such is a topic many preschool aged children are interested in. A transportation theme not only teaches children about what different vehicles are for and how they work, but you can also use it to teach other important concepts such as safety when riding in a vehicle or walking. Use games and crafts when teaching children about transportation, as it will help them remember important information.

Play a game to teach the children what the colors in the traffic lights mean. Cut circles of construction paper in the colors red and green. Glue a stick to the circles. Create a finish line with ribbon. Stand in front of the kids and tell them to walk towards the finish line when you hold up the green circle and to stop when you hold up the red circle. The child who gets to the finish line first is the winner of the game.

Instruct the kids to create their own transportation vehicles. Divide them in pairs and give each group a cardboard box. Provide pictures of various types of transportation and let the children decide which one they would like to make. Give the kids art supplies to make their vehicles, such as crayons, paint and markers. Help the children make cut outs in the cardboard boxes as needed to make the vehicles.

Create paper license plates for the children to play a match up game. Decorate flash cards using markers to look like license plates from different states. Create two cards for each state and add pictures the children can remember when playing the game. Make sure the license plates don't look too similar, or the kids might confuse them, making the game harder. Make between 10 and 20 license plates. Explain to the kids they need to find the matching license plates by flipping over two cards at a time.

Explain to the kids what maps are used for. Bring a big map of your city for the kids to see. Show them where the school is and where places they know are, such as a library, park or supermarket. Mark two familiar spots in the map and ask the children to find different ways to get from one point to the other. Give the children markers to trace the different routes. Discuss why they would use the different routes to get to each location. For example, one route may be shorter, but another may be more scenic.

Make transportation books using magazine cut outs. Help the kids draw a vehicle on the top of a piece of construction paper, such as fire truck, construction vehicle, airplane and car. Have each child use five sheets of construction paper, each with a different choice of vehicle to make their books. Give the kids magazines and old books that can be cut out. Instruct the kids to find the different vehicles they need and to cut them out. Help them glue the pictures onto the correct sheet of construction paper and to make a collage. Ask the kids to also make a cover page by decorating another piece of construction paper with markers and stickers. Punch holes on the sides of the sheets and use string to tie the pages of the book together.

About the Author

Lucia Mata has been writing since 2008, covering parenting and design topics. Her work has appeared in both English and Spanish publications. Mata has an Associate of Arts in interior design from Salt Lake Community College and a Bachelor of Arts in communications from Utah Valley University.

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Amazing Transportation Activities for Kindergarten kids

Transportation Activities for Kindergarten children

Transportation is a captivating and essential part of our daily lives. For kindergarten kids, learning about various modes of transportation can be both fun and educational. Engaging in transportation-themed activities not only sparks their curiosity but also helps develop crucial cognitive and motor skills. In this blog post by EuroSchool, we will explore a delightful array of transportation activities tailored for kindergarten kids that promote learning, creativity, and imagination.

Transportation Activities for Kindergarten kids Meaning

Kindergarten transportation activities provide a variety of fun educational experiences centred around several forms of transportation, including vehicles, trains, planes, and boats. These exercises are meant to expose young students to the idea of travel, its relevance in linking people and places, and its function in our daily lives. Children acquire critical cognitive, physical, and social skills while cultivating an early fascination with the world of transportation via hands-on crafts, storytelling, games, and field trips. In addition to fostering language development, problem-solving skills, and an awareness of safety guidelines, these activities lay the groundwork for responsible citizenship and a lifetime of learning.

Create a Transportation Collage (Art and Creativity)

Encourage your little ones to embark on a creative journey by making a transportation-themed collage. Provide them with old magazines, newspapers, glue sticks, and safety scissors. Let them cut out pictures of different modes of transportation, such as cars, bicycles, buses, and trains. Then, guide them in arranging these images into a colourful collage. This activity not only enhances fine motor skills but also introduces them to the diversity of vehicles.

Also Read: 10 Life Skills Activities for Kindergarten Students

Build a Road Map (Math and Spatial Skills)

Constructing a road map can be an exciting way to teach kindergarten kids about directions, spatial awareness, and basic mapping skills. Provide a large sheet of paper, markers, and a few toy vehicles. Begin by drawing a simple map with roads, houses, and landmarks. Then, let the children use their toy vehicles to navigate the map, learning about left and right turns, and practicing positional words like “next to,” “between,” and “opposite.”

Transportation Bingo (Language and Memory Skills)

Bingo is a classic game that can be adapted to teach kids about transportation. Create bingo cards featuring various modes of transportation instead of numbers. Draw or print pictures of cars, boats, planes, and more on the cards. Use buttons, small toys, or even candies as markers. Call out the names of the vehicles, and kids can cover the corresponding images on their cards. This game enhances language skills and memory while providing hours of entertainment.

Paper Plate Steering Wheels (Fine Motor Skills)

Engage kids in a craft project to make their very own paper plate steering wheels. Provide paper plates, markers, and stickers for decorating. After decorating, help them attach a wooden stick or straw to the back of the plate to create a steering wheel. Let them use their imagination to pretend they are driving different vehicles, enhancing fine motor skills and fostering imaginative play.

Also Read: Developing Fine Motor Skills for Kindergarteners

Transportation Storytime (Literacy and Imagination)

Reading transportation-themed stories is a fantastic way to introduce kindergarten kids to the world of literature and spark their imagination. Choose age-appropriate books that feature exciting adventures involving cars, trains, or ships. After reading, encourage them to discuss the story, identify the main characters, and even draw scenes from the book. This activity enhances comprehension skills and nurtures a love for reading.

Traffic Light Learning (Colour Recognition and Sequencing)

Teach kindergarten kids about traffic lights while also enhancing their colour recognition and sequencing abilities. Create a simple traffic light craft using coloured construction paper or cardboard. Explain the meaning of each colour (red means stop, yellow means slow down, and green means go). Then, have the children practice stopping and going according to your instructions, promoting both physical activity and understanding of traffic rules.

Cardboard Box Car (Creative Play and Gross Motor Skills)

Transform an ordinary cardboard box into an imaginative car. Provide markers, paint, and stickers for decorating the box to resemble a car. Cut out holes for windows and a door, and add paper plate wheels. Let your kindergarten kids step inside their homemade car and embark on imaginary journeys, improving gross motor skills and nurturing creativity.

Transportation Puzzles (Problem Solving and Cognitive Skills)

Puzzles are excellent tools for developing problem-solving and cognitive skills in children. Invest in age-appropriate transportation-themed puzzles with varying levels of complexity. Start with simple puzzles featuring large pieces and gradually progress to more challenging ones. As kids solve the puzzles, they’ll enhance their spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, and patience.

Outdoor Vehicle Scavenger Hunt (Exploration and Observation)

Take the learning outdoors with a vehicle scavenger hunt. Go for a walk or visit a nearby parking lot with your kindergarten kids. Provide them with a list of vehicles to spot, such as a red car, a bicycle, a bus, or a delivery truck. As they find each vehicle, they can check it off their list. This activity promotes observation skills, vocabulary development, and exploration of the real world.

Transportation-themed Cooking (Math and Creativity)

Get creative in the kitchen by making transportation-themed snacks with your little ones. Bake cookies or decorate cupcakes with car or train-shaped cookie cutters. As you work together, involve them in counting the ingredients, measuring, and mixing, which are excellent opportunities to reinforce math skills. Plus, they’ll have a tasty treat to enjoy at the end of the activity.

Engaging kindergarten kids in transportation activities is not only fun but also highly educational. These activities foster creativity, imagination, and essential cognitive and motor skills. Whether it’s creating art, playing games, or exploring the outdoors, these transportation-themed activities will not only entertain young minds but also lay a solid foundation for their future learning. So, let your little ones embark on an amazing journey through the world of transportation, where learning and fun go hand in hand.

We at EuroSchool often incorporate a holistic approach to education, including engaging transportation activities for kindergarten kids. These activities are designed not only to entertain and amuse but also to promote learning, skill development, and cultural awareness.

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20 Transportation Activities for Kindergarten Kids

“Land, water or air! The meaning of transportation or the means of transport meaning is basically the way to move from one place to another. Buses, boats, trains and aeroplanes are the most common means of transport that children have heard of, which can help people move from one part of the world to another. Learning about all these modes of transportation is one of the first things children can do when they start communicating with their families.”

Angela Naik, Writer at FirstCry

Kids in kindergarten have a fascination with anything that moves – be it a bulky tractor or a svelte racing car. Perhaps it’s on account of the unusual shapes and sizes different vehicles come in. In any case, it’s a great idea to leverage that inherent fascination into something of greater significance – namely, learning all about how transportation works.

15 Amazing Transportation Activities for Kindergarten

Discovering various modes of transportation for kindergarten can be fun with interesting activities. Here’s a look at some of the most novel transportation activity ideas that will help set the ball rolling when it comes to teaching your kids all about transportation.

Model Railways

Model railways is one of the amusing transportation games for kindergarten kids. Kids are forever fascinated with trains. Here’s one of those transportation activities that will put them firmly in that engine driver’s seat!

The activity: Get that model train set out. As the children figure out how to fit pieces of the track together, they develop their cognitive skills.

Bonus : Children can enact scenarios of the world around them.

Paint and Mould Tracks

Seeking an activity for transportation that’s messy? Try this one. Paint and Mould Tracks is one of the artsy transportation games for kindergarten kids . Your kids will love this!

The activity: Ask your children to dip their plastic vehicles into paint before wheeling them across sheets of paper with a view to creating some really cool tracks. Alternately, flatten some playdough and have your child run their vehicle over it to create some pretty distinct tracks.

Water Tray Boating

Transportation activities in water? Aye, aye, captain !

The activity: Take a water tray and fill it with water. This is the time to set that collection of toy boats to good use. If you don’t have those, create boats out of Lego – or paper , too!

Did you know that providing activities related to transportation for kindergarten kids improves their understanding of the world?

For you: Enrol your child in India’s leading preschool network.

Counting Vehicles

Teaching transportation to kids while improving their maths skills, too? You bet! Counting Vehicles is a transportation game for kindergarten kids that will also improve their mathematical skills.

The activity: When you’re on the road in your car with your preschooler, have them count as many vehicles as possible of a particular kind: like taxis or even planes in the sky!

Land, Air or Sea?

Transportation activities like this one teach kids about more than just transportation. In this case, sorting !

The activity: Place 3 hoops alongside each other. Then take an assortment of paper cutouts of different vehicles and ask your child to sort them into hoops labelled ‘land’, ‘air’ and ‘sea’.

Flying Planes

Looks like there might be some turbulence! Nothing our little pilots can’t handle. One of the coolest transportation activities for kindergarten, is this one.

The activity: Help your little one create planes using various materials like paper, cardboard and even foam sheets . Try flying each one and see what improvement in design can be made to get them to fly better.

Creating Road Signs

Transportation activities just got a whole lot more realistic!

The activity: Kids have to create their own road signs. This activity goes a long way in helping them enhance their motor skills . Take this to the next level by having them incorporate the different shapes commonly found in road signs, thus incorporating a mathematical component in this fine activity, too.

Did you know that learning about transportation for kindergarten kids can be both fun and educational?

Traffic Light Cookie Baking

Traffic light cookie baking is the yummiest vehicle activity for kindergarten kids. Another of those ‘on the road’ transportation activities.

The activity: The objective is simple: bake cookies in three colours: red, yellow, and green . When done, assemble them to resemble a traffic light signal and then educate your kid about how vehicles need to proceed in accordance (eg. stop at red).

Tip: Looking to cut back on their sugar? Use crackers with appropriately coloured cream cheese!

Parking Lot Alphabet Fun

Parking lot alphabet is one of the educational vehicle activities for kindergarten kids. This really cool activity for transport helps kids learn the alphabet, too.

The activity: Take a large sheet of paper that has parking lots drawn on it labelled in uppercase letters of the alphabet. Kids have to take the cars labelled with matching lowercase letters and put them in the appropriate parking spots.

Fruit and Veggie Wheels

Transportation activities like this one stimulate the imaginations of children. Fruit and veggie wheels is one of the healthy transport activities for your kids.

The activity: Give your child a plastic knife and have them cut out ‘wheels’ from food items like bananas, oranges and even zucchini ! They can then pair these with the ‘body’ in the form of crackers or breads , to form the complete vehicle.

Sidewalk Maze

Kids love puzzles, and what better puzzle than a maze? Surely one of the best preschool transport activities!

The activity: Draw a maze on a sidewalk and challenge your child to get their toy car out of it. You can make this even more challenging in future, by creating a larger maze and having them ‘cycle’ their way out of it.

Magic Carpet Books

Magic carpet books are an interesting transport activity for children. Books are a truly amazing way of transporting your preschooler to another world.

The activity: Choose books that are focused on transportation activities. If your child finds themselves on a space rocket going to the moon, or perhaps in a submarine several thousand leagues under the sea, it will propel their love of learning about transportation to another level.

Airport Runway

Airport runway is one of the amusing transport activities for kids. Time to get into the air again, captain!

The activity: Create your own airport on a large sheet of paper, replete with runway lights and the runway (simply draw them). Explain to your child how the plane takes off and lands.

Tip : Throw in some toy buses , and perhaps some Lego people , too.

Red Light, Green Light

Probably the most fun way to teach your kids about traffic signals.

The activity: Your kids have to run when you say ‘Green Light’, and stop at ‘Red Light’. ‘Yellow Light’ means, go slow. This, until that finish line is reached, of course.

Note: You might want to take this outdoors for more space.

Old and New Transport

Show your kids how transport was , compared to how it is today.

The activity: Simply open your laptop and show them fascinating images of transport in days gone by.

Additional Kindergarten Transportation Activities

Can’t get enough of the cool transportation activities outlined above? Here’s presenting some more, to get those little minds ‘racing’!

Getting cars to slide down a car ramp, will have those kids scream in delight!

The activity: Make a simple car ramp out of a flattened cardboard box. Draw a road down the middle, then prop it onto a sofa and have your child let their toy cars slide down them.

Build a Boat STEM Challenge

Make this exercise fun for your children, by telling them that the only way the Princess can be rescued, is by getting her across the ‘moat’ in a ‘boat’!

The activity: Using simple materials in a STEM kit that can be ordered online, create a boat that is complete with Mast and Sail. Then take it in a bathtub or even a kiddie pool, and help the princess get across safely!

Create your Own Road Map

All kids love exploring maps. Imagine the fun, when they move across a map on the floor!

The activity: Use some painter’s tape to create a simple map on the floor. Then have your child navigate their way to their destinations, as they crawl along with their favourite toy cars!

Bus Stop – Addition and Subtraction

This fun game that you can buy off the Internet, is a great way to teach those young minds concepts like Addition and Subtraction.

The activity: In this board game, children will find themselves picking up and dropping off passengers. The player that has the greatest number of passengers when they reach the bus stop, is the winner.

Transportation Sensory Bin

Kids will have a fun, ‘tactile’ experience with this cool activity!

The activity: Make a transportation sensory bin by taking a shoe box and filling it with rice or even beans. Then let them have fun moving their toy cars and trucks through it, simulating the friction experienced by tyres on the road.

Kindergarten kids are fascinated with anything that moves, which is why it is the right time to introduce them to means of transportation. In this article, we have provided 15 unique transportation activities for your kids. Which one is your favourite? Do share your thoughts.

While the act of moving in general is interesting, it can be even more interesting for your young preschooler, when you introduce them to the various transportation activities that have been enlisted here. Time to get in the driver’s seat and get started with doing exactly that.

https://www.firstcry.com/intelli/articles/means-of-transport-for-kids-land-air-and-water-transportations/

https://kinderart.com/blog/transportation-activities/

https://www.education.com/lesson-plan/lets-move/

For informative and accurate articles on all things related to your newborn – toddler’s development, growth, health and nutrition, follow EuroKids Blogs and do check out our nationally recognized preschools – EuroKids for the first step in your kid’s educational journey!

EuroKids is recognized as India’s most respected early childhood education brand, with over 21 years of experience, and has a presence in 350+ cities & 3 countries. The journey began in 2001 with 2 preschools and since then the group has consistently raised the bar for preschool education through its innovative and mindful curriculum – EUNOIA, which helps children grow holistically in a home-like environment.

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The Kinderhearted Classroom

September Theme: Transportation

We love sharing our favorite resources, books, classroom supplies and teacher stuff with you. When we do, we may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. This does not affect our choices in what to recommend. Rest assured, we only recommend our favorite products to you! You can find our full advertising policy on the Partner With Elizabeth page.

During the month of September our theme is All Things Transportation! Today I want to share many different ways that I bring our transportation theme into my kindergarten classroom.

Kids love machines – big or small – they just love them. They love the noises and sights. As a boy mom I am here to tell you that transportation related noises were the first sounds my sons used. So its no surprise that students love our month focused on all things transportation! Today I want to share how I integrate our theme across all subjects and give you some ideas for transportation related activities in your classroom.

Transportation Across the Subject Areas

Cross-curricular themes is what we use in my classroom. What exactly does that mean? Well, that just means that when we study our theme (transportation, in this case) we don’t just study it during science. Although science and the concepts of motion is where the transportation theme is based, we also use this theme to plan lessons in all other subject areas too. This helps the students to connect their learning to one consistent topic. It also gives them many opportunities to practice using theme related vocabulary in their speaking, reading and writing.

Here’s how the transportation theme breaks down:

Science – the study of how things move
Literature – books related to transportation are used each week to teach reading and phonics skills
Social Studies – we learn about community related jobs that have to do with transportation
Math – we use themed activities to reinforce and practice math skills
Writing – we do some creative and expository writing based on this theme

Science is the primary subject area that our transportation theme is based on. We begin exploring the science concepts of force and motion (part of the physical science standards) with our transportation unit. During our science time we focus on learning about movement and motion, what causes motion and how things move on land, in the air, and in the water. I’m sure you can see how easy it is to connect all of these types of movement to transportation. We also spend some time learning about what causes motion, like engines.

Here are some science related resources and activities:

Vocabulary is an important part of any science lesson. I love these FREE transportation themed word cards from PreKinders.com ! You can grab your set too ! They make a great addition to any anchor chart, word wall, or science bulletin board.

This anchor chart is also a great one. I love creating anchor charts with my students and displaying them in the classroom. By creating them together the students remember the process and the lesson better. I teach my students that they can always refer back to the anchor charts in the classroom to help them too! This is a great anchor chart I found on Pinterest. I don’t know the original creator – but it is an excellent example. I allow my students to come up with the transportation examples for each section.

This is another wonderful anchor chart in the form of a K-W-L chart. If you are not familiar with these, the K-W-L chart is a way to assessing prior knowledge, asking questions and assessing what is learned at the end. At the very beginning of the unit the K is filled in with what the students KNOW about the topic. Then we ask the question “WHAT do you WANT to learn about the topic?” and fill in the W with their answers. At the end of the unit we add the new things we have LEARNED to the L section. It is a wonderful tool to get your students thinking! This K-W-L anchor chart from Learning with Mrs. Langley is a great example.

I also add in a a couple of hands-on science and STEM activities related to motion and transportation. This balloon rocket I found at Happy Brown House is always a favorite!

Literature / Read Aloud

There are lots of great picture books related to transportation. I choose the books I want to use based on the reading skills I am teaching. If we are working on rhyming, then I will choose a transportation themed book that some good rhyming sections or words. If we are working on the sight word ‘little’ then I will choose a book where this word is prominent. Here are some of my favorite transportation books.

These are just a few of the many wonderful transportation related books available. In fact, if you wanted to connect your unit to an author study too, you could do an entire series by Donald Crews . Not only does he had Freight Train shown above, but he also has books on a school bus, truck, a ship and more !

I love to have my students write about things they are learning. Not only does this give them a good starting point when it comes to ideas, but it also gives them an authentic opportunity to practice vocabulary and explain concepts. One of my favorite writing activities is based on this book:

After reading the book If I Built a Car , the students write about the car they would build. Not only does this allow them to use their creativity but its a lot of fun! Another great thing about this book is that the writing prompt can be more general – “If I built a __________ (any type of transportation).” It makes a great und of the unit activity this way.

This is also a wonderful unit for learning to write facts. Students can choose a mode of transportation and do an expository writing using facts. Early in the year and your students are not quite ready for that, a simpler labeling activity works too! Students can draw a type of transportation and then label what they drew.

Remember those vocabulary word cards from the science section, well they make a great Write the Room activity too. Just post them around the room and have students search for the cards. When they find one, they can write the word and draw a picture.

I also love incorporating our transportation theme into the student’s reading time. This is different from the literature time which is when I teach and model reading skills with read aloud. However, the students also love reading on their own. Here’s a perfect emergent reader that ties in transportation and color words from Kidsparkz.

emergent reader transportation and color words

Social Studies

Kindergarten social studies standards are usually tied closely with the concept of community. So learning about community helpers related to the transportation industry is a great place to start! We focus on the pilot, engineer and driver. The students love learning about these jobs and how they help the people in the community. After learning about these jobs, I love adding some costumes and props to our dramatic play area. If you are looking for some amazing dramatic play ideas, just check out these Pinterest ideas for transportation themed dramatic play ! You’ll find ideas for airports, train stations, auto shops and more!

As part of our social studies time, we also have the wonderful opportunity to learn about the history of transportation with an amazing field trip to the automobile museum. There are some wonderful museums related to transportation and many of them are small, volunteer run and perfect for field trips!

Any time you can connect a field trip to learning it really helps the concepts come to life.

So I’ll be the first to admit that connecting some of our themes to math can be difficult because math concepts are just so math specific. But we love using the theme to practice our math skills. Right now we are working on shapes and patterns. I put together these fun pattern block shape puzzles with a transportation theme for our math centers. The students love putting together the puzzles and then counting the shapes.

transportation theme pattern block puzzle blimp

We have also been learning about identifying and creating patterns. The class loves making patterns together. As a practice activity I created the pattern truck! The class is loving the chance to build and create their own patterns. Your students can do this too! Just click on the image below to grab your free copy of the pattern truck !

There are so many more ways to connect transportation to math practice. Here’s just a few more:

Here’s some wonderful free activities that have to do with counting sets to 10! These great match centers are from Life Over C’s .

This teen number train from Tot Schooling is great for number identification and using ten frames to count sets.

Other Fun Transportation Activities

There are soooo many amazing activities out there. Just hop over to Pinterest and type in “kindergarten transportation unit” and you will be amazed. Here’s a couple more great activities I found. This first play dough activity from Preschool Play and Learn is perfect for a fine motor center.

And check out these AMAZING sensory bin ideas for transportation! I can’t wait to put these together for my classroom! Thanks Fantastic Fun and Learning !

Unlock 500 free downloads here .

Kindergarten Step by Step: Transportation Week!

After the “housework,” you’ll get into those vocabulary words! I hope you ar getting more into your groove for this! Just a couple reminders/tips! Be sure you think ahead on which words you would like to turn and talk on and which words you want to do a simple raised-hand answering! Also, if you haven’t tried tabbing your pages…you ca do that too! I like to tab each page with a so that I won’t forget it (HA is this just me?) Below I will share the vocabulary words and their optional actions!

traffic- make lots of honking noises and look in distress

crawls- move your arms like you are moving slowly (careful here to not let kids actually crawl as this is a different version of the word)

wind- take one hand and motion it back and forth as if it’s going around corners

island- make a fist (island) and motion water all around the land

neighborhood- make a house with your arms

Q: My kids are not fully engaged in the LEARNING during literacy centers. How do I get the students to use the activities correctly and not play around? Again, I feel this is really part of the “buy in” during literacy centers! It’s so important that we build it up… how they get to work on their during this time, they won’t need us (teacher) because they will be able to do it on their own! Modeling is also KEY! I try to take those few extra minutes and model the correct and wrong way the centers might be used! Will someone stick all the magnets on the back of the cookie sheet instead of the front? Possibly! So, model it that way and wait for someone’s gasp…. then explain how that isn’t the correct way! Then, model the correct way to play for all students to see!

Below I will be sharing with you my first set of literacy center basket!

ABC Magnetic Board

Have a SUPER week and talk soon!

10 Comments

Just curious, for your writing lesson do you leave "I like fol." Up on the smart board for students to copy?

I'm guess you are asking for one of two reasons so I'll explain both. I model a sentence for every day of writing. At this stage of the year (within the first month) I do model write with the sounds students hear. They don't hear /a/ which is why it's /o/. The second part is do my students copy sentences of the board? No, I erase my model sentence after dismissing students to their tables or they'd all write my story 😉

If you want to email me I can explain more how I transition them into a sentence from labels! It feels like a step we take in quick sand! Ha!

Thank you so much for your response! I was thinking you probably erase it for that exact reason 😉 I have a group this year that just seems to need more modeling during writer's workshop so I am trying to give them that. But also want them to feel confident and successful on their own. I am slowing my pacing down for this group and it has me second guessing a lot of things. Thanks again for taking the time to respond!

Of course anytime! And I agree… every year is a little different! Have a super weekend 😀

Can you explain how you made the picture on your smart board? I got a smart board this year and I am not too good at figuring it out yet. Loved the lesson. Very helpful.

Here they are : )https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Freebie-Interactive-Whiteboard-Nonfiction-Writing-Starters-2117837

I just made them in powerpoint : )

haha! It is adorable! It reminds me of my childhood when me and my sister do duck tape boat racing. Those days were awesome. I will never forget my childhood memories. Thanks a lot for reminding me of my childhood. You are awesome!

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Free Transportation Worksheets for Preschoolers

We have a compilation of free transportation preschool worksheets that will help the kids learn all about transportation. Transportation helps in reaching the destinations in a considerable amount of time. Transportation also helps in carrying goods. There are various means of transportation. Some of them are mentioned in this article for a clear understanding of preschool for kids.

[Scroll Down for Download Link]

Transportation Worksheets for Preschoolers

Water transportation.

You can start with water transport and have your kids encircle all the means that encourage water transportation in the above worksheet. Water transport is a means of transport where people and their belongings or goods travel from one point to another through a watercraft on the water. The transport includes means such as boat, yacht, ship and more and they travel on several bodies of water including ocean, sea, canal, river and even lake.

Air Transportation

The next means of transport that your kid needs to learn is air transport. So, print out the above worksheet and guide your kid to encircle the means that can be used in air transport. While you are doing that you can explain to your kid all about air transport. You can start by saying that means that people used to travel from one place to another is known as air transportation.

Land Transportation

Since land transport includes vehicles of numerous sizes and shapes, we have considered two separate worksheets. In this worksheet, we have six means of land transport. You can explain all the transports to your kid while they are doing the activity

In this worksheet, we have another set of vehicles for land transport such as bus, taxi, truck, rickshaw and more. So, what you can do is hand this worksheet to your kid and ask them to circle all the vehicles that are right for land transportation.

These are all that was needed to cover types of transportation. Educating your kids with this will help him have an upper hand in learning. Through this fun worksheet activity, they can understand the concept in a more elaborated manner.

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Very helpful

Transportation Lesson Plan | An ESL Lesson Plan For Beginners

Transportation is a common subject in ESL classes. Textbooks and English language curricula often feature a lesson on transportation early on for beginner students to learn.

Upon learning about transportation and modes of transport, students can begin to talk about things such as how they traveled to school or work. It is also very practical for when English language learners visit an English speaking country and must navigate the transportation there.

The games and activities in this lesson plan are mostly geared towards kids and teenagers, but they can be easily adapted to use with older beginner students.

For more ESL lesson materials to teach about transportation, that are not included in this lesson plan, check out the section at the bottom of this page .

Materials for this lesson:

Transportation | an esl lesson plan for beginner english language learners, introduction.

Then ask students to guess how you, the teacher, got to school that day. if teaching kids, you can make this more fun by pretending you came to school by helicopter or by jet or some other unusual mode of transport.

Introduce Key Words And Expressions

Activity 1: transportation guessing game.

This first activity is a fun guessing game about transportation and different modes of transport. This a fun and engaging way to practice asking and answering ‘How do you go to school?.

Activity 2: Transportation Board Game

This next activity is a printable board game for students to play in pairs. While playing this game, students will make a dialogue with their partner while using different transportation vocabulary.

After making a dialogue, the student who flicked the eraser then writes his / her name in that area. Then it’s the other student’s turn. After 5/10 minutes, stop the game and the student with the most areas is the winner.

Activity 3: How Do You Go To School? – Class Survey

Students must walk around and ask their classmates ‘How do you go to school?’. Then students should write their classmates’ names and the mode of transport on the worksheet to complete the table. For more ESL worksheets on many other topics, check out our ESL worksheets page .

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3 Modes of Transport School Project model for kids, & Transport Short Essay and Coloring worksheets/Transport Drawing for kids class 1 ,class 2

Modes of Transport School Project for kids, & Transport short essay /Transport Coloring worksheets for kids and class 1 and class 2 ,class 3, class 4,class 5.

Means of Transport :

We walk when we go to our next-door neighbor. But we take a van, car or a bus when we go to school. All these means of transport run on wheels. Some have two wheels, some have three wheels and some have four wheels. Trains have more wheels than other vehicles. Airplane and trains are faster means of transport. They carry us over a long distance in less time. The train runs on railway tracks. Airplanes fly in the air. Ships sail on the sea. They carry people and goods to far off places.

Former times, animals were used as a means of transport. Like camels, bull, horse, and elephant can carry over a hundred and then with the development of technology, a mode of transports such as the car, bus, train, cycle, rickshaw, Airplane, and rocketship was invented. These are all means of Transport .

Mode of transport : Its main three types of Transport, land transport, water transport, air transport. Bus, car, cycle, motorcycle, train, truck, jeep, etc are land transport. The next mode is water transport, water transport only travel on water, not on the land and air, boat, ship, yacht, submarine, etc are water transport and the next transport mode is air transport, air transport only fly on the air. Airplane, helicopter, rocket air balloon, etc are the air transport.

Means of Transport: Means of transport can be of land/road, water or air,

Bullock-cart
Autorickshaw

Different Types of Means of Transport:

Land Transport
water Transport
Air Transport
Land Transport: Bus, Train, Cycle, Jeep, Motorcycle, Cars, autorickshaws, Buses, Scooters move on Road/land. They are the means of land transport. They all have four wheels, three wheels, and two wheels.

Autorickshaws

Hot Air Ballon

How to teach kids Means of Transport easily with a craft activity?

Children learn easily with a craft activity because they love a craft activity and learn easily with a craft activity rather than reading.

How to make a transport craft project for preschool :

Very easy steps to Make modes of transport project for Kids. As you know there are three main modes of transport. Air transport, Road/Land transport, and water transport. I will show you how to create a transportation project for children with these easy steps, and In this activity, children learn easily and quickly. And We need some materials to make a transport project. Let's make a transport school project for kids.

We need some materials:

color paper

Step 1: 1st step collect all material.

Step 2: First, we make a Land transport craft, take a white paper and cut it in the center. And then draw a picture of the Train on paper and color it as you wish, then cut the train picture.

Air Transport Easy Coloring worksheet
Water Transport Easy Coloring worksheet
Land Transport Easy Coloring worksheet

Drawing of Transport easy steps:

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Transportation Theme Activities for Preschool

A Transportation preschool transportation theme is a traditional topic in most preschools but why?

Preschoolers love activities that include playing with all types of transportation theme items including vehicles such as cars, trucks, airplanes and more.

This topic is part of their everyday lives.

They drive or walk to school, have seen or ridden on a bus or taken an airplane to go on vacation.

This natural interest in transportation is something they experience in their lives brings life to the theme and your preschool classroom.

Preschool children learn through play.

Providing hands-on activities in all of the Interest Learning Centers in your classroom with a theme in mind will draw them in to play and learn!

This Transportation Theme page is filled with preschool activities and ideas for all areas of your classroom.

Let the Transportation Theme planning begin!

You can either scroll down through this page to see all of the preschool activities for your transportation theme or click the link below to go to specific preschool activity types you are looking for.

Transportation Theme Art

Traffic Lights

Materials Needed: Cardboard egg cartons (in sections of 3); craft sticks; paint; clay

Provide red, yellow and green paint. Place craft stick into bottom. Once painted, place stick into a piece of clay as a base. These are great to use with cars, trucks etc. or in the block area!

Monster Trucks! Thank you Lisa B. for this idea!

Monster trucks! My children can't get enough of reading about them and playing with them. We did an art activity with paint. They drove the trucks through the paint onto the paper. They loved it! Also, they like to drive the trucks through shaving cream mixed with brown paint! I haven't done this yet, but, I thought if I used a Monster truck template, I could have one of each color. They could count them also!

Hot Air Balloons

Materials Needed: Round balloons, watered down glue (or other paper mache recipe you like), strips of newspaper, colored tissue paper, yarn, colored paper or strawberry baskets

Help children (if needed) to cover balloon with at least one layer of newspaper. It may be easier if you encourage them to completely "paint" the balloon with the glue or mache liquid and then cover with strips of news paper and then "paint" over the newspaper.

(Preschoolers tend to give up quickly when they have to pick newspaper out of a tray of glue and water. It is a lot of fine motor activity for them all at once.). After a layer is covering balloon, encourage them to place colored tissue paper over the newspaper and re"paint" with glue.

Let dry for several days. Pop balloons (favorite part in our classroom!). Hole punch a hole on each side of the opening of balloon shape. Using yarn, Tie strawberry baskets onto balloon shape (or have children paint paper to make their own baskets and tie them on).

Extension: Hang Hot Air Balloons in classroom. A great story to read before making these is Altuna Baboona or read the story after they are hung up (or both!). Encourage the children to tell a story of where they would go in their hot air balloon!

Additional Extension: Make a class book of the children's hot air balloon stories complete with a picture of them holding their balloon!

I Think I Can

Materials Needed: Construction paper; watercolor paint; pre-cut wheels; pre-cut conversation bubbles that say "I think I can!" Ask them where they would travel to if they could go ANYWHERE they wanted! Write down their answers on a piece of paper for later reference! You are going to make these into trains later!

Have the construction paper out with the paints and just let the children paint! When they are done and dry, give them wheels to glue on as well as a conversation bubble.

Write down on each child's train where they said they'd like to go!

Use these to make a classroom book to read over and over throughout the year labeled "Where we'd like to go!". Use these to make a "border" on your classroom wall or bulletin board.

Variation: Instead of asking where they'd like to go, talk with them while they are painting about what they'd like to learn, or be when they grow up!

Write down what they say for your own reference. When these are dry, add wheels to the bottoms and the "I think I can" bubble to each one. Hang them on a wall or bulletin board with a large title called "WE KNOW WE CAN" or "WHAT WE WANT TO BE WHEN WE GROW UP" or some other saying.

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Transportation Theme Block Center Ideas

Home Made Blocks and Transportation Theme Vehicles

Collect boxes of different sizes (from families or your own recycling from home!) including cereal and other food boxes, gift boxes, etc.

Wrap them in brown and colored paper.

Encourage children to make them into houses (by drawing windows and doors), transportation theme vehicles and boats (by drawing wheels and windows for cars and trucks).

Help the children use them along with the blocks already in your block area to build cities and towns. Don't forget to add an airport or lake!

Transportation Theme Circle Time Ideas

Circle Time is such a great time for children to learn the social skills of being together as a large group AND to learn more about your Transportation Theme!

How We Travel

Materials Needed: Large chart paper; Marker

Prepare in advance a large piece of paper separated by lines into 2 columns, with the left column being not as wide as the right column. Label the chart How We Travel

In the right column, draw pictures (or glue on pictures) of different ways the children might travel (car, truck, van, bus, horse, airplane, etc.).

During Circle Time, show them the chart and read the label. Ask if any of the children have ever traveled in a car. Write down the names of the children who have in the right hand column. Continue this for each mode of travel you have listed.

Extension: Help your children with name recognition by preparing in advance pieces of paper with each child's name on it. Make enough name tags for each child to be able to put their name next to every mode of travel (just in case they have traveled on each type!). When asking if they have ever traveled by car, have them glue or tape their name next to the picture of the car. Continue for each mode.

Extension: Add a third column to the right of where the children's names will be. When done with this activity, have the children help you count the names next to each mode of travel and write that number in the box to the right. When completed, ask which row has more (or ask, which is more 10 children or 6 children). This extension activity can be done later in the day or on another day rather than all at one sitting.

Show and Tell Materials Needed: Transportation Theme Toy or vehicle from home from each child.

Send a letter home in advance announcing "Transportation Show and Tell Day" to the families.

Ask children to place their Show and Tell item behind their backs. Take turns asking each child to show the item they brought in and encourage them to tell their friends about it.

Note: Some children are not sure what to say! This is a GREAT opportunity to help them to develop their group speaking and social skills. Our goal for Show and Tell is for the children to share information about something of theirs in order to get to know each other better! A personal Show and Tell time is great for this! However, if there is concern about bringing items in from home (such as concerns that it will get lost or broken), rather than ask families to send something in, take the children on a Show and Tell hunt in your classroom and have them choose ONE transportation item from the classroom to bring to Circle Time to talk to their friends about.

Be ready with some questions such as "Does it work in the water? Does it have wheels? Where would you go if you could travel on that?"

Additional Note: Some children will forget to bring in a show and tell, it's inevitable! Encourage that child to choose their favorite transportation item from the classroom. When it is their turn, in addition to questions about the item itself, ask why they like to play with that one in school.

Flannel Board Sorting

This activity is much like the Water, Land, Sky activity listed in this section.

Materials Needed: Flannel pieces of transportation theme vehicle items; flannel board

You can make pieces from felt in advance. You can also laminate pictures of items and glue a piece of flannel to the back. Some teachers have found that using a piece of a fabric softener sheet on the back works just as good as felt and is less expensive!

Show the flannel board. Teach them spatial relationship words by explaining that the sky is on the TOP, the BOTTOM is the road or ground and the SIDE (add some blue for water to the side) is the water.

Give each child a flannel piece. Take turns asking what item they have and invite them to place their piece on the board where it would travel. Ask them "Would your airplane go in the air on TOP, on the ground in the MIDDLE or in the water on the SIDE?

Extension: Make a duplicate set of what you have. Give out one piece of one set to the children and keep the duplicate set. Show one of your pieces. Ask the children what it is. Ask them WHERE it should go on the board. Place it on the board. Then invite the child with the matching piece to come up and place their piece NEXT TO yours.

Extension: Place the board and the pieces in your Library Area for the children to use during Center Activity Time.

Snack Recipe Ideas to Cook Up for Your Transportation Theme

Apple Boat Snack for a Preschool Transportation Theme

Cooking with children helps develop their math skills and helps them to learn how to follow directions.

It also allows for some great conversation!

Ask many questions while cooking with your children to encourage conversation!

Be sure to ask specific transportation theme questions while making these fun snacks!

Ingredients and Items needed: Apple, slice of cheese, mini pretzel stick.

Core the apple, do not slice. Slice the apple into 4 quarters. Slice cheese into 4 triangles.

Have children place a pretzel stick into the apple quarter. Wrap a cheese triangle around the top of the pretzel for a sail.

Cracker Wheels

Ingredients and Items needed: Round crackers, cheese spread or cream cheese, a red pepper sliced into thin strips, plastic knives.

Supervise the children as they cut the pepper strip into small pieces. Encourage them to spread the cheese onto crackers and then sprinkle some cut peppers on!

Talk about what they have learned during your Transportation Theme as you eat snack together!

Ingredients & Items needed: Graham crackers, cheese spread or cream cheese, apples (red, yellow and green), plastic knives.

Cut apples so that you cut 4 sides off of the core. Then cut into circle shapes. Give each child a whole graham cracker (rectangle) for the traffic light post.

Supervise them as they spread cheese onto cracker.

Give each child one red, yellow and green apple circle to place on the cheese in the order of traffic lights.

Banana Boats

Ingredients & Items needed: Bananas, yogurt, small cups, plastic knives, spoon.

Help children to cut the banana in half both lengthwise and width wise. They should spoon yogurt into their cup and then place 2 pieces of banana on each side of the cup.

Travel Trail Mix

Ingredients and Items needed: cheerios, raisins, pretzels and other healthy snacks each in their own bowls; a spoon in each bowl; plastic baggies

Children place one spoonful of each item into their Travel Snack Baggies

Covered Wagon Wheel Pancakes

Ingredients: For pancakes: 2 cups flour, pinch of salt, 2 well beaten eggs and milk; banana slices and strawberry slices. For butter: 1 pint of whipping cream, glass jar with cover (such as a baby food jar).

Make the pancakes with the children. Have children each put an ingredient in. They all love to be part of the cooking process! If necessary, due to the number of children, simply have each child add 1 spoonful of the flour into a bowl until they have all had a turn! With the children, stir the ingredients until smooth. Spray or oil a pan and cook pancakes for snack.

Make butter! Pour whipping cream into a glass jar (only fill jar 1/4 to 1/2 full). Cover jar and shake! Be sure all the children have a turn and be sure to help as well. As cream solidifies, pour out some of the excess liquid and then continue shaking. It will eventually become a yellow solid of butter! Add a bit of salt to flavor if desired.

Have children decorate their own pancake with the fruit. Encourage the children to spread some of their home made butter on their pancake and top with the fruit!

Bubbly Drink

Combine 12 ounces of frozen apple juice concentration, 3 cups of water and 1 liter of club soda. Great way to cool off after a car wash!

Like What You See So Far? Join my FREE Preschool Teacher Tips Email Community today and receive: Weekly tips and planning ideas! And, on the 1st of each month I'll email you a free theme starter pack that includes a printable activity mat or game, Calendar pieces, a playdough recipe and a song poster! Join NOW and I'll also send you the theme planning forms I use! It's all FREE? You in? Just tell me where to send your goodies below!

Transportation Theme Ideas to Transform Your Dramatic Play Area

Vacation Station

Materials needed: Chairs for an airplane, bus, boat or train; pretend food and trays, backpacks, suitcases, extra clothing; paper and markers to make tickets; hold punchers to punch tickets as passengers board.

DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles)

Turn your dramatic play area into the DMV! Hang a chart with alphabet letters on the wall for eye tests. Have a list of questions on a clip board (such as How old are you? What color are your eyes? What is your first name? What is your last name?, etc.). Set up a picture booth (hang a piece of fabric on the wall, a chair near the wall and a pretend camera to take pictures (or a real one for you to take their pictures!). Provide a piece of paper for their Preschool License. Develop it to look similar to your state's driver's license.

Before "approving" a child for a license, have them complete an obstacle course either with a car made from a box (see Gas Station above in this section) or with a small, toy car in their hands. Set up a course that challenges the gross motor areas you are working on (jumping 2 inches over a rope, crawl through a tunnel, balance on a beam, catch a ball, etc.).

Travel Agency

Obtain travel brochures from local travel agencies. Also look for maps and other items for your Transportation Theme dramatic play area! While you're at it, ask the travel agency manager if they have a staff member that would come to your preschool group to talk about their job and bring brochures, etc. If you are willing to send some information home from the agent, they should be willing to donate their time!

Set up your area with a table for a desk, clipboards, pictures, pens, pencils, paper, perhaps a keyboard that someone is not using for them to "type" into.

Also provide paper and markers/crayons for the children to make tickets and their own brochures!

Transportation Theme Ideas for Your Easel-- More Than Just Painting!

Materials Needed: Tempera Paint and brushes. Instructions: NONE!

That's right, none! Remember that just because we have a set transportation theme for a week or more, does not mean that ALL activities have to revolve around it! Children at this age are beginning to experiment with representational pictures, but are not quite there yet! Be sure to allow activities where they can just explore and use materials such as painting just to paint and cutting paper just to cut paper!

Transportation Theme Large Group Games To Help Your Preschoolers Build Their Muscles While Having Fun Together!

Stay on the Road!

Use chalk to draw roads for the children to ride their ride-on bikes or cars on. This can be done outside or inside. If you do not have child size ride on cars or bikes, have the children drive toy transportation theme vehicles within the roads.

Extension: Provide stop and go signs, have one of the children become a traffic office to stop traffic and let them go again!

Musical Transportation Theme Chairs In advance, make a set of papers with transportation theme items on them. Make 2 of each. Include pictures of cars, trucks, buses, horses, people walking etc.

Place the same number of chairs back to back that there are children in your group.

Place one card in each chair. Give a matching card to each of the children.

Explain that when the music is on, they should all walk around the chairs and look for their matching card, but don't touch it, keep walking. Tell them that when you stop the music, you will yell "Time to Park!" and they should find the matching card in the chair and sit on that chair.

Show them the direction you want them to go when the music is playing or they are walking (so they don't bump into each other!).

Start the music and play. Play as many times as there is interest. This is a NON competitive game. Competition at this age can be unhealthy. The purpose of games at this age should be to promote social skills and following directions, not "winning" or being "better"...promote teamwork!

Extension: Instead of using chairs and music, try no music and blowing a train whistle when they are to find their chairs.

This game can be played outside or inside. When outside, instead of moving chairs outside, draw circles with chalk for them to sit in!

Transportation Theme Ideas for Your Library & Literacy Area

Books Suggestions

(I LOVE Amazon, and some of the links below will take you to the Amazon website. If you do choose to purchase yours through Amazon, they do send me a few cents--which supports my coffee habit! )

Library Wall Transportation Theme Decor

Hang pictures on the wall of different modes of transportation including walking, horses, hot air balloons, trucks, etc.

Obtain brochures from local car dealerships, travel agencies as well as on the internet.

Transportation Theme Activities To Help Your Preschoolers Develop Their Small Muscles and Their Math Skills!

Transportation Theme Vehicles

Provide different types of small manipulatives that can be used to make vehicles or cities! This may include Bristle Blocks , brick blocks , K'nex , Magnet Blocks , etc.

Transportation Lacing

Provide the children with Transportation Theme shapes that are hole punched around the edges and yarn (tie a knot on one end of the yarn). This is great practice for using their small muscles and helps build eye-hand coordination.

These cards can be purchases or you can make them yourself. Make a shape the transportation theme shape on a piece of thin cardboard (the back of a pad of paper or notebook covers work well) or stock paper. Punch holes around the edges no more than 1/4 inch apart from each other. Laminate the cards.

For lacing string, shoe laces work great! Or, you can make your own by using yarn and taping one end to make it easier for the yarn to go through the hole.

Your Turn, My Turn

Materials Needed: Manila folder, transportation theme vehicles for moving pieces, rolling dice.

In advance, prepare the manila folder. Open the folder and draw lines across the folder (across the shorter side) all the way down the folder, about 1 inch apart.

Also prepare a dice. cover the dots that have 3-6 on them and have only dots with 1 and 2 on them.

This is a 2 person game. The purpose is to work on small hand muscles, eye-hand coordination while practicing taking turns.

To Play: Each of the 2 children should choose a Transportation Theme manipulative (car, boat, etc.). One child rolls the dice and moves his car that many rows toward the other child. The second child then rolls the dice and moves her item that many rows toward the other child. During play, remind them whose

turn it is. "Your turn. Now it's his turn."

Extension: Use a dice with colors instead and tape colored strips of paper on the rows. Extension: Make a homemade spinner with numbers instead of using dice.

Vehicle Patterns

Make cards of transportation theme items such as cars, trucks, buses, children walking, horses, etc. For patterning, you will need multiple of each type (10 of each). Laminate them for durability. Encourage the children to make patterns with them (car, car, truck; car, truck, bus, car, truck, bus)

Extension: Take 2 of each type out of the set you made. Play a matching game with them with the children.

Extension: Add felt or velcro to the backs of the cards and have them out near a flannel board.

Variation: Rather than make cards for patterning, use transportation theme plastic sorters to make the above patterns.

Match the Car with the Garage

In advance, turn identical small boxes into matching garages (for example, clean empty juice boxes or milk cartons with brown paper. Tape numbers or number words on each garage. Tape corresponding numbers on toy cars.

Encourage the children to drive the cars into the correct garage.

Transportation Vehicle Sorting

Provide a large assortment of transportation theme items and bowls. Allow children to sort by the different attributes that they see. You can upgrade this by putting names to each bowl. Some ideas are to sort by:

Land, Sky and Water vehicles

Items with wheels and without wheels

With wings and without wings

Transportation Theme Music & Movement Activities to Get Your Preschoolers Movin' and Groovin'!

Red Light-Green Light...With A Twist!

Play a game of "Freeze Dancing" with them using traffic light information!

Materials Needed: CD/Cassette Player and music; A piece of red paper, yellow paper and green paper; a large open space.

Talk with the children about traffic lights (red means stop, green means go, yellow means to go really slow..ready to stop). Tell the children they will be dancing to the music but need to watch you (you are the traffic light!). When you put up the Green paper, they should dance, when you put up the Red paper, they should Stop (Freeze).

Variation: Have songs on a CD that vary in tempo: some slow and some fast. Tell the children to dance to the beat- some will be fast and some will be slow. When the music stops, they should Stop (freeze!). Play the music. If it is fast, hold up a green paper, hold up yellow if it is slow.

Stop the music now and then for them to freeze and hold up the Red paper. When playing the CD, only play each song for about 15 seconds and then change it!

Play as interest continues. We have also added dancing scarves or pieces of fabric for them to sway and dance with during this.

Transportation Theme Ideas for Your Sand & Water Table

Let's Drive!

Materials Needed: Cars, trucks, any vehicles with wheels!; Mud or shaving cream.

Children love to push these items on or through mud or shaving cream in your Sand and Water table! Comment on the tracks they make. Ask where their vehicle is going and what it is doing!

Sink or Float

Materials Needed: Water; transportation vehicles (Find vehicles that sink as well as vehicles that float.)

Give each child a vehicle. Take turns asking each child if they think their vehicle will sink or float? Invite them to put their vehicle in the water table to find out. Once all the children have had a turn, allow them to just play at the water table with the vehicles.

Extension: Make a rebus chart (picture chart) of the vehicles you will be using. Using a large piece of paper, make 3 columns. Label the first column TRANSPORTATION MODE. Draw a picture in this first column of each mode of transportation (I'm not a great artist so I either take pictures of each item, print the picture and glue it in the column or print out clip art!). Label the second column SINK and label the third column FLOAT

Ask the children if they think the first item pictured will sink or float. Count aloud how many children think it will sink and list that number next to the picture under the SINK column. Then ask how many children think it will float and list that number next to the item under the FLOAT column.

Drop the item in the table (or have a child do it). Ask if it sank or floated and discuss their guesses!

*Many children will "vote" twice because this is a new concept for them! A way to avoid this is to ask all the children who think it will sink to stand on "this side" of the water table if they think it will float to stand on the other side. Then count the children and list on the chart.

You may want to laminate this chart before using and use dry erase markers on it. Then you can use it each time you have a transportation theme.

Transportation Theme Science Activities for Your Preschool Scientists in Training!

Ocean Discovery Bottles for a Preschool Transportation Theme

Oceanic Bottles

Fill a plastic bottle plastic bottle (we use smaller bottles such as 1 liter bottles. The 2 liter bottles are difficult for the children to manipulate.

Fill 2/3 of the way with blue colored water and the other 1/3 with mineral oil. Hot glue the cap on.

Show the children how to move it to make waves in the bottle.

Extension. Use bottles with a large mouth opening (like a juice bottle). Fill 3/4 of the way with water and color with blue food coloring. Add sand. Add small transportation theme items. Hot glue cover on and let the children search for the items by moving it around!

Air Balloon

Materials needed: Small plastic bottle, 1 tablespoon of sugar, water, 1 packet of yeast, one small round balloon.

Put sugar into bottle.

Fill 1/3 of the way with water.

Add the packet of yeast.

Mix (lightly shake until mixed).

Cover bottle with the balloon.

Watch bottle over the next 1/2 hour.

Note: The yeast consumes the sugar and then creates carbon dioxide gas which fills the balloon!

Writing Activity Ideas for Your Preschool Classroom's Transportation Theme

Transportation Theme Class Book

Materials Needed: Magazines, scissors, glue sticks, construction paper, markers or crayons.

Children cut out modes of transportation. They glue them on a piece of paper. Ask them about their pictures and write down exactly what they say. Have them write their name on their page. Staple all of the children's pages together to make a Class Book.

Extension: Glue a picture of the child on their page. Place the book in the Library area. Children love to read books with pictures of themselves!

Miscellaneous Activities for Your Preschool Classroom's Transportation Theme!

Transportation Theme Field Trips

Local Service Station

Contact a local gas/mechanic service station to plan out a field trip. Also, ask if they have any old hoses, spark plugs, etc. that can be cleaned and used in for the children to explore in the classroom perhaps in the Science Center.

Airport Visit

Is there an airport near you? Small, municipal airports can be a great visit, especially if you can time it so that the children can see some airplanes or helicopters land!

Horse Stable

Plan a visit to a local Horse stable or a local community member who owns a horse.

Visiting the farm is not just for your Farm Theme! A lot can be seen with a Transportation Theme in mind! Of course you will visit the farm animals while you are there! However, in advance, speak with the farmer or owner of the farm to arrange having the vehicles they use at the farm including tractors, wagons, horses and their pickup truck!

Transportation Theme Classroom Visitors

There are many opportunities with a Transportation theme for visitors to your classroom! Survey parents for opportunities as well as your local community!

Some ideas for visitors:

Truck Driver

Police Office

Fire Truck Driver

Airplane or Helicopter Pilots

Horse Owner

Other Pages You Might Like:

Go to MAIN THEMES Page for more theme ideas!

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IMAGES

10 Lines on Means of Transport
Means Of Transport Worksheet For Kindergarten
Printable Modes of Transportation Kindergarten Activity
Means of transport: English ESL worksheets pdf & doc
Essay on means of transport for kindergarten in 2021
Means of transport

VIDEO

Means of transport
Teaching about means of transport to Nursery, KG and class 1 students / Land transport
Type of Transportation
Modes of Transport
How to tell about TRANSPORTATION to kids. Teach transport to children. Transport kindergarten
Mode of transport for kids| Transportation

COMMENTS

Means Of Transport For Kids
See how they fly. Make this a competitive game to see whose plane flies highest, or hands farthest. 5. Paper Boats. Make boats using paper folding technique. Fill a bucket of water. Ask your kids to make them float on the surface. This will help them understand how and why things float. 6.
transportation
Transportation is a general word for all the methods people use to move themselves and their goods from one place to another. Just as they have for thousands of years, people today rely on walking to travel short distances. For longer distances, people depend on animals, bicycles, automobiles, trucks, railroads, ships, and airplanes.
Modes of Transportation for Kids
Means of transportation is a mode that helps human beings, things, and animals to travel from one location to another location. Four common means of transportation are as follows: Railways. Roadways. Airways. Waterways. Now, let us know about air transport or airways. Airways.
transportation
The movement of people and goods from place to place is known as transportation. Together with communication—the movement of ideas—transportation has been essential in bringing about the integration of regions and nations into a single world community. Transportation movements, combined into various systems and networks, are by way of land ...
Modes of Transportation
Types of Transportation. Depending on the destination, there is a myriad of vehicles that are suited to travel to various places. For example, you can go by land if there are roads and highways available; or maybe by air if the distance is too long; or even by water if you live on an island. Let's check out the different means of transport ...
Transportation Theme Lesson Plan
Here are some quick lesson plan ideas for a transportation theme unit: Begin with a discussion about different modes of transportation. Show pictures or small models of cars, buses, bicycles, trains, boats, airplanes, etc. Ask the children what they know about each one. Read age-appropriate books about transportation.
Transport Facts for Kids
Transport, or transportation, is moving people or things from one place to another place.Transport can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles and operations.. Infrastructure includes roads, railways, airports, canals and pipelines.The infrastructure is the network where things are carried. Infrastructure also includes airports, railway stations, bus stations and seaports (docks).
Let's Move: Identifying Modes of Transportation
Explain that people use vehicles as transportation, or as ways to move around. Ask them to name different vehicles, such as cars, planes, and trains. Now, ask them where they see these vehicles. For example, cars move on the ground. Download to read more. Choo-choo! Your students will enjoy this matching game of different modes of transportation.
Means Of Transport For Children
Educational video for children teaching them vocabulary related with land, water and air transport. This video recopilation includes means of transport like ...
Means of Transportation Lesson
March 30, 2014/in 2nd grade videos/by freddiesville. Topic:Means of Transportation Lesson Dialogue. Communication Objectives:This lesson will teach students how to talk about means of transportation in English. Language Objectives: This lesson will focus on using various 'how' question word to ask questions about means of transportation and ...
What is the History of Transportation?
Learn the timeline of transportation and the history of the three different types of transport. Spanning from 4000 BC to the present day, the history of transportation is a fascinating topic that can expand your children's understanding of transport and travel, and how it became what we know today.
Transportation Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten
Math activities for transportation unit. Sort vehicles by land, air, and sea. Transportation cutting collage. Train patterns - Make a train pattern using blocks or other objects. Number hunt using numbered cars- Hide the numbered cars around the house and have your kids search for the correct number. Transportation pattern block designs.
Means of Transportation
Means of Transportation - Air, Land and Water - Kindergarten and Preschool Worksheet 1 - Download
How to Teach Transportation to Preschoolers
Transportation is an important part of everyday life, and as such is a topic many preschool aged children are interested in. A transportation theme not only teaches children about what different vehicles are for and how they work, but you can also use it to teach other important concepts such as safety when riding in ...
Transportation Activities for Kindergarten Kids
Transportation Bingo (Language and Memory Skills) Bingo is a classic game that can be adapted to teach kids about transportation. Create bingo cards featuring various modes of transportation instead of numbers. Draw or print pictures of cars, boats, planes, and more on the cards. Use buttons, small toys, or even candies as markers.
20 Transportation Activities for Kindergarten Kids
Traffic Light Cookie Baking. Traffic light cookie baking is the yummiest vehicle activity for kindergarten kids. Another of those 'on the road' transportation activities. The activity: The objective is simple: bake cookies in three colours: red, yellow, and green. When done, assemble them to resemble a traffic light signal and then educate ...
September Theme: Transportation • The Kinderhearted Classroom
Here's how the transportation theme breaks down: Science - the study of how things move. Literature - books related to transportation are used each week to teach reading and phonics skills. Social Studies - we learn about community related jobs that have to do with transportation.
Kindergarten Step by Step: Transportation Week!
crawls- move your arms like you are moving slowly (careful here to not let kids actually crawl as this is a different version of the word) wind- take one hand and motion it back and forth as if it's going around corners. island- make a fist (island) and motion water all around the land. neighborhood- make a house with your arms.
Free Transportation Worksheets for Preschoolers
Land Transportation. Since land transport includes vehicles of numerous sizes and shapes, we have considered two separate worksheets. In this worksheet, we have six means of land transport. You can explain all the transports to your kid while they are doing the activity. In this worksheet, we have another set of vehicles for land transport such ...
Transportation Lesson Plan
Activity 2: Transportation Board Game. This next activity is a printable board game for students to play in pairs. While playing this game, students will make a dialogue with their partner while using different transportation vocabulary. Print out this transportation board game and give one to each pair of students.
3 Modes of Transport School Project model for kids, & Transport Short
Modes of Transport School Project for kids, & Transport short essay /Transport Coloring worksheets for kids and class 1 and class 2 ,class 3, class 4,class 5. Means of Transport : Transport: Some places are closer to our house, But some places are far away.
Essay on means of transport for kindergarten
Essay on means of transport for kindergarten Get the answers you need, now! Sumityadav3976 Sumityadav3976 25.10.2017 Social Sciences Secondary School ... rubber and steel used to make better wheels and we have also improved to better Means of Transport now. Bullock carts and pony of earlier time are now replaced by buses, cars, scooter, cycle ...
Transportation Theme for Preschool
Make a shape the transportation theme shape on a piece of thin cardboard (the back of a pad of paper or notebook covers work well) or stock paper. Punch holes around the edges no more than 1/4 inch apart from each other. Laminate the cards. For lacing string, shoe laces work great!