In honor of school starting and our recent Bus Tours this summer we wanted to feature Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Has your child discovered the character Pigeon by Mo Willems yet?

This post contains affiliate links to Amazon Books.

We’re excited to welcome you to the Virtual Book Club for Kids featuring Mo Willems!

Each Virtual Book Club for Kids Co-Host will be sharing their own Mo Willems inspired post today!  That’s 16+ Activities to go with his books!

Water Color with Pigeon and the Bus

To start our Mo Willems fun we first drew the bus inspired by Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. Then we printed out coloring pages provided for free on the Mo’s website. Then it was time to paint!  

Using crayons or markers would work too but sometimes it’s that little extra element that makes a project seem special to a child. Once it was dry it make the perfect backdrop for our ABC Game!

Pigeon and Bus Activities inspired by Mo Willems: Letter Activity

Finding a match is a fun way to being to learn letters and letter sounds with a child. Use some images to discover which letter starts with that letter. We gather a few sets of letters as most usually have just one of each letters.

You could also very easily print out on paper or on your computer different types and colors of letters to add variety to the sorting game for kids.

Ask your child What Letter can get on this Bus?

Pigeon and Bus Activities inspired by Mo Willems: Create Your Own Name Bus 

We used some special letters to practice forming the letters in my daughter’s name, spouse, siblings. Another way we will use it soon it to from Word Families. Words that rhyme like -at -an -op -it will be a fun place to start to learn to read and rhyme. You could make word cards to for your child to copy onto the bus.

Ask your child What letters belong in your name?

Pigeon and Bus Activities inspired by Mo Willems: Create Your Own Family Bus

Who’s in your family? Create a special bus for Pigeon to drive with your family inside of it! My 3-year-old had fun using watercolors to paint our hand-drawn bus and including our family members inside too!

Pigeon and Bus Activities inspired by Mo Willems: Mo Willems Printables

We printed out a Pigeon from one of Mo Willem’s Websites Pigeon Presents! There are a bunch of resources on the Grown Up’s Section. While you’re there check out the Bus Facts Page. We hand-drew the bus to use for this project.

Here are a few more fun ways to learn to draw with Mo Willems.  

Here’s a quick video of “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”

Check out this Knuffle Bunny Costume Idea for Kids

Pigeon and Bus Activities inspired by Mo Willems: Printables, Activities and Crafts!

• Handprint Pigeon 
• Paint Chip School Bus 
• Pigeon on a Bus Snack
• Bus Craft 
• Letter B for Bus 
• Pigeon Activity Guide from Mo Willems 
• Pigeon Needs a Bath Activity Ideas and Video
• 50+ Mo Willems Activities  
• Check out Mo’s Interview on the Today Show  and why he feels our kids need to be doodling! 

How to Join the Virtual Book Club for Kids 

We’d love to see the Mo Willems inspired activities that you do with your child or class!   Come share your activity Idea and photos on our VBC Facebook Page or in the Comment Section.

Mo Willems Activities from the Virtual Book Club for Kids Co-Hosts

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus Activities 

• Cardboard Box Bus Craft & Number Game for Kids by Toddler Approved
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus Activity by Coffee Cups and Crayons 
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: Puppets, Crafts and Storytelling by Playing with Words 365
• Letter B is for Bus Craft by Royal Baloo
• Pigeon Rhyming Race Activity by Growing Book by Book 
• Pigeon Handprint by Mama Miss 

Knuffle Bunny Activities 

• Mo Willems Inspired DIY Bunny Costume Felt Headband by The Educators’ Spin On It 
• Knuffle Bunny Activity Mats by ready-set-read 

The Duckling Gets a Cookie Activities 

• Counting Chocolate Chips – Duckling Get a Cookie by 3 Dinosaurs
• Nut Free Alphabet Cookies by Rainy Day Mum
• Sticky Cookie Craft by The Pleasantest Thing
• The Duckling Gets a Cookie Math Games by Inspiration Laboratories
• The Ducking Gets a Cookie Printable Clothespin Activity by Lalymom 

September Featured Author: Mo Willems

• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
• Knuffle Bunny
• The Duckling Gets a Cookie

You’ll find even more ideas shared for Books and Activities by following along!

Leave a comment below for us if you’re joining the Virtual Book Club for Kids!

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This math learning game is best suited for preschool – first grade.

Game adaptations are provided below.

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Airplane Number Games

Math Standard: Recognizing the numbers 1-10

Materials Needed:

Bright Colored Paper
Black Crayon or Permanent Marker
Large Plastic Container

Directions to make:

1. Fold 10 paper airplanes.
2. Write one number on each plane.
3. Set a large bucket on the ground. Take 10 steps away and set the pile of planes down.

Here is a video on YouTube for folding this particular airplane. You can fold a bunch of the same style or fold a variety of planes and see which has the best accuracy for landing in the bucket.

If you need additional help making your paper airplane you can follow this guide for How To Fold Easy Paper Airplane.

Directions to play Airplane Number Games 1-10

Airplane Number Game Variation 1.

Let the child lightly launch all 10 airplanes toward the bucket.
When all 10 planes have landed, collect them.
Call out the numbers that made it into the bucket.
Repeat for several rounds of tossing all 10 airplanes.

Was there one airplane that landed in the bucket more often? (Older learners may be able to keep a tally chart or graph to answer this question!)

Airplane Number Game Variation 2.

Have the child pick up the airplane and call out the number of the plane before it launches.
Be silly and make up a little good luck chant like:

“Lucky Plane, number 8, land in the bucket!”

If it makes it cheer for the number. If it doesn’t, re-launch the airplane.

Repeat until all planes have landed in the bucket.
*move closer if needed!

Airplane Number Game Variation 3

Organize the airplanes in numerical order.

Fly them into the bucket in ascending (or descending order)

Make sure to call out the numbers before the planes are launched.

Don’t forget to check out Growing Book by Books’ article on Building Phonemic Awareness: Airplane Flying Sounds for an aviation spin on literacy learning!

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Think Outside the BOX!

I had a big cardboard box left over from a present my son received and I saw my boys playing with it on and off. I knew I didn’t want to throw it away but I wanted to create something special for them. But what exactly?

I decided to search on Pinterest for some ideas and I came across a pin from Picklebums on “What To Do With a Big Box? – Make a Town”. I automatically knew my boys would love this! So I came up with the idea of spray painting the inside of the box with chalk paint and I grabbed my kids colorful chalk and I started creating a town for them.

Here’s how I made it…

DIY Chalkboard Box Town

Items Needed:

• 1 big cardboard box (wide enough for them to play in)
• 1 Chalk Spray Paint
• Sidewalk Chalk
• toy cars

Directions:

I started by spray painting the inside of the box (let it dry before you start drawing), then I drew a road, shopping center, parking spaces, a lake, and of course a train track.

I then added some toy trucks, cars, and trains and voila! A city in a box! The boys loved it and automatically jumped in and started playing. I believe my oldest said “This is awesome! I love it!” which totally made my day.

I truly loved seeing them use their imagination with this “city in a box” plus it entertained them for a couple of hours…win win for mommy and children!

Another cool thing is that since I used chalk I can simply wipe away and create something new and exciting for them. Have fun creating!

Annette McNally is a photographer living in Winter Garden, FL with my husband, 3 young boys, and our dog named Nala. I love crafting, reading, exercising, and being a part of my community through service but most of all I love to spend time with my family and create lasting memories through photography.

Follow Annette on Facebook  and Pinterest and Instagram.

Thank you so much Annette for sharing your fun idea of a Chalkboard Box Town. Here are a few more fun ideas using chalk! Have fun! ~Kim

Playful Chalk Ideas for Kids

• Counting Chalk Trains 
• Learning Landmarks and Math with Chalk
• The Best Sidewalk Chalk Activities for kids
• Sidewalk Painting with Siblings 
• Monster Math with Chalk
• Magnetic Construction Site Sensory Bin

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Today though, I have challenged the kids to find out:

How many cars equals 1 pound.

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Measuring Vehicles Weight Challenge

MATH Learning Objective: Using standard units of measurement to determine weight.

Estimated Activity Time: 20 Minutes

Vocabulary: Weight, Pound, Scale

Materials Needed:

• 20-Pack Car Set
• Kitchen Scale
• Handwriting Paper
• Pencil

Directions for Measuring the Vehicles Weight:

1. Introduce the child to how a scale works. Practice measuring one or two cars.

2. Introduce the 1 pound challenge. Have them make a prediction of how many vehicles they think it will take to make 1 pound.

3. Encourage them to find out how many vehicles it will take to make 1 pound on the scale.

4. Write down the final  number of cars used on a piece of paper. This introduces young children to recording data.

5. Repeat the experiment again. See if a different combination of cars will produce a different result. If you have a variety of cars, weigh those too and compare.

Try this weight activity with LEGOS and fidget spinners too! Here’s how…

Car Activities for Preschoolers

Alphabet Car Activity: Outdoor Letter Fun

Color Car Sort: Outdoor Math Fun

Letter Matching Roads

Airplane Number Games

Car Wash Subtraction

Train Math for Preschoolers

Transportation Theme Activities from the PLAYful Preschool Education Team:

• Learning Letter Sounds on Alphabet Road by Mom Inspired Life
• Alphabet Activities: Transportation Letter Maze by Growing Book by Book
• Gross Motor Transportation Game for Preschoolers by Life Over C’s
• Sorting Transportation Vehicles by Still Playing School
• Make a Truck from Shapes by Powerful Mothering
• How Many in One Pound by The Educators’ Spin On It
• Cotton Reel Car by Rainy Day Mum

To extend your vehicle play and learning, consider adding in a store-bought or home-made ramp. This will encourage even more science, math, and engineering!

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