We LOVE this book at our house. “Freight Train,” by Donald Crews is a Caldecott Medal-awarded picture book with simple, but bright and attention grabbing pictures.
The story flows using mostly sound effects, helping your preschooler develop his/her imagination while reading. As an adult reading this story, you might not think there’s much to it, but if you read this story making all the train sounds, I bet you’ll be surprised how much your little one loves it! And if you read it enough, it might just become one of the first stories your child can memorize and start reciting back to you (heart stopping, parent moment!).
It’s also great for teaching colors, counting, and train vocabulary (think: engine, box car, caboose, etc.).
The painting activity that followed was just for fun, but we repeated the different colors and names of each car and we made it. Just dip the wooden block in paint and start creating!
After you have your train cars made, you can add wheels with the cotton ball and connect the train cars with a sharpie. After that, just sit back and enjoy the painting mess – because this activity WILL get messy;)
Want to try this activity out? Just pick up the materials below and have fun!
Are You a New York State Pre-K Teacher?
This lesson aligns with the Next Gen Standards:
- Text & Literature: PKR5: Interact with a variety of genres
MATERIALS:
- Variety of Different Colored Paint
- Rectangular building block (that you don’t mind getting paint on)
- Small cotton ball
- Black marker
BOOKS: