19 Awesome Transportation Crafts and Activities
Do you have little ones at home who are crazy about trucks, cars, trains, and all things transportation? If so then this list of 19 awesome transportation crafts is the perfect place for you to find fun crafts and activities to do with your little lover of things that go.
Whether you are doing a unit on things that go/move, learning all about trucks and transportation, or just looking for a fun truck themed craft to do on a rainy day, this is a great place to find fun ideas.
As a Kindergarten teacher and a Mom of three little ones (one who is obsessed with trucks and trains), I’ve found, created, and compiled some awesome transportation crafts for toddlers and preschoolers and am sharing some of the favorites below. Head down to find 19 great ideas for transportation crafts for toddlers, preschoolers, and more.
This post may contain affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate and a member of other affiliate programs, I may earn a small compensation from qualifying purchases. All opinions and recommendations are my own.
*For most of these transportation activities and crafts you will need simple materials you can find around the house. Many will need paper, scissors, and a glue stick while others may need some additional items that are easily found or inexpensive. Choose one of the projects to do or choose many but I promise that you won’t be disappointed!
19 Fun Transportation Crafts and Activities
1. Paper Bulldozer Craft
This adorable and simple bulldozer craft uses construction paper to create a fun digger themed bulldozer craft for kids. The best part is you can customize this craft depending on what season it is or what your child likes. Have your bulldozer craft lifting hearts, shamrocks, pumpkins, Easter eggs, stars, and more.
2. Paper Tractor Craft and Free Printable
This fun paper tractor craft by Simplyfullofdelight includes directions and a free printable tractor template. Just print out, color, and cut out the free tractor image. Then follow the directions to put it together and have a tractor that’s wheels really spin. Kids will love making and playing with their completed tractor.
3. Sandy Construction Sensory Bin
This easy truck sensory bin from attachmentmummy uses a simple sensory base of sand that many have at home already. Combine it with rocks, dowels, or pieces of wood for logs, a construction truck toy or two, trees, and more. Put all of the items together in a big bin and you have the perfect sensory bin to dig and pretend with.
4. Free Printable Construction Truck Coloring Pages
These super cute printable transportation coloring pages from twokidsandacoupon are completely free and so adorable. Includes coloring pages for a cement mixer, skid steer, train, boat, fire truck, school bus, and more. Just print out a coloring page of your choice and let kids go to town coloring in these cute images.
5. Printable Roads for Cars Pretend Play
We love these printable free roads for pretend play. Just download the free printable from picklebums, print, and cut out the free roads. Put them together in any way you desire. Add some cars, trucks, rainbow blocks for tunnels, some trees, optional block houses, and more. Then you will have the perfect “cityscape” to drive cars, trucks, and more along the fun roads.
6. Airplane Paper Craft and Free Template
This cute airplane craft from Craftykidsplay uses construction paper and a free printable template to create a fun airplane craft with a propeller that actually moves. Simply download the free airplane template, print it out on construction paper(or use the free template as tracers), cut out the pieces, and attach them together. Use a brass fastener to finish it off. Kids will love zooming it around the house and playing with the fun moving propeller.
7. Free Construction Pack Printables
This awesome free construction printables pack from The Purple Pumpkin Blog offers 8 free construction themed printable activity pages for kids to do. Includes coloring pages, word searches, word scramble, dot-to-dot pages, and more. The pages feature many different construction truck options.
8. Name Recognition School Bus Craft
This easy paper school bus craft uses construction paper and basic shapes to create a fun school bus craft that is perfect for back to school or for a unit on transportation. Just cut out the shapes, glue them together, and add in windows to spell your child’s name. Kids will love crafting this fun school bus craft and it is great for practicing spelling and putting the letters in their name in order.
9. Recycled Cardboard Train Craft
This fun recycled cardboard train craft by lovelyindeed is a super fun and eco-friendly craft. Using recycled cardboard and other miscellaneous materials as well as straws, paint, and glue, make a fun zoo animal train craft that is perfect for a transportation unit or learning about how things move. Kids will love making and pretending with this super cute train craft.
10. Transportation Pattern Block Mats
These transportation pattern block mats are so cute and the perfect supplement to learning about transportation and things that go. They include different animal drivers and patterns to make with tangrams on each transportation truck mat. The transportation pack is a paid pack but if you sign up for simpleeverydaymom emails you can get the dump truck sample pattern block mat for free.
11. Water Bead Boat Sensory Bin
This fun water bead boat sensory bin from attachmentmummy uses two simple items to create a fun sensory bin (that pairs perfectly with a boat book). Just throw the two items together and pretend play. **If your child plays with water beads be sure that they are old enough to know not to stick them in their mouth. Water beads can be very dangerous for young children if swallowed.
Another fun and safe version of this sensory bin is to add the boats to colored water or tapioca pearls which are taste safe and similar in texture to water beads.
12. 5 Fun Vehicle Worksheets
These five fun vehicle worksheets from littleladoo are the perfect way to practice early learning skills such as colors, matching, numbers and more. Each worksheet is truck, car, and transportation themed. Head on over to her site to grab the pack for free.
13. Paper Plate School Bus Craft
This super cute paper plate school bus craft uses half of a paper plate, paint, scissors, glue, and the free shapes printable from honeyandlime. Just paint your plate and put all of the pieces together to make this fun craft. The best part is that it also practices shape recognition and helps preschoolers and toddlers learn their shapes while making them.
14. Transportation Dot Marker Pages
These awesome dot marker pages from twopinkpeonies go perfectly with a transportation theme. They include 6 different modes of transportation to choose from. These 6 free printable pages have spots on them for dot marker practice. Dot marker practice is awesome for preschool as it is the perfect way to practice fine motor skills. If desired or if dot markers are unavailable you can also choose to color them in with markers, crayons, etc…
15. Fire Truck Sensory Play Bin
This fire truck sensory bin from themindfultoddler is the perfect transportation activity. Add fire colored paper strips, pom poms, lego pieces, rocks, and more. Throw in fire trucks and a fire helicopter and let kids play and explore with the pieces. They can use the truck to drive around and pretend to put out fires with it. Makes an awesome play learning activity for preschoolers and toddlers.
16. Rocking Paper Plate Submarine
Many young children have not heard of or do not know what a submarine is. This craft is the perfect way to teach them. Using a folded paper plate, tissue paper, and construction paper, make a super cute submarine craft that really rocks back and forth. Children will have a blast making and playing with this super neat submarine transportation craft from redtedart.
17. Upper and Lowercase Road Letter Practice
These printable uppercae and lowercase letter practice sheets make the perfect transportation themed center for young children. Print them out (and laminate for durability if desired) and then add in cars, a draw erase marker, and/or playdough. Have children build, draw, or zoom along the road letters. Children will be exposed to the letter and use hands-on learning to practice learning their letters. Head over to attachmentmummy for this awesome paid printable.
18. Construction Paper Little Blue Truck Craft
This super sweet “Little Blue Truck” craft goes perfectly with the series of books. Using a paper lunch bag and construction paper, create a fun little blue truck puppet craft that is awesome for pretend play. Makes a great literacy connection or simply an awesome truck themed craft for preschoolers and kindergarteners.
19. Hot Air Balloon Craft for Kids
This fun hot air balloon craft for kids uses construction paper and the free hot air balloon to create a fun hot air balloon transportation craft. Just print out the free template, color it in the desired colors, and add a cute pun or writing prompt if desired. Makes a fun craft that is perfect for learning about modes of air transportation.
*For the majority of these activities you can use materials that are most likely found around your house. However, for some of them, you may need some reusable items that can be used again and again. Some of our favorite items to use when learning and talking about transportation are packs of trucks and toy trains.
As a Mom of a little boy, we’ve come to learn what some of the best truck and train toys are and I’ve included some of our favorites below. They are perfect to just throw in a themed sensory bin or base, bring to the park and zoom down slides, or just drive on the surfaces around the house.
How Can I Teach My Child about Transportation?
Young children learn best through hands-on activities, experiences, and making learning fun. Visit the library and check out books on transportation from both the fiction and non-fiction sections.
Go visit a fire station, check out a construction site (if kid-friendly), go to a touch a truck event, compare the family cars, an airport or air show, or tour a school bus. A lot of communities have free events like national nights out where children can explore things like trucks and cars from community helpers.
All of these fun events and places are set up for children to check out, explore, and learn about some of the different modes of transportation in a hands on way.
You can also create some of the above fun crafts, set up construction sensory bins, and more. When doing these things be sure to talk about the parts of the cars/trucks/etc…, how they work, what their purpose is, and more. Focus on one or focus on all of the different ones. Pull out toys and pretend play cars, planes, trucks, buses, and more, and allow children to play and explore to aid in their learning.
