Trains: Day Four

Numbers and Letters Train

Review Numbers and Letters using train movements, sounds, and words.


Read some books on trains:
Engine, Engine Number Nine--Stephanie Calmenson
Two Little Trains--Margaret Wise Brown

Train Songs/Fingerplays:

Train Number Rhyme

Engine, Engine
Engine, engine Number Nine,
Running on Chicago Line.
If she's polished how she'll shine,
Engine, engine Number Nine.

Down By the Station

Down by the station,
Early in the morning,
See the little pufferbellies,
All in a row.

See the station master,
Turn the little handle,
Puff, puff, toot, toot,
Off we go!

Activities:

• Train Ordinal Numbers Felt Board: put the train cars in order and practice counting the number of cars.

• Number Train Coloring Page

• Alphabet Train Coloring Pages: use magnetic alphabet letters as an extension.
  

• Train Number Flip Book

Number Train
Set up chairs in a row, like a train. Put a number on each chair. Give out tickets with corresponding numbers and have child match up their ticket with the correct seat. (Use letters for a variation.)

Teddy Bear Train
Obtain a box that your child’s teddy bear (or other small toys) will fit into. Poke a hole big enough to thread a piece of yarn through. Tie a piece of yarn, just long enough for your child to hold, while the box rests on the floor. Say a number from 1 to 10 and have your child put that many toys into the teddy bear train. Let your child pull the train around with his teddy bear, while making train noises (“chugga lugga, chugga lugga, choo choo!”) Start over with a new number of passengers!

All Aboard the Number/ Letter Train:
Cut out many "tickets" and write different numbers or letters on them. Give your child seven or eight tickets. Tell him that you are the conductor of a Number or Letter Train and he can ride the train if he gives you a ticket that matches the number or letter you call. Announce "All aboard the TWO Train," etc. Have him give you the appropriate ticket and then he can climb on the train for a ride. Use a magic blanket ride on the floor as your pretend train. After a minute, stop and announce a new number/letter.

Put together a Alphabet Train Puzzle.


Games:
Give every child a number/letter. Use those to help you choose who starts these games or who is added to the train.

HOOK ON THE TRAIN

	One child is chosen to be the engine of a train.
	This child chugs around the room and then backs up into another child.
	The new child connects onto the train by grabbing on to the waist of the engine.
	Then these two children chug around the room and back into another child.
	The game continues until all of the children have hooked onto the train.

LOOSE CABOOSE

	Choose one child to be a caboose.
	Have the rest of the children create one or more trains by hooking together.
	In this game the caboose tries to catch onto the back of one of the trains.
	Trains chug around and try to avoid being caught by the caboose.
	When the caboose finally does catch onto the back of a train, the engine of that train becomes the next caboose.
	Continue playing while interest lasts.