Train Thematic Unit Study
My son recently turned 4, so we are starting some preschool work. The plan is that every week (or maybe two if we love the topic) we will have a theme. The first week's theme is trains! We had a family vacation planned to ride the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad over the weekend, so we started out learning about trains. I made this Unit Study to go along with our learning for the week. It has some reading, writing, color practice, letter practice, shape practice, then some math, and other activities. Since my daughter, 9, niece, 8, and nephew, 6, are all learning with us, there is a little something for everyone.
Purchase the Unit Study HERE
The kiddos each got their own booklet. I recently bought a binding machine, and WOW do I love it. No more loose papers! BIND ALL THE THINGS!! Quite possibly love it more than the laminator I bought when I first started homeschooling. I do recommend if you do make workbooks, use a thicker paper for the covers, so much nicer!
Books
Before starting the week, we hit the library and gathered our books!
Of course, we checked out Thomas the Train and The Little Engine That Could. We also found Curious George Takes a Train and Hello, Freight Train!. Locomotive, The Giant of Seville and Train rounded out our selections.
All of these books were great. The Train Eyewitness Book is going to be a must have for our own library. This book would be great for older kiddos to use as a jumping off point for research if you were to include them in the themed week. The Locomotive is beautiful, it gives a great history of early railroads, and the artwork is stunning.
Note: If you purchase any of the books from Amazon, I do get a small percentage. This helps keep my kiddos fed and this site running, and I greatly appreciate it. If you haven't already signed up for a Thrift Books account, you might check there as well if you plan to expand your library.
Activities
Some of these activities require mini trains, these here are a great option.
Educational Arts & Crafts
Sponge Painted Train (great for color practice)
Alphabet Train (great for letter recognition)
Train Track Prints (great for fine motor skills)
Counting Trains (great for number recognition)
Trian Color Sorting Activity (also great for color practice)
Snack Ideas
Then it was time for the train ride! The kids had so much fun! If you ever get the chance, I recommend going. The train car that we were on had a dome at the top of the train, so for the ride down, we got to be in the dome and on the way back we had seats on the lower level. The scenery was beautiful, and they tell you the history of the air which makes for a great learning opportunity!
The town of Van Buren was neat and learning the history of the town on the trolley ride (free!) was an added bonus. Visiting the Drennen-Scott House was a step back in the past and was also free.
Each of the kiddos wrote a letter to the conductor about their favorite thing on the train ride.
Videos
Diesel Locomotive Basics (52 mins)
Animation of how Steam Boiler Works (2 mins)
Train Safety (6 mins)
Mighty Machines (skip to 7:30, 12 mins)
Trains for Children with Blippi (12 mins)
The Train Yard (28 mins)
Plan for the week
We do a four day week, so these are broken down into four days and then divided up into Pre-K, K-2nd, and 3rd-5th. The plans include worksheets for each day, a video, book or books, and some days an internet related activity. These are just a suggestion and don't have to be followed, but are a good jumping off point.
