1-2-3 Come Do Some Bus Safety Activities With Me

Do you read the story, 'Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus' by Mo Willems? Click the book cover to see a cute YouTube video.
Because it’s a favorite of young children, I thought it would be fun to spice up bus safety with a pigeon. (Bus Safety With a Pigeon Packet)

If you don't read that story, or are just looking for some super-fun bus safety activities, I also made a matching packet with no bird. (Bus Safety Activities).
Listening to lots of rules can become tedious and boring for little ones, but playing a game, doing a center activity, or making a 'flip-the-flap' booklet, helps get the “you need to know this stuff” into a child’s head, in a hands-on way.
Both these packets includes a nice assortment of quick, easy and interesting activities, that help make learning about bus safety super-fun.
Since “National Bus Safety Month” is in October, I do a few of the activities the first few weeks of school, then others later in the fall, which is a nice review.

• There is 1 possible solution for the: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the ! (Mo Willems children's book) crossword clue which last appeared on Daily Pop Crosswords October 25 2020 Puzzle. This is a very popular game developed by PuzzleNation. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the ! (Mo Willems children's book) ANSWER: BUS Already solved.
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Was also an inaugural inductee into the Indies Choice Picture Book Hall of Fame.

You can also plug them in the day before a field trip.
The packet includes:
* 24, “Do” & “Don’t” sorting cards for an independent center game./how-do-you-play-tanks-on-game-pigeon.html.

There are 12, colorful cards on a one-page pattern to conserve paper and ink.

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 by Playdough to Playto Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: Puppets, Crafts and Storytelling by Playing with Words 365. Created by award-winning Mo Willems, this Pigeon has a bean-filled body of soft chenille with embroidered eyes and velour feet and legs. When the bus driver takes a break, Pigeon bargains with feathers flying, and demands 'Let me drive the bus!' Please, however, don't let this Pigeon drive the bus. On the title page, the bus driver addresses the reader directly. He says that he has to be gone for a while and asks if the reader can watch things, but not to let the pigeon drive the bus. As the driver walks off one page, the pigeon walks on the next asking if he can drive the bus.

Simply print, laminate and trim. Children decide if the behavior pictured on the card is a do or don't rule, then place the cards under the correct do/don't header.

You can also pass the cards out to students, then have them show and share their card with the class, explaining the rule on the card.
* To whole-group assess comprehension, I designed a super-fun, Popsicle stick “puppet pal” craftivity.

There's a pigeon one for that packet, and a bus puppet pal in the other packet.

The pigeon is on a red circle for 'Stop! Don't' because of the 'Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus'story.

The flip side of this paddle is a green circle (Green = 'Go! Do'.) Adding a wiggle eye provides the 'finishing touch'.

In the Bus Packet, the puppet pal features a happy & smiling bus on the 'Do!' side, and a bus filled with monsters (!) on the 'Don't' side.

I've included a list of 20+ statements for you to choose from, then read aloud. Students decide whether that statement is a 'Do' or a 'Don't' then flip their paddle accordingly.

My students absolutely LOVE this 'quiz game'. Plus, I can see at a glance who's having difficulty & make corrections.
* Another fun way to reinforce bus rules, is by making a “flip the flap” booklet.

There's a cute pigeon booklet for that packet, and a big bus for the other.

I kept the booklets short, with just 9 pages to choose from, which feature the graphics for some of the most important rules.

Children color the picture, then circle a 'Do' or 'Don't' word to describe what's going on in the graphic.

The pigeon's 'wing cover', flips open to reveal the pages, while the booklet for the bus, is on the 'windshield'.
* There’s also a set of 24, colorful graphic rule posters, which show the various “Do’s & Don’ts”for riding the bus. I printed mine on card stock then laminated.

Use them to introduce bus safety, then hang them on the wall; or.. add the cover & last page ('No muss. No fuss.We know the rules for riding the bus!')and make a booklet with a split ring.
* The packet also includes some “paper praise” options: a slap bracelet, a bookmark, and a brag tag necklace, plus a “color me” bus safety certificate.

There are 10 bracelets on a one-page pattern for quick printing. Simply 'slap' a bracelet on a child's wrist with a piece of Scotch tape.

Making a bus safety necklace, provides fine motor practice, which helps strengthen finger muscles.

I cut up colorful plastic straws to use as dividers between pony beads. Both can be purchased at The Dollar Store.

This also practices counting as well as showing a pattern too. Plus studets really enjoy making them.

Hopefully, people will ask children about their necklace, giving them an opportunity to explain some of the bus safety that they learned, once again reinforcing the lesson.

There's also a 'High fives from ________ who knows bus safety' craft in the pigeon packet, which makes a sweet keepsake, as the bird's wing is a child's hand print.

There are two FREEBIES today. Both come from these new packets.

One is the 'Stop-Look and Listen'poster.

The other is the 'Stay Out of the Danger Zone'poster.

In the packets, I've included matching worksheets. I truly believe that if a child colors the danger zone, they are more apt to know what and where it is, then follow that life-saving rule.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

I feel fall in the air, as the lovely breeze is cooler and a sprinkling of leaves are actually turning!

As long as we have to be inside at school, we may as well have lovely fall weather.

'There is a time in the last few days of summer, when the ripeness of autumn fills the air.'- Rudolfo Anaya

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Best friends Elephant and Piggie introduce kids to their favorite books—brought to life in original stories created by a variety of award-winning contemporary children’s book authors and illustrators.

Mo Willems, a number one New York Times best-selling author and illustrator, has been awarded a Caldecott Honor on three occasions (for Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity). Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! was also an inaugural inductee into the Indies Choice Picture Book Hall of Fame. Mo's celebrated Elephant & Piggie early reader series has been awarded two Theodor Seuss Geisel Medals (for There Is a Bird on Your Head! and Are You Ready to Play Outside?) and five Geisel Honors (for We Are in a Book!, I Broke My Trunk!, Let’s Go for a Drive!, A Big Guy Took My Ball!, and Waiting Is Not Easy!). In 2019, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC named Mo the first-ever Education Artist-in-Residence. Mo began his career as a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he garnered six Emmy Awards.

If you would like to send Mo an e-mail, please ask a grown-up to write to: MoMail@PigeonPresents.com.

Don't Let The Pigeon Activities

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are unable to receive physical mail at this time. We cannot guarantee that Mo will be able to personally respond to your e-mails, but every e-mail will receive a reply.