Bus Makeover – Part 4

  
The next day, at school, we began painting the bus.
     
At the art table we had collected materials from our storage
and art areas for the children to create parts to add to our
cardboard bus.  Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of
them creating only of the finish pieces.
New black tires.
Mirrors for the driver.
Hand straps in case we have to stand.
The pull cord when we get to our bus stop.
The money drop box.

A destination panel, lights and license plate adorn the front
of the bus.
Rear view of the bus.

"All aboard", the bus is ready to roll and passengers are waiting.
 
 
The passengers pay as they step on to the bus.
  
The driver checks that all are on board and the bus is on it’s way.

This project has included planning, designing, building,investigating,
exploring and sharing our ideas.  It has allowed us to follow the
interests of many children, of various ages, in our program and
create alongside them in the development of a new dramatic play
area with exposure to real life experiences.

Thanks for joining us on this trip of playing and learning.

Really Getting to Know about Buses - Part 3

 
This week we had an opportunity to visit the transit
bus yard to get a really close look at a bus.
 
Mr. Richards, the manager and the mechanic, Trevor, showed
us around the bus.  First he raised the bus really high; high
enough for him to walk underneath.
 
After he lowered the bus he showed us the ramp and invited
us on board.
 
On board we saw different straps.  Some hanging from the
bars above for people to hold on to if they have to stand. 
And a different strap down below the seat to tie down a
wheel chair.
 
Each child had their clipboard with paper and pencil so
they could draw pictures of the different parts of the bus. 
(We'll use this information later at school to add more parts
to our cardboard bus.)
 
By the doors we saw reflector lights and safety signs.
 
Mr. Richards showed us the stop button and we all
had a turn to press it.
     
We heard the ding and saw the sign light up each
time we pressed the button.
 
An exciting part was to pretend to drive the bus and
 
where we drop our money to make the clink-clink sound.
The driver on the bus says, "Don’t forget to pay."

Outside the bus we saw…
 
the destination panel that tells us where the bus is going
and the license plate,
 
the big engine and where the diesel fuel is pumped.

 
      
We found extra tires and measured them by using our bodies. 

 
We gathered outside, enjoyed a snack and talked about all the
different things we saw.
 
Some of the documentation the families did on the tour.

One of the highlights of our tour was meeting a couple
of bus drivers.
  
Thanks so much to Mr. Richards, Trevor, Kenny and Sarahlyn
for making our tour exciting and very informative.

 Tomorrow's post will show you how we made changes to our
cardboard bus back at school.

Bus Project - Part 2

Then the big day arrived for our ride on the real city bus.
 
As we walked to the bus stop the rain started to pour but it didn’t
hinder the excitement.  As the grown ups huddled under umbrellas
the children danced around.

 
It was standing room only as the families filled the bus.
 
As we traveled around the city the children pointed to the many
places they recognized.  The favourite was the swimming pool.
 
Half away through our trip we had to transfer to another bus.
That was exciting learning how to safely step off the bus and
say hi to the new bus driver.
  
To help us build on our cardboard bus at school, we checked
out the different parts on this bus.  The handles the parents were
holding while they stood and the button to let the driver know
we wanted to stop.

Next is a visit to the bus yard.