Perhaps there are no other songs that children like more than the ‘Wheels on the Bus’. Many young children love to watch big vehicles. School buses with their bright yellow color, flashing lights, and laughing children draw children into watching them.
The simple song ‘Wheels on the Bus’ combines a simple repeating verse with simple actions that even a young child can imitate and join into the song about their favorite vehicle.
I use this simple file folder song choice board as does it really matter if you have the ‘wheels of the bus’ be the first verse or the bus driver shouting ‘move on back’. I allow the children to pick what verse they would like to do by placing their choice on the bus.
What I love to see is the children starting to know what each child’s favorite verse is. This gives me insight into their social awareness and social skills.
This song assists me in looking at a child’s imitation skills. Are they able to sing the verse? Which actions are they able to imitate?
Can we use this as a jumping-off point for some pretend play setting up our own bus in the therapy room?
Do they know the vocabulary of the song? What are the windshield wipers? What are the signals on the bus?
So yes, even a child’s favorite song can become a great therapy tool!