Construction & Trucks Sensory & Toddler Storytime
Bulldozers, steamrollers, and front loaders, oh my! Choose two of the following construction-themed sensory storytime books and pair them with a few of these songs, crafts, and sensory play ideas for more engagement and fun in your next Toddler or Sensory Storytime.
Visit The Youth Desk’s Sensory Storytime page for a complete sensory storytime overview and more detailed guidance.
Construction Sensory & Toddler Storytime Books
Construction Songs & Rhymes
This is the Way We Build a House
Sing to the tune “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.” Put up a picture of a house, hammer, saw, bricks, and paint brush on a flannel or magnet board as you sing and act out the motions.
This is the way we build a house,
Build a house, build a house.
This is the way we build a house,
So early in the morning.
This is the way we hammer the nails…
This is the way we saw the wood…
This is the way we stack the bricks…
This is the way we paint the walls…
Hannah Needs Her Hammer Flannel Board
Place five colorful toolboxes on a flannel or magnet board and hide a hammer behind one. Share this rhyme and let children choose a color until you uncover the hammer!
Hannah needs her hammer lots and lots
Is it hiding in the red toolbox?
Tools in the Toolbox Activity
Pass out baggies with 5-7 tools (aka printed images or cardstock cutouts of tools), and a “toolbox” envelope to each attendee. Say the rhyme then pull a tool picture from a bucket. Put it up on a flannel/magnet board and encourage attendees to put their own “tools” into their toolboxes. To make things easy, print out copies of the Construction Coloring page from Worksheet Library onto cardstock and have a teen volunteer cut the image out ahead of time!
Tools in the toolbox
One, two, three
What comes next
Let’s look and see!
No such luck!
(Credit: Verona Storytime)
We Drive and STOP
Print or cut out a big green GO sign and a red STOP sign. Hold up the GO sign during the movement portions of the song and the STOP sign when appropriate.
We drive and drive and STOP
We drive and drive and STOP
We drive and drive and drive and drive
And drive and drive and STOP
Jump…sway…run…sit…
The Wheels on the Truck
The wheels on the truck go round and round
Round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the truck go round and round
All through the town.
The horn on the truck goes honk, honk, honk…
The shovel on the truck goes dig, dig, dig…
The bucket on the truck goes dump, dump, dump…
Construction Sensory Play & Craft Activities
Ending storytime with free play provides children and their caregivers with an excellent opportunity to explore and socialize. Set out any puppets or flannel board pieces you used during storytime for attendees to enjoy, and offer one of these great construction-themed play activities.
Building with Blocks
Set out a bin of blocks and see what children create! This Melissa & Doug Wooden Blocks Set is one of my favorites, as well as these Jumbo Cardboard Building Blocks, if you have the space to store them!
Pumpkin Hammering Activity
If you’re hosting a construction storytime in the fall, hammering pumpkins is my favorite activity. Set out a pumpkin, gold tees, and a toy hammer. That’s it! Let kiddos hammer the tees into the pumpkin. In addition to being fun, it’s a great fine motor activity for little hands.
Trucks Shape Craft
Provide a piece of construction paper, glue, and precut paper rectangles, squares, and circles. Encourage kids to glue the shapes on their paper to create a truck. Offer crayons for additional decoration and fun.
Trucks on the Road
Create a road on the floor with painter’s tape, and set out trucks. If you have a floor mat with roads and paths on it —even better!
