Hands-On Train Lesson Plan for 3-Year-Olds: Crafts & Imaginative Play

All aboard for a creative adventure! This easy-to-follow train lesson plan is perfect for 3-year-olds and preschoolers. Engage your child with hands-on activities like building a cardboard box train craft, designing a track with blocks, and fun imaginative play. Designed to develop fine and gross motor skills, this plan includes a simple materials list, learning objectives, and a story time cool-down. A perfect train-themed activity for parents and educators!

Create Your Own Custom Lesson Plan
PDF

Lesson Plan: All Aboard the Train Adventure!

Subject: Creative Arts & Imaginative Play

Age Group: 3-Year-Old

Focus: Exploring trains as a mode of transportation through hands-on, creative activities.

Materials Needed

  • For the Craft Train: A few empty cardboard boxes (e.g., tissue, granola bar, or shoe boxes), paper towel tubes, bottle caps or pre-cut paper circles, child-safe glue or tape, crayons or washable markers.
  • For the Track: Wooden blocks, Duplo/Lego blocks, or painter’s tape.
  • For Play: A favorite toy train (if available).
  • For Story Time: A train-themed book (e.g., Freight Train by Donald Crews, The Little Engine That Could, or Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by Kevin Lewis).
  • Optional: A small whistle for sound effects.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:

  • Identify a train and name at least one of its parts (wheels, engine, car).
  • Demonstrate imaginative play by pretending to be a train or controlling a train.
  • Practice fine motor skills by decorating and helping to assemble a simple craft.
  • Practice gross motor skills by moving like a train and building with blocks.

Lesson Activities

1. The Train Whistle Warm-Up (5 minutes)

  • Goal: To capture interest and introduce the topic in a fun, auditory way.
  • Procedure:
    1. Start with an exciting sound. Make a "CHOO-CHOO!" noise or blow a whistle. Ask, "What makes that sound?"
    2. Introduce the toy train. Say, "It's a train! Let's look at it." Point to the main parts: "This is the engine at the front. These are the train cars it pulls. And look at all the wheels!"
    3. Sing a simple song together to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus":
      "The wheels on the train go round and round, round and round, round and round. The wheels on the train go round and round, all day long!"
      "The whistle on the train goes TOOT-TOOT-TOOT..."
      "The engine on the train goes CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA..."

2. Activity: Build-Your-Own Boxcar Train (15 minutes)

  • Goal: To develop creativity and fine motor skills through a hands-on craft.
  • Procedure:
    1. Lay out the craft supplies. Say, "Every good engineer needs to build a train. Let's make our own!"
    2. Let the child choose a box to be the engine and a few others to be the cars.
    3. Encourage them to decorate the boxes with crayons or markers. They can draw windows, doors, or just fun scribbles. This is their unique train!
    4. Help the child glue or tape the bottle caps or paper circles onto the sides of the boxes as wheels.
    5. Connect the finished boxes together in a line with tape to form a complete train. Celebrate their creation!

3. Activity: Engineer the Track (10 minutes)

  • Goal: To encourage problem-solving and gross motor skills.
  • Procedure:
    1. Say, "Our new train needs a track to run on! Where should it go?"
    2. Use blocks to build a long track on the floor. Let the child place the blocks. It doesn't have to be perfect—a wobbly track is a fun track!
    3. Alternatively, use painter's tape to create a track on the floor, making fun curves and straightaways.
    4. Let the child push their new craft train (or a toy train) along the track they helped build, encouraging lots of "choo-choo" sounds.

4. Activity: The Human Train Express (5 minutes)

  • Goal: To engage in active, imaginative play and practice gross motor skills.
  • Procedure:
    1. Say, "Let's BE the train!"
    2. Have the child be the engine at the front. You can be the car behind them, holding onto their shoulders or waist.
    3. Chug around the room together, following the block or tape track.
    4. Call out imaginary stations to make it a game: "Now stopping at... the Kitchen Station for a snack! All aboard!" or "Next stop... the Cozy Couch Station!"

Cool-Down & Assessment

Story Time at the Station (5 minutes)

  • Goal: To wind down while reinforcing the lesson's concepts.
  • Procedure:
    1. Announce, "The train is pulling into the Reading Station for a quiet rest."
    2. Settle into a comfortable spot and read the chosen train-themed book.
    3. As you read, point to the trains in the pictures and ask simple questions: "Can you point to the wheels?" or "What color is that train car?" This serves as a gentle, informal assessment of their understanding.

How to Check for Understanding (Informal Observation)

  • Did the child engage with the craft activity by decorating or helping to assemble?
  • Did the child make train sounds during play?
  • Did the child push a train along the track?
  • During story time, could the child point to a train on the page?

Differentiation & Adaptation

  • To Simplify: If fine motor skills are still developing, pre-cut all shapes and have the child focus only on coloring and placing the pieces with tape (which is easier than glue for little fingers).
  • To Add a Challenge: Ask the child to sort the blocks by color before building the track, or to count the wheels on their craft train.
  • For a Very Active Child: Spend more time on the "Human Train Express" and building a large, room-sized track. Keep other activities shorter.