Leaving out a word from the song is intended as a fun challenge, not a test. Be generous in providing hints, including whispers and pointing to an image of the word in a book picture. Choose verses of the song that will be of greatest interest to the toddler. Omit only words that you are confident the toddler knows. Use up to three verses for a toddler who is new to the song.

A toddler may sing or say some or none of the words with you. If it appears the toddler is not comfortable providing a missing word, omit this part of the activity and emphasize connections between key words and their images in book pictures.

The invitation to fill in a missing word or sound supports a child’s memory skills and provides valuable practice in using spoken language. It also supports a toddler’s understanding of how a word or sound is represented in a picture.

Extra support

• It is sometimes challenging for toddlers to do the two-handed motion for “round and round.” Go slowly with your demonstration and provide supportive practice if the toddler shows interest.
• Demonstrate how the driver signals passengers to “move on back” and talk about what it means to “move on back.” A toddler may have little or no experience on a bus.

Enrichment

• If a toddler shows good familiarity with the words, encourage him/her to use a louder voice for some phrases, such as “waa, waa, waa” and “beep, beep, beep.”

This “help me remember a word” activity is intended as a fun challenge, not a test, similar to Option 1. The current activity option is more challenging than Option 1 because the visual supports are limited to the picture of a clock and the toy mouse. Toddlers are encouraged to imagine a mouse running up and coming down a big clock as part of the rhyme. Filling in a missing word supports a child’s memory skills and practice in using spoken language. Toddlers are unlikely to say the entire rhyme with you, particularly the challenging “Hickory Dickory Dock” words, but will enjoy providing a word you pretend to forget.

Extra support

• Remind toddlers that we (and the mouse) move fast when we run.
• Use slow motions the first several times you move the toy mouse up and down.
• Show the provided picture of a tall clock when you say the rhyme.

Enrichment

• Explain that the phrase “strikes one” in the rhyme means the clock made a loud chime noise when the time was one o’clock. Point to the part of the clock (called a hand) that points to the time.
• Repeat the first verse, leaving out the three target words (clock, up, down) for toddlers to fill in.

Materials Needed: Wheels on the Bus by Raffi, *picture of big clock (Option 2), mouse puppet or figure

In addition to providing the Wheels on the Bus book, make another Wheels on the Bus book available. Toddlers may wish to compare pictures that show similar images in the song, such as wheels, horn, and wipers. As a follow-up to Option 2, encourage toddlers to move the toy mouse up and down the picture of the clock as they say as much of the rhyme as they remember. Invite toddlers to compare the face of the clock shown in the activity’s provided picture to the face of a traditional (analog) clock in your room, if available. Encourage toddlers to point to the hands of the clock in your room and notice how the hands move across the day.

*Printables provided

Materials Needed: books of rhymes

Complement the Option 2 rhyme for toddlers by saying short rhymes for infants during care routines and sharing books that include rhyming words. Infants will be interested in the sound of the words, even though a word meaning is not understood.

Preschool-age children enjoy songs and books with rhymes. Draw attention to words in songs that rhyme. Playfully say each child’s name with the same consonant sound. Examples: Jackson becomes “Backson.” Mari becomes “Bari.” Or add a second word that rhymes with a child’s first name, such as “Isaac Misaac.”