The story Little Blue Truck, a classic and a favorite at our house, makes a fantastic story for a sensory story retell. It also aligns well with a farm theme and vocabulary development, all of which inspired this farm theme sensory activity! For all my best farm activities, check out this page!
Did you know your preschooler could learn so many skills through sensory play?!
Little Blue Truck Inspired Farm Theme Sensory Activity
It was getting late and my boys and I were about 6 books deep into our nightly routine. I was just about done when my three-year-old dragged our gigantic version of Little Blue Truck book across the floor. I am not sure if it was the effort that went into the delivery or the excitement the Little Blue Truck brings, but I was certainly going to read just one. more. book. whether I wanted to or not.
As I watched my boys build anticipation about the events leading up to Little Blue Truck getting out of the mud, I knew that this would make a perfect story for a sensory story retell. Little Blue Truck also aligns with our current farm unit so it was a win/win.
Little Blue Truck Sensory Story Retell
This sensory story retell of Little Blue Truck allowed my three-year-old to revisit the characters, plot, and setting of a favorite story. This not only helped him make connections from the story to his life, but it also developed his vocabulary and allowed him to practice story sequence of events.
This is a valuable tool!
The Common Core Standards says by Kindergarten, children will be asked to:
- With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
- With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.
- With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.
This certainly does not mean a preschooler needs to master these standards. But what it does mean is that using sensory play to retell a familiar story will gear them up for what’s to come!
Related: Story retell Room on the Broom and Tree: A Peek Through Picture Book
Materials:
- Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
- Melissa and Doug wooden farm puzzle
- Blue truck (you can find them in big, medium, and small)
- Black beans
- Orange beans (or corn kernels)
- Large bin
- Shower liner
How to Create Little Blue Truck Sensory Story Retell
First, your preschooler must be familiar with the story Little Blue Truck.
Read Little Blue Truck many times to gain an understanding of the story sequence.
Next, prepare the story retell sensory bin with the supplies listed above.
Begin by laying down your shower liner to collect the overflow of beans. This will make a simple clean up. Add your beans, little blue truck, and farm animals into the large bin.
The sensory bin was set up, and I invited my three-year-old to come to retell the story of how Little Blue Truck got stuck in the mud.
Farm Theme Sensory Activity
My three-year-old began exploring before I could prompt with some story events.
- “Remember how Little Blue Truck got stuck? I wonder who would help him first if it happened again?”
- “I see you are filling the truck with lots of beans! This reminds me of the time Little Blue Truck was covered in mud!”
This Little Blue Truck activity will really get your preschooler thinking about how familiar stories connect with their life experiences.
Looking for More Fall Activities for Preschoolers?
I’ve added all my best farm activities to this ever-growing list. Go on and take a look!
>>> Best Farm Activities for Preschoolers <<<
Want Some FREE Fall Printables for Preschoolers?
This page is chock-full of free fall printables, as well as so many other fun activities, too!
>>> Best Autumn Activities for Preschoolers <<<
Need Some Help with Your Preschool Centers?
These make the best literacy and math centers, but I also love them for small group and circle time activities.
I see you have the sized links to blue trucks on the site but the truck you used in the pictures is different. What is the trick you used? I really like it.
You know, when this post was written I was unable to find the exact little blue trucks, so I linked to the closest possible. Maybe another Amazon search will produce different results now.