🚌The Notebook That Wanted to Go on the Bus Preschool Lesson (non-religious)

🚌 The Notebook That Wanted to Go on the Bus (non-religious)

A back-to-school adventure story about finding your place, using your imagination, and learning to share your voice.

 

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✏️ Lesson Summary:

This fun, non-religious preschool lesson follows a little notebook who dreams of riding the big yellow school bus! But notebooks don’t have legs… so how will it ever make it onboard? This imaginative story encourages kids to dream, create, and find their “voice” through drawing and storytelling.

 

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📚 Story:

The Notebook That Wanted to Go on the Bus

Once there was a little notebook named Nola. She sat on a classroom shelf with pencils, markers, and glue sticks, waiting for the first day of school.

But Nola had a BIG dream… she didn’t want to sit on the shelf—she wanted to ride the school bus!

“I want to see the kids hop on! I want to hear the wheels go squeak! I want to bounce over every bump!”

“But notebooks don’t ride buses,” said the ruler.

“They just sit still and wait for doodles,” said the crayons.

But Nola believed in big dreams.

One morning, when the classroom door opened, a little girl picked up Nola and said, “I’m going to use this notebook for my back-to-school stories!”

She carried Nola all the way onto the big yellow bus, opened her up, and began to draw.

A taco on a trampoline.

A shoe that danced.

And a school bus that had eyeballs and told jokes.

And guess what? That day, Nola didn’t just ride the bus—she took the whole class on an adventure.

Because sometimes, when you fill the pages… a notebook can take you anywhere.

 

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🎨 Craft: Notebook School Bus Storybook

Supplies:

• Yellow construction paper (folded in half like a bus)

• Lined paper (for inside pages)

• Crayons, markers

• Glue or stapler

• Optional: black circles for wheels

Directions:

1. Fold yellow paper to look like a bus front cover.

2. Add “windows,” wheels, and the notebook’s name (like “Nola’s Notebook”).

3. Glue or staple lined paper inside.

4. Let kids draw what Nola sees on her bus ride!

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🍎 Snack: “Bus Wheels” Sandwich Circles

• Use round sandwich cutters or lids to cut tiny sandwich “wheels” (PB&J, turkey, etc.)

• Add two raisins for “bolts”

• Serve with a napkin that says: “Roll into a great school year!”

 

📘 Nola’s Notebook Snacks – Graham Cracker Treats for Kids

These adorable notebook-themed snacks are a sweet way to wrap up your “The Notebook That Wanted to Go on the Bus” preschool lesson! Each one is made from a graham cracker “notebook,” decorated with icing “lines” and a candy spine (mini chocolate chips) to look like a real school notebook. Kids can enjoy this snack while talking about what they’d write in their notebooks, just like Nola!

 

🍪 Let kids decorate their own!

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🎲 Game: Bus Stop Shuffle

How to Play:

• Tape “bus stop signs” around the room (labeled with fun themes like “Art Stop,” “Snack Stop,” “Play Stop”).

• Play bus sounds and let kids pretend to drive with a paper plate steering wheel.

• When music stops, they park at a stop and do a silly action (jump, spin, smile, moo like a cow, etc.).

 

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🎵 Song: Wheels on the Bus — Make Your Own Verse!

Kids can help create their own funny notebook-themed verse like:

🎶 “The notebook on the bus goes scribble-scribble-scribble…”

Sing it together using real bus movements!

 

📝 Poem: “Notebook on the Bus”

(By The Seasonal Schoolhouse. All Rights Reserved.)

I’m just a little notebook,
With pages crisp and bright.
I dreamed of riding on the bus,
And learning things just right!

The crayons danced beside me,
The pencils waved hello,
The ruler measured happiness,
As we began to go.

We rolled into the classroom,
So full of cheer and fun—
I knew that this adventure
Had only just begun!

 

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🧠 What We’re Learning:

• Imaginative thinking

• Expressing creativity through drawing

• Understanding transportation

• Social-emotional development: having big dreams and using your voice

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🗣 Let’s Talk About It:

• What would your notebook draw if it had a pencil?

• Where would you go if your notebook could take you anywhere?

• What does it feel like when someone believes in your dream?

 

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👨👩👧 Parent Resource:

Encourage families to ask:

• “What story did your notebook tell today?”

• “Want to draw together at home in a special notebook?”

You can also invite parents to send their child's drawings to display on a classroom “Bus Board.”

 

🧠 How Everyone Can Join In

(Adapted Learning Ideas for Inclusive Participation)

🚌 Bus Pretend Play Scene:

• If a child cannot move independently, set up a cozy area with soft props (pillows, blankets, tactile textures) where they can “ride the bus” using their imagination. A peer buddy or adult can help steer the pretend wheel or hold up printed visuals of the bus adventure.

• Use a small fan to simulate the “breeze” from the bus ride for sensory immersion.

📒 Notebook Craft:

• For children who cannot use scissors or glue, provide pre-cut pieces and allow them to point to where items go on the page. An adult can assist in placing them.

• Use tactile materials like foam stickers, raised textures, or Velcro-backed icons so they can feel the shapes as they build their notebook page.

• If a child cannot hold a crayon, let them select colors verbally or with picture cards, and a helper can color for them.

 

🗣️ Story Participation:

• Use picture communication cards with expressions like “Yay!”, “Go bus!”, “Notebook time!”, and “I’m learning!” so nonverbal kids can engage with the group’s excitement.

• Use a sound button or switch that plays the sound of a school bus honking or a cheering crowd when pressed.

 

🎵 Song and Poem:

• For kids who can’t sing or speak, let them tap, nod, clap, or simply smile during the rhyme. Their joyful presence is the most important part.

• Add hand motions or visual aids for each verse so every child knows what’s happening even if they can't vocalize.

 

📸 Optional Visual Board:

• Set up a visual sequencing board showing “Notebook at Home,” “Notebook on Bus,” “Notebook in Class.” Children can move Velcro pieces or eye gaze to track the notebook’s journey.

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✨ Reminder: Inclusion isn’t just about modifying activities — it’s about celebrating the ways each child experiences wonder, joy, and learning in their own way. Whether with hands, voices, eyes, or hearts — every child rides the “bus of imagination” with us. 💛