Vehicle Rhymes for Kids

The Wheels on The Bus History

One of the most famous kid songs is the “Wheels on The Bus”. It was written around 1939, and credited to be written by Verna Hills. The song is created for children to sing on bus rides to and from school. The repeating rhythm made it easy for children to learn. It quickly gained in popularity not just in the United States, but in The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. The rhythm inmates other kids songs usually ” Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush,” Or “Buffalo Gals.”

The 1930’s is when school buses became there own distinct vehicle. Wane Works introduced the first all-steel school bus. The entry door was moved from the back to the front. The bus was considered safer than the wagons and trucks that were in use. By 1939 thousands of children would be riding these iconic yellow buses. So creating a song about the bus that the children rode in every day would be something that could have happened around that time.Using the Song to Teach Children

Because of its repeating nature, This is a great song to teach to young children. It helps them learn words, and familiarize themselves with vocabulary they might encounter at school. An example of this would be a preschool teacher teaching this to children before going over bus safety. The movement that often accompanies the song is good gross motor exercises. Another benefit of the song repeating is that it can help your children predict patterns.

Variations of the Song

The original version of this kid songs only had the wipers going swish, the horn going beep, and the people on the bus going up and down. Newer versions added the driver saying move on back, the baby going wah, and the mother going shhh. Since then there have been over thirty variations of the song. One version called the color version focuses on the colors of the wheels instead of what the people do. Another version of the song is about a truck. There is also a version that talks about animals riding the bus, and goes over the animal sounds. There are also different people on the bus depending on what song you hear. Daddies, grandmothers, and policeman, dentists, teenagers, and friends have all made an appearance in one form of the song.Interesting Facts

Of the kid songs download, versions of the Wheels on the bus have been downloaded thousands of times. As of Mach 2018, A version of the song is number sixteen on the children’s music charts. Another version to have made the chart is a version made by American Madonna impersonator Mad Donna, the song is played over Madonna’s Ray of Light. It reached number seventeen in the charts in the United Kingdom.

There have also been many different versions of the song that has been published as children’s books. The books range from using the original classic to remaking it into amusing tales about monsters and seals invading the bus.