Some home daycare providers do not have a vehicle for daycare field trips. They are limited to the field trip opportunities within walking distance in their neighbourhood. One great (free) option is to take advantage of road or building construction work.
Most preschoolers love trucks and tools. Any sort of construction work holds great appeal to this age group. We have watched roofers re-shingle a roof, pavers do a new driveway, hydro workers fix a pole, tree cutters remove a tree, road construction crews and new houses being built.
We always stop and watch whenever we come across community workers on our daily neighbourhood walks. I have found that the majority of workers are very kind and friendly when they see a bunch of smiling preschoolers watching them in awe.
Our winning smiles earned us some free tree stumps when we watched our neighbour’s tree getting removed.
The mail carrier stopped one day and gave us a tour of the back of her mail truck. She answered the kid’s questions and gave them a piece of ‘mail’ (a flyer). They were thrilled.
One day we had a fire truck park on our street. It wasn’t an emergency but a practice drill. We stood outside admiring the truck for a bit and got an invitation to sit in the cab with the fire fighters! It must be a great feeling for a community worker to be a star in the eyes of a group of children.
My kids are big fans of our garbage truck workers. They always smile and wave enthusiastically to them each week. The men consistently smile and wave back. It’s nice to be appreciated.
I love to read the children books to provide them with more information about topics. Reading books about road construction vehicles and then visiting a road crew site will help give the children background knowledge. Knowing the names of the equipment and the process of paving will engage the children deeper into the activity they are watching.
Knowledge paired with a direct experience is a powerful way to make a lasting impression on a child. Young children delight in these neighbourhood field trips.
May your daycare adventures be filled with trucks and work crews this month!
I’m a former elementary school teacher, and homeschool mother of two, who runs a Waldorf inspired home childcare/preschool. 
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