Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus Activity

Mo Willems’ Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (affiliate link) is one of our favorite books so we were thrilled to see that it was one of the choices for this month’s Virtual Book Club for Kids!  We came up with a super fun Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! activity {a play dough kit!} to go along with the story.

For anyone who doesn’t know, the Virtual Book Club for Kids is a monthly series where we feature a different author each month and share an activity to go along with one of the books.  This year they’ve chosen to focus on three books from each author which makes it even easier to follow along with.

 Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! is a fun read for kids.  They can empathize with Pigeon’s great desire to do something he’s not allowed to do and will get enjoy his silly pleading to be able to drive that bus.  Preschoolers especially love this story!

We reread the book and then decided it would be fun to make Pigeon out of play dough!

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Activity

• blue play dough
• google eye (at least one per kit)
• black pipe cleaner
• small pieces of white and yellow felt

We made our own play dough using this play dough recipe and substituting blue food coloring for the glitter.  If you are only making it for a couple kids you can even half the recipe.  Store bought blue play dough would work perfectly too!

I cut the pipe cleaner into quarters and then cut a beak shape and a stripe for the neck from some leftover felt. We had really big googly eyes already but use whatever you have on hand. You can just adjust the sizes of the other pieces to work.

These Pigeon play dough kits would make great homemade gifts too! Just roll small section of the play dough into a a ball and then add the rest of the supplies to a small plastic bag and give either with a copy of the book or to a little Pigeon fan.

And use your imagination! After we had made a couple Pigeons my preschooler started adding buttons to her Pigeon and gave him crazy hair–the sky is the limit for fun!

Mo Willems Activities:

In addition to Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! bloggers are sharing ideas for Mo Willems’ Knuffle Bunny and The Duckling Gets a Cookie too.

Here they are by book:

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

• Letter B is for Bus Craft from Royal Baloo
• Pigeon Rhyming Race Activity from Growing Book by Book
• Pigeon Handprint from mama miss
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: Puppets, Crafts and Storytelling from Playing with Words 365
• Cardboard Box Bus Craft & Number Game for Kids from Toddler Approved
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus Puppets from Playdough to Plato
• Pigeon and Bus Activities inspired by Mo Willems from The Educators’ Spin On It

Knuffle Bunny

• Knuffle Bunny Activity Mats from Ready Set Read
• Mo Willems Inspired DIY Bunny Costume Felt Headband from The Educators’ Spin On It

The Duckling Gets a Cookie

• Nut Free Alphabet Cookies from Rainy Day Mum
• Sticky Cookie Craft from The Pleasantest Thing
• The Duckling Gets a Cookie Math Games from Inspiration Laboratories
• The Ducking Gets a Cookie Printable Clothespin Activity from Lalymom
• Counting Chocolate Chips – Duckling Get a Cookie from 3 Dinosaurs