Tools Lesson Plan with Bob the Builder Books: Preschool Theme and Activities

Let’s Fix It!

All children can benefit from knowing about tool safety. There may be a time or two that they will come in contact with tools, and it is best that they know how to be safe around tools. Knowing tool safety may prevent some type of injury in their future.

In this article, preschoolers will participate in activities that will help them learn three different basic tools and how they are used. The students will learn the uses of the hammer, screwdriver, and wrench. Knowing how to use these tools early will arm them with the basic knowledge of these tools and the best safety practices associated with them.

The preschool students will learn that people usually use tools to fix something or to assemble an item. More and more people are buying furniture that needs to be assembled at home as a way of saving money. It might be safe to say that their family members have actually put together some type of household item in their presence at some point.

Bob the Builder Book Series

There are three books that are awesome finds for this activity. They are all Bob the Builder books, and each book has a different tool it is based on. You can read the book titled Fix It with Bob: Bob’s Handy Hammer. This book actually comes with a hammer that is a great visual for the children. This book gives a scenario on each page that gives the children an opportunity to use the hammer.

The second book in the series is titled Fix It with Bob: Scruffy Helps Out. This book comes with a wrench and a bolt. It will give great examples of when you should use a wrench to repair or assemble something.

The third book in this series is called Fix It with Bob: The Very Busy Day. This book comes with an actual screwdriver, and plenty of opportunities are within its pages to use it for your readers. All three books are published by Golden Books, an extremely famous brand name for children books. These books are very durable and will last so that you can read them over and over again.

Activities

• Book Discussion - If you choose to read all three books or just one, you can have discussion time with your class. You should discuss the different tools with them. You can ask them which one is a hammer, screwdriver, or wrench. You can discuss how to be safe when using the tools. You can explain to them that it is best to watch out for hurting your fingers or hands while using the tools. You should explain the correct way to use each tool. Explain to the children that it is best to only use tools that are toys, but it is never a good idea to handle the real thing. Explain to them that they must wait until they are much older before they begin to use any of them.

• Coloring Page - The children can color a picture of a hammer using these coloring pages.

• Paper Mache Hammer - Materials: You will need a toilet paper holder, paper towel holder, brown paint, one and one half cups of water, one cup of flour, one fourth cup of Elmer’s glue, aluminum foil, a stapler, toilet paper, strips of newspaper, and scissors. Note: You might have to adjust this recipe for the amount of people in your class or make several batches of the paper mache recipe. Instructions: You will need to cut a hole on one side of the toilet paper holder and stuff the paper towel holder inside and glue it. Let the holders dry and staple the middle of one end of the toilet paper holder. Stuff the open end of the toilet paper holder with toilet paper and the open end of the paper towel holder. Cover them both with paper mache and let it dry. Help the children paint the handle part of the hammer with brown paint. Cover the top part of the hammer with aluminum foil. Explain to the children that their hammer will not actually work the same way that a real one does and that they need to be careful so that it won’t break or tear.

• Tool Activity Set - Buy an activity set of tools from a toy store and demonstrate how each piece works. Allow each child to handle the activity set on their own or take turns. Name each piece of the tool set and their uses.

• Be Safe around Tools - Have a talk with the children about how they need to be safe around real tools. Give them scenarios that they may run into and ask them what would they do. Ask them if an adult left a tool lying around what would they do. Ask them if they saw a bunch of small nails or screws what would they do. Ask the children what they would do if they saw a tool that was plugged into the wall. This is a great time to explain to them ways in which they can remain safe around real tools they may see around their home or environment.

These activities and discussions on being safe may prevent some type of accident in their future. This lesson plan will prepare the preschoolers with the knowledge of different tools and how they are used.