Hand actions for The Wheels on the Bus
The Wheels on the Bus is an action rhyme, so act it out together as you sing. Here are the movements that go with each part:
- Wheels: roll your hands around each other
- Wipers: swish arms side to side like windscreen wipers
- Horn: press a pretend horn with your hand
- Doors: open and close your arms
- People: bounce up and down
What does The Wheels on the Bus mean?
A cheerful song about everything that happens on a bus ride through town, with a sound or movement for each part of the bus. It is an action rhyme, meant to be acted out with your whole body.
What The Wheels on the Bus teaches
Beyond being fun to sing, this rhyme quietly builds several early skills:
- Action words and movements that build coordination
- Everyday words like wheels, wipers, horn and doors
- Sounds (swish, beep) that support early speech
- Turn-taking and joining in with a group
When your child knows it well, our fun games for kids carry the same early skills into playful practice.
Where The Wheels on the Bus comes from
This is a traditional American song first written down in the mid-1900s, based on the older English game song "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush". It has no single author and is in the public domain.
Fun activities
- Line up chairs to make a pretend bus and act it out
- Make up your own verse, like "the babies on the bus go wah, wah, wah"
- Do the hand movements together as you sing
Frequently asked questions
What are the words to The Wheels on the Bus?
The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round; the wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town. Later verses add the wipers (swish), horn (beep), doors (open and shut) and people (up and down).
What are the hand actions for The Wheels on the Bus?
Roll your hands for the wheels, swish your arms for the wipers, press a pretend horn, open and shut your arms for the doors, and bounce up and down for the people.
Is The Wheels on the Bus a good learning song?
Yes. Acting it out builds coordination and listening, the repeated lines make it easy to remember, and the everyday words grow a young child's vocabulary.