Sing and move along with “The Wheels on the Bus” on the Kids YouTube channel. Keep reading to learn the story of the song. Then download and print the lyrics.
Click the image to download a printable PDF of “The Wheels on the Bus” lyrics and puppets!
“The Wheels on the Bus” Lyrics
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.
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish,
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish,
All through the town.
The driver on the bus goes, “Move on back,
Move on back, move on back.”
The driver on the bus goes, “Move on back,”
All through the town.
The people on the bus go up and down,
Up and down, up and down.
The people on the bus go up and down,
All through the town.
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep,
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep
All through the town.
The baby on the bus goes, “Wah, wah, wah,
Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.”
The baby on the bus goes, “Wah, wah, wah,”
All through the town.
The mommies on the bus go, “Shh, shh, shh,
Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.”
The daddies on the bus go, “Shh, shh, shh,”
All through the town.
Sing along with the children on the bus in this fun illustrated video!
Story of the Song
Verna Hills (1898–1990) of Boston, Massachusetts is attributed to contributing the three-stanza poem “The Bus” to the December 1937 issue of American Childhood. In this version, the wheels went round, the horn went toot, and the people went up and down. The poem gained popularity when the tune “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” was added as well as additional stanzas and actions.
IMLS Digital Collections & Content, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Verna saw many changes in the world in her more than 90 years! Transportation, how people moved from place to place, was one of them. When Verna was born at the turn of the twentieth century, buses were pulled by horses in big cities. Children did not ride in gasoline-powered school buses until the 1920s. Before that, children walked or rode in horse-drawn wagons or carriages, or trolleys if available.
Do the Actions
Each stanza highlights a different part of the bus and the action or sound it makes. Have fun singing and acting out the motions with the song!
Children today enjoy singing “The Wheels on the Bus” whether they are on a bus, in a car, or on the playground. Download the lyrics and free puppets and sing along!
Click the image to download a printable PDF of “The Wheels on the Bus” lyrics and puppets!
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Comments
Aw loved the history!
My kids love singing this song while driving in the car!
What a fun history 🙂 And, as always, The artwork is beautiful!
I love this one!
I never knew this history! How fun! 😉