The awesome adventure walk bus ride took place back in my family child care days on a beautiful spring morning with a group of energetic preschoolers.

Adventure walks or something the kids and I enjoyed. It worked like this: we’d head out the door after breakfast and start walking, intending to return by lunchtime.

What made it an adventure walk instead of a regular walk was that the kids would have to decide which way we went. I had no idea where we were going or where we would end up; I just followed their lead. Every time we came to an intersection, they had to decide which way we would proceed. Sometimes, there was immediate consensus, sometimes not, but they always made a decision.

As you can imagine, the kids filled these walks with conversation as they discussed possible destinations, contemplated how to end up where they wanted to end up, bickered, persuaded, and argued. It was delightful.

On the day of our awesome adventure walk bus ride, they had been talking about buses because they had recently seen one whiz by. It turned out that of the five of them, none of them had ever been on a city bus before. I hadn’t been on one for years.

I suggested that if we made it to a particular corner by a specific time, we could catch a bus and go for a ride. The kids discussed it, concluded it was a good idea, and planned our path to the designated corner. We arrived three or four minutes before the bus.

They were fluttering with anticipation as the beast of a bus pulled to a stop and opened the doors. The driver welcomed us with a smile as we piled inside. The kids all road for free, I paid a dollar or two.

Everyone picked a seat in the nearly empty bus, and we quickly rumbled down the road. We rode a mile to the transfer station, hopped off, waited a bit, and climbed aboard another bus that dropped us off close to home in time for lunch.

Adventure Walk Bus Ride Wrap-Up

This adventure walk bus ride led to future bus rides. Those rides never had a destination; the ride was the goal. I love these experiences because they allowed the kids to understand the concept of BUS better. Our adventures led to lots of conversations, new vocabulary, new adventures in the dramatic play area, a new understanding of how the world works, and more.

Our adventure walk bus ride is also an example of what I love about child-led learning: you never know where following their lead will take you. It’s not always easy to allow kids such power and control over the day, but the rewards make it worthwhile.

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