Big Wheels: Going Places with the Library!

HOORAY! The BIG WHEELS are rolling back into Elk Grove! The Sacramento County Library Association is bringing back a display of the BIGGEST and the BEST Big Wheels vehicles around in this fun-filled annual event!

On Saturday, September 20th, head on down to Franklin Community Library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for this FREE event featuring more than a dozen trucks, large vehicles, buses, race cars, police cars, monster trucks, and construction equipment for kids to look at, sit in, touch, and even honk! There will be drivers and representatives on hand to educate visitors not only about the vehicle, but the profession as well! Franklin Library will be open so you can check out some cool books on your favorite BIG WHEELS vehicles and you can even get a FREE library card! And then show your library card to enter drawings for great prizes!

Entertainment
Demonstrations
Games
Freebies
Food truck vendors
And lots of photo ops!

We have gone to this event the last couple of years and it is always a TON of fun! There was a city bus, a recycle truck, a bull dozer, a race car, a police car, a monster truck, a railroad hand-car, a fire truck, a news truck, the Jelly Belly truck, and lots more BIG WHEELS vehicles to see! (Okay, honestly I don’t remember what all was there because we spent the whole time with the trash truck, but I’m sure there were lots of other fun vehicles to see!) This event is a wonderful opportunity for young kids to explore the “Busy Town” vehicles they see on the streets up close and personal. My little boy is particularly fond of all things waste management, so he was beyond thrilled to get to meet “Mr. Gilly”!

You can build up to this event by heading to your local library and checking out some books or DVDs about BIG WHEELS vehicles! (There are also a TON of videos on YouTube that demonstrate BIG Trucks! Just type in the name of the truck in the search box!) Some of our favorites are:

I Stink, by Kate & Jim McMullan
I’m Dirty!, by Kate McMullan and Jim McMullan
Trashy Town, by David Clemesha and Andrea Zimmerman
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, by Virginia Lee Burton
(DVD) All About: Police, Fire Engines, Military, The Post Office, Building, Astronauts, Helicopters, Garbage & Recycling with Hard Hat Harry and Backpack Jack. This is actually on sale right now for just $4.84!

You can also get kids talking about their favorite BIG WHEELS by making these really cool Play-Doh vehicles! Invite children to create by adding some fun dried pasta shapes to the Play-Doh table and see what their imaginations come up with! LOVE the race car!

(Photo credit Terri Wang)

If you do plan on heading out, I would suggest going right at 10 a.m. (or even a little earlier to watch them set up!) when the event starts or closer to closing time to avoid the long lines to sit in the vehicles. It gets super hot out on the asphalt of the parking lot too (although, if memory serves, it did rain last year about an hour in to the event!), so bring cold water, wear hats, and pack lots of patience! Parking is also super crowded as the lots will be closed to accommodate the event, so I would suggest wagons or strollers for the little ones, or walk over if you live close enough! See ya there! Oh, and don’t forget your camera!