School Bus Fun Facts and Things to Know

Have you ever wondered why school busses are yellow? Do kids in other countries ride school busses to get to school? To hear the answers to these questions and more fun facts about school busses, listen to the new episode of Cozy Rainbow Podcast!

How the Navajo People Aided Marines In Battle – Cozy Rainbow Podcast

A group of Navajo code talkers created an unbreakable code based on the Navajo language. They matched each letter of the alphabet with a Navajo word and created additional code words for planes, ships and weapons. Find out more about these brave Navajo marines in this episode. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cozyrainbow/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cozyrainbow/support

“Skoolie” is a word for a school bus that some adventurous soul decided to turn into a home. That means, they ripped out all the seats and put furniture, a bed and maybe even a kitchen inside! While most kids just ride busses to school, some grow up to live inside of a school bus, just like Ms. Frizzle from Magic School Bus.

scholastic's magic school bus decorated with Ms. Frizzle and other characters in real life.
Magic School Bus in real life!

Fun Facts About School Busses:

  • School busses are yellow because yellow is the most visible color for moving vehicles. The color yellow on a giant bus lets drivers know “there are kids here! Drive safe!”
  • The person who holds the world record for longest career as a school bus driver is Carl Fischer, who drove for 66 years.
  • In Australia, kids use regular public transportation to get to school.
  • In Japan, there are very cute school busses for kindergarteners that are shaped as kids’ characters like Pikachu, Hello Kitty and Thomas the Tank Engine!
A school bus made to look like Pikachu.
Pikachu School Bus
  • The name for a school bus that has been converted into a living space is a “Skoolie.” People who live in skoolies generally love travelling and meet up at an event called Skooliepalooza!
Example of inside of a skoolie.
Inside a Skoolie, by Vicki Watkins on Flickr
  • School busses use diesel fuel, although, 38 states (as of 2022) use electric school busses now!
  • Skoolies can be eco-friendly too, because most people choose to put solar panels on top of their skoolies so they can live anywhere and still have power.

Creative Challenge

This week’s creative challenge is to draw and design a skoolie! AKA, a school bus to live in! Skoolies come in all shapes and colors, so be sure to let creativity shine in submissions. We will talk about our favorite submissions on our September 4th episode of Cozy Rainbow Podcast! To view submission information, visit the Creative Challenges for Kids page!