5 Toddler Activities: Toy Cars

5 Toddler Activities: Toy Car Obsessed

There are a few classic, open-ended toys that will always be a favorite among kids and toy cars are no exception. Both of my kids loved playing with toy cars, but it was not until I had a client who’s only interest was toy cars that I really had to rack my brain to specialize all the activities around cars. Any activity I planned, whatever skill-set was trying to be strengthened, had to involve toy cars somehow to captivate this child. Challenge accepted!

5 Activities for the car-obsessed Kid

1.       Painting with Cars: Helps with sensory, fine motor, and creative exploration. Add one or more colors to a tray and have the kids paint by rolling different sized cars and vehicles into the paint and then rolling those paint filled wheels onto paper. Variation: Instead of using cars as the paint brush, they can also paint the car themselves and then wash them off.

2.       Car wash: Sensory. Have two containers, one filled with something dirty (mud, shaving cream, paint, sand etc.) and in another container have it filled with soapy water and sponges, toothbrushes, rags etc. to wash off their dirty cars.

3.       Car pick up: Fine motor and hand/eye coordination. Dump out a whole bunch of different sized cars and have the kids try to pick them up and transfer to a container with tongs. You can add music to this game and they must try to pick them all up by the time the music stops.

4.       Car cover: Sensory and fine motor. Have them cover the car completely with play-dough. They will need to pound and flatten the play-dough, as well as transfer and add pieces to cover the car. Variation: add accessories to the car by using play-dough. Maybe just cover the windshield or the tires. This focus their fine motor to a small and more specific area.

5.       Car luge: Cognitive skills of testing theories and figuring out what works and why. Cut open any large box to open it up and turn it into a ramp and/or road for the cars. My kids had a blast placing in in different areas around the house to test which place made the cars slide faster. Their favorite place was leaning against the couch. Not only did the cars travel speedily down the box, but they also got to climb onto the couch to reach the top of the box.

How do you guys like to play with cars?

For more fun activities, check out 10 Activities with the Summer Pool Noodle.

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