7 Car Activities

 Several weeks ago we did a unit on cars but I never got around to blogging about it. Here are some of the activities we did that week. 

1. Car Tracks

We drove the cars through paint and then around the paper to make tracks.

2. Driving Cars Through Different Terrain

I put out trays of different materials (sand, rocks, shaving cream, and wood chips) and the children drove the toy cars through them. During the activity, we talked about which ones were easy to drive through and which were difficult to drive through. 

3. Car Wash

After all those messy activities, our cars needed a good cleaning. We set up a car wash with soapy water and sponges where the children could wash the cars. 

4. Garage

In the playground, we set up a garage where the children could repair bikes. We brought the (toy) tool set out and turned the bikes upside down (because they mostly wanted to work on the wheels). Our mechanics fixed all of the tricycles and shopping carts in the playground! 

5. License Plate Rubbings

I found these old license plates at a flea market. To keep them from moving while the children rubbed, I taped them to the table and then taped the paper over them. The children loved how the numbers "appeared" as they rubbed with their crayons. 

6. Road Maps

 This was probably my favorite activity from the week. I brought in some old road maps that I had at home and opened them up on the floor. After showing the children the roads and how people plan trips using maps, I gave them each a highlighter and let them plan their own road trips. As they worked, they told me about where they were going. Most of the children said were going to visit Grandma or Grandpa or some other family member. Several children planned trips to Disney or to their own homes. They worked on planning the trips for quite a long time. Many of them drew the routes on actual roads while others simply scribbled on the maps. Either way they really enjoyed it and I enjoyed hearing their plans.

7. My Favorite Way to Travel

 I made this chart with pictures of four different ways to travel that I found on the Internet. I wrote each child's name on a circle sticker and let them put it under the picture of their favorite mode of transportation. Then we counted the number of stickers under each picture. Not surprisingly, the airplane got the most votes.