Toy Car Activities For Kids
Both as a therapist and as a mom, I’ve gotten pretty good at being sneaky. Whether I’m with my kids at home or with my students at work, I’ve learned how to guide play activities for kids in a direction that will make it challenging for them. It’s all in the presentation, am I right? This activity can change focus from fine motor skills to gross motor skills with the simple switch of a toy, all the while giving your child a great visual motor challenge!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED: Colored tape (we used blue painters tape), small matchbox cars, bigger dump trucks or digger trucks, ride on car/tricycle/bike, printable road signs
WHAT TO DO: Tape out a challenging “road” on the driveway. Don’t be shy, make it go wide and far, back and forth, up and down. Add the printable road signs along the way for a fun challenge! Next, have your child grip those matchbox cars and drive them along the tape, carefully staying on the road and following all the rules of the signs! When they reach the end of the road, repeat the same drive with the metal dump trucks or diggers using two hands to push. Finally, have your child navigate the road on their ride-on toy or on a tricycle or bike for some whole body fun!
HOW TO CHANGE IT UP:
-To make this activity easier, put the line of tape on a table top where the child can remain seated and just practice gripping and moving the matchbox cars along the road. Use wider tape and more basic straight line patterns. Remove the road signs for less distraction.
-To make this activity more difficult, let your children tape out the road on his own – pulling, tearing, and manipulating the tape. You can also make the roadway even more challenging by adding in zig zags, curves, and diagonal patterns. Put some rocks in the back of the dump trucks to add weight and make it more of a strength challenge!
SKILL AREAS ADDRESSED: Balance, bilateral coordination, coordination, fine motor skills, grasp, gross motor skills, proprioception, cognitive skills, strength, visual motor skills, visual perceptual skills
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