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Explore geometry and form a grid with them. Tape a marker to the front or back and then push the car around on some paper to make a drawing. Make a road and habitat out of poster board.
Create a board game out of poster board, get a dice or spinner, and have the cars be your playing pieces.
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Create a numbered parking lot on a piece of construction paper. Call out a number, and have your kid park his car in that spot. Great way to practice numbers, and works with letters as well. Print out various road signs and traffic lights from the Internet. Place them on the floor and have your child drive around following the road sign rules. It’s a good way to learn road signs.
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Put cars on a tray of flour and drive around. Notice all the cool tracks you can make!
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Use an old tissue box and a straw to create an imaginary gas pump. Cover the box with construction paper and insert a straw through the box. Create a price for your gas and fill up your cars. Use paper towel tubes to create tunnels for toy cars. Attach them to boxes, doors or walls and see how many fun paths a car can take.
Use old recycled bottles and objects to create buildings. Use black foam paper to create the road. Drive your cars through this recycled city.
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Make a car puppet! Fold an index card in half and cut 1/3 inch-long slits into the four corners of the cards. Then tie black thread to the wheels of the car and through the slits in the index card.
Have a car wash for the toy vehicles – use a bucket of water and add shaving cream for some extra fun.
Sources: handsonaswegrow.com/activitiesvehicles-cars-trucks-trains; whatdowedoallday. com/2012/09/10-ways-to-play-with-toys-cars. html; toddlertoddler.com; littlefamilyfun. com/2010/02/parking-lot-numbers.html; littlefamilyfun.com/2011/02/car-race-game. html; funathomewithkids.com/2013/04/ recycled-car-city-our-little-guy-is.html; kidsactivitiesblog.com/5789/car-marionettepuppet; alittlelearningfortwo.blogspot. com/2010/09/racing-tubes.html
January 2014 Atlanta Parent 29