V is for Vehicles

      

• We love books! … Read some of your favorite truck, car, and vehicle books!

• Oatmeal Construction Site … make this messy sensory bin from Snails and Puppy Dog Tails to drive all sorts of vehicles in.
  1. In a shallow tub, mix water with oatmeal. Just experiment with the combination. More water will make the oatmeal mixture gooier.
  2. Add several construction vehicles. This little set of vehicles is perfect!
  3. If you really don’t want to make an oatmeal mess, just use playdoh.

• Letter V Road … we started with one V, then ended up with roads all over the floor. Very fun and super easy to clean up!
  1. Make a large V on the floor with masking tape (I found this wide tape at Home Depot in the paint section). Add more roadways!
  1. NOTE: Be sure to use a painters-type masking tape that is meant to remove easily!
  2. Use a sharpie to draw dashes on the road.
  3. Drive your vehicles along the roads.
  4. TIP: I’ll tell you about two of our favorite toys for the cars … only because as soon as we taped down the roads, my kids grabbed these to add to the set-up (you can see them in the picture above). They are kid-tested favorites around here…

Hot Wheels 4-Lane Elimination  Race Playset	Tonka Wheel Pals Triple Track Tower
My 4-year-old got this for his birthday in November and it has been played with almost daily by all three of my kids. The kids put four cars at the start, pull the trigger and depending on which car is faster, three of them get knocked off by the little spring doors. What I love: It’s durable (daily play with no broken parts!) It is compact and folds up nicely when we clean up. The kids are totally intrigued with it. They race all of their cars, all the time and the outcome is always different. No batteries needed. We got it at Target for about $15	This was a Christmas gift from Grandma several years ago. This is better for younger kids, but my older boys will still play with it. They put three cars at the “starting line” then push the button at the bottom to race all three. They love it. What I love: It’s durable (had it for 3 years with no broken parts!) Easy enough to assemble that we usually take it apart to store. There is a little storage “parking spot” on the back to keep the cars. Simple. My 2-year-old can it herself. On/Off Switch. This one does make a little racing noise, but you can turn it off or my kids even play with it without the noise. It’s not obnoxious

 

• I Spy Vehicles Game
  1. Make a simple I Spy Vehicles game. Use the one above, or create your own with clipart from Microsoft Clipart. I included a blank page if that’s helpful in any way.
  2. Look out your front window, go to a park or even better go to your favorite ice cream shop (and sit at a table next to a big window).
  3. Observe all of the vehicles passing by.
  4. Check off the vehicles you see while you are spying.
• Vehicle Bingo
  1. Use the same I Spy pages above.
  2. Print and cut apart an extra page & play bingo!

• Vehicle Colors … I just added this simplified page because you could use it several different way:
  1. I Spy Colors!
     • Use it as a simple I Spy board for younger kids.
     • Have them spy any vehicle and name it’s color.
     • Then color in one car the matching color with a crayon.
  2. Color Dice Game
     • Use a dice with a different color on each side … like the ones above.
     • Roll the dice & name the color.
     • Color in one of the cars the matching color.

• Vehicle Puzzles … My kids love pulling the puzzles out. The great thing about these chunky puzzles is that you can also play with the pieces by themselves!