Toy Car Learning Activities for Kids

As part of my new blog series about using special interests for teaching.. Today I am sharing my favorite toy car learning activities for kids. In this blog post you will find a range of different car themed activities that you can use for different subjects and skills.

On the bottom of this blog post I’ve also included links to some resources and activities (including free downloads) to use as part of your toy car theme.

Literacy

• Write letters of the alphabet on top of toy cars. Make a parking lot on a giant piece of paper with alphabet letters on each parking space. Students have to match the car to the parking space.
• Spell the makes and names of different cars.
• Use number plates to work on writing, letter recognition, number recognition.
• Draw letters and words on the ground outside using chalk. Have students use cars to either drive along these.. Or use cars to place over them to make the letters and words using cars.
• Matching different road signs.
• Make roads into different shapes and lines for students to follow along to work on their fine motor skills.
• Read ‘If I Built a Car.’
• Spell words using letters on cars.
• Match car to parking space rhyming words.
• Read factual and fiction books about cars. Discuss them afterwards. Find ways to extend the learning into different activities.

Math

• Write numbers on top of toy cars. Make a parking lot on a giant piece of paper with numbers on each parking space. Students have to match the car to the parking space.
• Draw shapes on top of toy cars. Make a parking lot on a giant piece of paper with shapes on each parking space. Students have to match the car to the parking space.
• Color matching cars.
• Order cars into lines of different sizes.
• Sit with a road in view. Give students a tally sheet to mark down how many cars they see in different colors.
• Make roads into different shapes. Have students drive the car around the shape; discuss. How many sides does the shape have?
• Make roads into different numbers. Have students drive the car around the number. Underneath have a ten frame. Students place mini car wheels or cars into the ten frame to make the same number.
• Use play dough to make different shape wheels for the cars.
• Roll a dice; count out that many cars.
• Use road tape to create different 2D shapes on the floor for students to drive over and name. (See photo here.)

Science

• Bake biscuits in the shape of cars.
• Freeze cars in individual pots of water. Students have to work out how to get the cars out of the ice.
• Car chemical reaction.
• Baking soda and vinegar car wash.

Art & Crafts

• Car sun catcher crafts.
• Cover a table with paper. Place paint blobs around the paper. Have students drive cars through the paint and around the paper for mark making.
• Attach a pen to the back of a car. Students move the car along paper to drag the pen and make marks, numbers, letters, pictures etc.
• Have students design their own car using a cardboard box that they can wear.
• Create car headbands.
• Make cars out of toilet paper.

Geography

• Where do cars come from?
• Learn about the countries that manufacture different cars.
• Design a city with roads, adequate parking etc.
• Follow instructions; car moving along a road map. ‘Move the blue car to the library.’ etc

History

• Learn about the history of cars.
• Compare cars to then and now.
• Visit a car museum to see the evolution of cars.

Social & Emotional Learning

• Car garage dramatic play.

Physical

• Have students design their own car using a cardboard box that they can wear. Then have them line up and race against each other!
• Lay down different colors of tape on the floor all around to make different intertwined routes. Students find the same color cars as the tape and follow alone those lines – or give them a colored car hat to wear and they have to walk along that line.

Sensory

• Roll out play dough to cover a large area. Have students drag cars through there or place on there to view the different tracks and marks that the cars make.
• Car wash sensory bin; have two sensory bins set up. One with cars driving through mud. The other with water, soap and brushes. Have students wash the cars.
• Design different cars using play dough.

STEM

• Design cars; make them from scratch.
• Make a parking garage with different levels and ramps.
• Use LEGO to design car and car tracks.
• Follow instructions to build a car.
• Make balloon cars.
• Magnet powered cars.

Life Skills

• Purchasing a car, car parts etc.
• Taking out car insurance.
• How to get a driver’s license.
• Learn the rules of the road.

What activities have you done with toy cars? Leave a comment below and share your ideas too!

Be sure to check out my Pinterest Board that is full of car activities for kids here.

Links to Downloads

• Free Car Ten Frame Task Cards
• What Color (Colour) is the Car? Adapted Books
• Car Fine Motor Skill Task Cards
• 2D Shape Car Wheel Task Cards
• Free How to Draw a Car Worksheet
• Number Car Activity Mats 0-10
• 2D Shape Play Dough Mats Car Wheels
• Free Race Car Play Dough Mats

Amazon Goodies

Below a list of my favorite items from Amazon to use as part of a cars theme.

The following links are affiliate links, which means if you purchase anything I may get a very small % of commission at no extra charge to you!

• Car Lock and Keys
• Stacking Cars
• Car Road Tape
• Giant Road Jigsaw Puzzles
• Learning Resources Car Set
• Build a Car Set
• ABC Car Parts for Kids Book

Nikki

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