Vehicle play can be engaging to many young kids, who enjoy recreating their own experiences with cars, buses, trains and planes. Some are fascinated with how vehicles work and spend long minutes rolling and watching the wheels spin. Some investigate how the vehicles respond to being driven on different surfaces, or experiment with careening cars down an incline. Many like to enact rescue missions, construction scenes and other scenarios they’ve seen or learned about. So many children love vehicles that we always have some available at school. We have had Flip Cars and Take Apart Cars to play with in the classroom. In the gym we’ve had cars and the yellow track pieces to build into different configurations. Books and puzzles with cars, trucks, tractors and airplanes are always popular. Vehicle play can provide a basis for imaginative play, an impetus for building with blocks, and a way to connect with other children.
This week we’ve set up a car wash in our water table, with soapy water, sponges, cars and wheels, and various platforms and water wheels to create car wash stations. We’ve seen some creative setups already! Kids like to recreate their experiences of being at the car wash, or create a scenario about cars getting dirty and needing a wash. Vehicles are scrubbed by hand, set under the water wheels, or driven through various water stations.
Kids like songs about vehicles, too, and we’ve been singing The Wheels on the Bus at group time or at our gathering place at the end of gym time. Another song we like to sing is Drive My Car, which you may have heard your child singing at home. Here is a link to a video of Laurie Berkner singing and playing the song. You and your child might like to have a look and listen!
PS - We introduced this one recently, with slightly different actions. Hope it doesn’t give you an ear worm!