Cars, trucks and things that go- my littles are into basically everything with a motor so I thought a cars/trucks/driving week would be something they’d enjoy! Buckle up guys, because this week of learning is going to be a wild ride!
–Literacy:
-Traffic light retelling: Read a book about cars (we read “Go, Dog, Go!”) and then have your little retell the story (we just did the end of the book since it has more of a plot line) and write their thinking in a traffic light graphic organizer.
-Car letter match up: I printed this car ABC match from Activity Mom then laminated it and had my littles match upper to lower case.
-C- and -ar word families: I had my little brainstorm words that start with c and end with the -ar sound! I wrote them on the board, but you could also have your little do the writing.
-Write your name with cars: This was a bit tricky, even on huge paper, but my littles still enjoyed it! For my 3 year old I wrote his name in large letters then had him drive his car through the paint then use it to drive on the letters to paint his name. I had my 5 year old try driving his own letters, but he ran out of room so maybe write their name first even if they’re a bit older!
-Road trip story prompt: Have your little write a fictional story about a road trip.
-Cars and roads book list:
–Math:
-Build your own racing game: We used our Picasso Tile set for this, but Magnetiles or Post-it notes would also work! You just make a gameboard with the tiles, then take turns rolling dice (we used a 10 sided dice but you could do 2 traditional dice and have your little add them) and moving your matchbox car that many tiles. Whoever reaches the end of the track first wins! I got this from Everyday Chaos and Calm.
-Traffic light geometry: We reviewed circles and rectangles, then I had my littles cut out a green, yellow and red circle and glue them to a black triangle to make a stop light. We also went over what each color means just for fun!
-Road trip count and clip: I printed these road trip count and clip cards from Fluffy Tots, then laminated them and had my 3 year old work on the 1-3 cards and my 5 year old work on the rest…ie. they counted each item and clipped the correct number.
-Car and gas pump match: I found this cute matching game on Tot Schooling. You just print, laminate, and cut out the gas pumps and cars, then have your little identify and match each number car to its gas tank.
-Car number ordering: So I just discovered you can use dry erase markers to write numbers on toy cars, which makes the prep for this WAY easier than sticking tape to each car and writing the number on the tape! If you’ve been following me awhile, we’ve done this one before, but it’s fun and hands on and fit with the theme so we busted it out again! You just write 1-10 on a set of ten cars, scramble them and have your little put them back in order.
–Science:
-Magnetic car play: This was so much fun- my littles really enjoyed it! You just tape a magnet to the top of a small toy car, then use another magnet to move the car around without touching it. We discussed magnet poles and how south repels south and north repels north but north and south attract. We found that you had to use the repelling side to move the car best- and that they could get going pretty fast! We even raced them a few times. I got this idea from Science Kiddo on Pinterest.
-Ramp texture experiment: We built a ramp using a bin and a cookie sheet, then tested 3 different cars on it, marking where each car landed with “cookie sheet”. Next we covered it with a paper towel and tested them again, this time marking the landing spots with “paper towel”. We did the same thing with a kitchen towel and a fuzzy blanket. Then I asked my little to look at the data (all the places the cars landed) and come to a conclusion about the ramp surfaces- ie. How does the ramp surface effect how far the car travels? He rightly concluded that the fuzzier the surface, the more friction there is and the harder it is for the wheels to turn, so the car doesn’t go as far. Great job scientist!
-Fizzy car wash play and explore activity: I gave my littles a pan of vinegar, a pan of baking soda, a pan of soapy water and a bowl of clean water and a towel and let them play and explore by using cars to mix the materials however they wanted. I got this idea from Views from a Step Stool.
-Vehicle sorting: I gave my littles a pile of random road vehicles and had them sort how they chose. My 5 year old sorted by size, and my 3 year old by color.
-STEM bridge building challenge: I gave each of my littles 3 pieces of paper, 6 inches of tape and some scissors, along with the task to build the longest bridge they could between our school table and their chair.
–Art:
-Vehicle collage: I gave my littles some old magazines along with the task to find and cut out cars and trucks. When they had a good stack, I had them glue the pictures to black paper to make a collage.
-Paint a car: They have a few cute paint your own car kits on Amazon…we’ve done the Melissa and Doug ones before, so I went with this build your own car kit for this activity. The littles had a blast painting and decorating the cars with stickers.
-Paper plate steering wheels: I gave my littles paper plates with a steering wheel design sketched on them and had them color them in then play race while “driving” with them around the house.
-Tinfoil car coloring: I cut cars out of tin foil and had my littles decorate them with Sharpie markers.
-Car color mixing: I squirted some paint (check out this AMAZING Crayola paint set I got on Amazon for $30! 12 bottles that are each 16 ounces…its going to last me foreverrrrr! LoL Sorry I’m super excited! It’s a way better deal than 12 1 ounce bottles for $12!) into a sheet pan covered with shaving foam and had my littles drive cars through it to mix the paint colors and explore. I got this idea from PreK Pages.
–Extras:
-Letter of the week: Zz, each day we do a different activity focused on our letter- introduction/have your little practice it on the chalkboard (or white board), think of words that start with the letter and make a list, workbook letter writing practice, workbook word writing practice.
-Word of the week: did, each day we do a different activity focused on our word- introduction/sound the word out/have your little practice writing it on the chalkboard or whiteboard, word family list- think of other words that rhyme with your word of the week, use the word in a sentence (have your little come up with the sentence and write it for them) then have your little illustrate the sentence, and workpage practice.
-Bible verse: This month’s Bible verse is “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, consider others as more important than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3 I write each word in the verse on a post-it, stick them to the wall then have my little point to each word and read it each day all month.
-Character trait of the month: consideration…this word is reviewed and posted at the start of the month then each time one of my littles freely demonstrates generosity I use the word to specifically praise what they’re doing and encourage the trait in them. (ie. “That was very considerate of you to split your cookie with me!”)
–Shopping/supply list:
- toy cars (10-20)
- Go Dog Go (or other car book)
- clothespins
- Magnetiles (blocks would work too)
- dice
- cookie sheet
- stack of books
- blanket (one smooth, one fluffy or knitted)
- pillowcase
- measuring tape
- magnet kit/strong magnets
- baking soda
- vinegar
- soap
- bowls
- tin foil
- paint your own car kit
- shaving cream
- paper plate
- old magazines
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