My grandson loves his cars and trucks so I thought I would introduce him to a simple version of ramps and cars this week. I started by making a simple toddler-sized ramp that he could easily explore…
To make the ramp, I taped together two pieces of left-over foam board that I have had sitting on my dining room table for over a week. I was thrilled to find some use for the pieces of foam board to at least get them off the table for awhile…
While my grandson was off playing in the other room, I set up our new ramp by taping one end of the foam board ramp to a kid-size table leaving the other piece of foam board hanging over the edge of the table. At first I set out three little trucks I had picked up from the dollar store and then waited for my grandson to come back into the kitchen so I could introduce him to my newly made DIY really cool toddler-sized ramp…
All it took was one demonstration of what to do and then it was time for grandma to move out of the way and let this toddler have at it…
And it wasn’t long before more cars and trucks were added to the ramp…
And off they went across the track and down the ramp…
After awhile, my grandson decided to drive the cars and trucks up the ramp. Well as you know, foam board will not hold up well to being climbed on so after it was bent up a little, my grandson figured out (with a little help from me) if he stood to the side of the ramp, he could drive back up…
And back up the ramp went all the cars and trucks. We used the words “up” and “down” a lot during my grandson’s play….
I had a teacher recently mention on Facebook that she was looking for idea on how to introduce the concept of “Up and Down” to her students in the classroom. My suggestion to anyone wishing to teach directional words is to put them into action. The act of making those cars go up and down gave my grandson and I ample opportunity to use the words “up and down” in a fun and meaningful way…
Available on Amazon
Links to Grow on
Engineering with ramp making materials in preschool by Teach Preschool
Cars down ramps in paint by Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds
Discovery Box: Ramps and Chutes by The Imagination Tree
Bathtub Play: Car City by Play Create Explore