Transportation vehicles have the power to do so many things. They roll, race, crash, build, and so much more. Playing with vehicles bridges your child’s real-life experiences to expressing their curious ideas through pretend play. This tactile, visual, and sensory activity will have your child learning through their senses while following their intrinsic curiosity. 

What You will Need 

Process 

Engaging with Your Child 

Let the fun explorations begin! Allow your child to lead this activity with their creative imagination and show you what their interest is. Sit alongside your child observing what they do and follow their lead by engaging with them in play. During play, find organic opportunities to ask your child to touch and observe the texture of the mixture, introduce the names of the vehicles, the sizes of the trucks compared to each other, the colours and the different tracks they leave behind in the sensory mixture. While playing alongside your child, use sound-words such as “Vroom, crash, bang, crunch, boom, squish, etc.” while enacting the action that goes along those sounds. Introducing the sound of words assist with your child recognizing that words are made up of sounds. For older children, use descriptive language of the actions the vehicles such as “Fast, slow, dump, crash, bang, lift, scoop, move, etc”. Remember, providing your child with rich experiences in pretend play enriches their language and thinking skills through problem solving, negotiating, assigning roles, expressing their ideas and finding their unique way of retelling their ideas, stories and experiences. 

Tip: Feel free to add more accessories to the tray with older children, such as forks, spoons, cups, containers, toy people and animals, to encourage open-ended exploratory play.