Cars. Cars. Cars. That was the answer if you asked my two-year-old at the time, now eight-year-old what he wanted to play with. He wanted to race cars. We would sit, me or his dad or his grandparents at one end of the hall and he at the other. He would race his toy cars to us, and we would send them back. Over and over and over. It was one of those adorable yet exhausting phases that kids go through. We laugh about it today and love our memories, but we had hardwood floors so, to be honest, our butts hurt during that season. We introduced him to the movie, Cars, and that year for Christmas, he got all the movie characters from Santa. He even had Lightning McQueen slippers. Just when you thought little toddlers in cute pajamas couldn’t get any more precious, just add slippers. We didn’t just race cars; we read books about cars and even had a floating little town map with roads and rubber cars to play with at bath time. Like many of you we also purchased a power wheels jeep the boys could drive around the yard.
I think my boys might get some of it naturally though because their dad is very into cars. We watched Top Gear for years at our house, and I may or may not have a shirt that says, “I am the Stig.” If you are not familiar with Top Gear, it’s a British show dedicated to testing whether various cars live up to manufacturer’s claims. The Stig was a race car driver who drove various cars around the studio’s track so that guest drivers on the show had a time to beat. He was always in full racing gear with his helmet on so that his identity remained a mystery. At some point during an episode, he took his helmet off the world discovered Michael Schumacher, the race car driver. As we started speeding toward summer, I thought it would be fun to dedicate a week to cars. A little history, a little science, and a lot of fun playing with toys we just happen to have lying around. Plus, we got the opportunity to pass along some fascinating facts about some of the great automotive legends. Did you know, for instance, that Ferruccio Lamborghini had a successful tractor company prior to becoming the exotic car manufacturer icon he is known as today? He owned a couple of Ferraris and actually got into an argument with Enzo Ferrari and decided to go out on his own. As I said, we love cars. We also may or may not have owned a vehicle with bullet resistant windows. Not because we were particularly worried about assassination attempts or drive by shootings, but it was more that it was the make and model my husband wanted with the acceptable number of miles. It just so happened that it had some additional features. It was a BMW 750i, and it was an interesting car. Boy was it fast, though. I never questioned whether I had enough room to pass.
Below, I am reposting the basic schedule we followed as we navigated two different school zoom call times. This week, I added an extra bit of fun in the way of a mystery bag. I wrote down all sorts of activities on pieces of paper, folded them up, and put them in a bag. While my oldest was zooming, my youngest grabbed a card or two out of the bag and did what was written on each one. Here’s where you can go crazy. One of ours was the ‘pool Daytona,’ where they had to run 25 laps around the pool. Give them something they have to build with Legos or make up a challenge for them to figure out how they would accomplish something, what they would use and why. You can also use a dart board and what they land on determines what they have to do (or get to do if you want to throw in some reward type activities). This week was both educational and a lot of fun. We learned about the history of cars, how they work, a little about racing, and even had our own car wash. Read on for details on five full days of car-themed activities that you and your little car-lover don’t want to miss out on.
Daily Schedule
8:00-9:00-Breakfast get up/eat, and practice verse during breakfast. Get dressed.
9:00-10:00-Big brother has a zoom call. While he completes his assignments, little brother does some independent activities.
10:00-11:00-Little brother has a zoom call and while he works on his activity, big brother works on independent activities.
11:00-11:30-Main activity for the day.
11:30-12:00-Recess
12:00-12:30-Reading
12:30: LUNCH!
The Classics
After our zoom calls and grab bag fun, we started the week off with a story from the book of Matthew. In Chapter 14, we read about the disciples and how they had been in a boat out on a lake almost all night fighting against a storm with fierce winds and strong waves. Early in the morning, they saw Jesus walking on the water. At first, they were afraid, but he called out to them letting them know it was him and to not be afraid. Peter called back to say that if it really was him, to tell him to come to him out on the water. Jesus told him to come, and Peter started walking on the water. When Peter takes his focus off Jesus, he grows fearful and begins to sink. Jesus reaches out, pulls him to safety and questions him as to why he doubted. For a simple craft to help remember and illustrate the story, we made a raft out of drinking straws. I found this cute craft at the site in the link below. We wrote our memory verse on the sail, then put our raft in water and let her float. There are many verses you could use on your raft. Verses about peace in the midst of storms or God’s power over everything. The craft example in the link displays John 16:33 which states, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.” I love this verse and the perspective it gives both me and my boys. Not only is God able to dispel the storms of life, but he is able to bring immense peace in the midst of them. It is also a great reminder that we, like Peter, should keep our focus on him, rather than what is raging around us.
For our introduction to car week, we started with some history. Below is a link to a short video about the history of motor transportation. There is also a link to the Smithsonian site with some great facts about the early cars. We got my husband a book called Classic Cars as one of his Father’s Day gifts one year and I think this book is great for any car lover out there. It’s a larger, coffee table style book with beautiful pictures and each page is packed with facts laid out in a timeline format. It is not just pages of car facts, though; it is uniquely sectioned out, outlining each of the different automotive manufacturer’s story. The book presents all these stories like mini chapters covering all the fascinating details along each journey in the timeline. It really is a beautiful art book of cars, which is so fitting since many of these cars are works of art. We enjoyed our video, learning all sorts of interesting car facts and checking out some of the cars in our classic car book. It provided the needed inspiration for our next project.
Short video about the origin of cars: history of cars
Some facts: early car facts
Classic Car: The Definitive Visual History
For art, we decided to pick a car and draw it as best we could. This was somewhat overwhelming because most of the car drawings we found were full of intimidating detail. In the end, the boys begged me to draw a sports car for them to color. I chose an easy outline and did one for each of them. For recess, we went outside and did some good old fashioned racing. Who’s the fastest? I will admit that early on (as in a couple of years ago), if I were running full speed, neither of my kids could beat me. I will say, my oldest is getting faster and I must really work to beat him sometimes. For our reading time, we grabbed at least three books and I read to them. Sometimes I let Wood practice reading to Graham, which was really sweet. One book that is good for younger kids and goes along with our theme for the week is Cool Cars, by Tony Mitton. He has written several and we also have Terrific Trains and Amazing Airplanes. I have included the link below for that book.
The Mechanics
We kicked off this day with some review of the cars we looked at in our classic car book. We discussed which ones were our favorite and why. Each of the boys grabbed a task from the mystery bag while waiting on his brother to finish up any school calls and assignments. Then we got together to talk about the theme of the day, the mechanics. We were getting ready to pop the hood and take a look underneath it all. How does a car work? I admit, I am not exactly sure myself, so I appreciated the resources that I found for some basics of an introduction. We watched the video at the link below outlining how a car works. I also found an alphabet car game on Pinterest and pinned it. All you need is construction paper and tape or glue. Make a car, the road and then cut circles out for the letters. You need one for uppercase and lowercase letters. These are the tires for your car. Have your little ones match up the uppercase letters to the lowercase ones to make the car ready to go. This is a great hands-on car-themed activity for pre-K students.
An activity requiring craftier skill that is a great idea for grade school kids is making your own rubber band car. It requires a hot glue gun, bottle caps, small popsicle sticks, small wooden craft sticks, straws, some black electrical tape, a bolt, and a rubber band of course. I have included a link below to a short video tutorial for how to assemble your rubber band car. This obviously requires more assistance because of the glue gun and the assembly, but it is a great first car for kids who like to build and see how things work. Plus, it is a bonus for them to actually make something they can play with. For recess, you can go outside and play with your new cars! We also made a ramp and played with our remote-control cars. I’ve included a link to the Traxxas site. We purchased ours from them and it is well made, handles well and a lot of fun! As you grab some books for reading, consider The Bridge is Up. This book has all sorts of vehicles and is great for helping kids remember things in sequence.
Video: how a car works
Game: Alphabet Car Game!
Activity: How to Make a Mini Rubber Band Car
The Pit Stop and The Car Wash
This day might be one of my all-time favorites. We got up and we all put on grubby clothes. You know, the ones you paint in or wear washing cars. We reviewed our Bible story and memory verse at breakfast. Let them put the raft they made in water again to watch it float as you review the details of the story of Jesus walking on water. After breakfast, it was time for race cars. We talked a little about race car driving and I found some short videos that demonstrate the concept of the racing team and the all-important pit stop. We watched a video of a Formula 1 and a Nascar pit stop as well as a short clip of a Daytona race. The links are all below and the link to Formula 1 is also an article about how Formula 1 works so you can go through that for some additional racing facts. In addition, we viewed the short video below to learn some new Spanish transportation words.
At some point, we headed outside to get dirty. I grabbed two buckets and filled one with water and one with mostly dirt and some water to make a muddy mess. Then, I grabbed as many of our toy cars and trucks as I could find and threw them in the mud pit, so they got nice and filthy. I grabbed a towel to lay on the ground next to the clean water bucket. The boys were going to do a timed car wash. How many cars can they wash in 3 minutes? They had to find the muddy cars, wash them in the clean water and get them on the dry towel for it to count. At the end of the 3 minutes, I counted the vehicles on the dry towel for the total score. When they were ready, I turned on my car wash playlist and hit start on the timer. They had fun, cleaned up my mess for me and I got to dance to tunes during the whole activity. Mom win. We threw in Go, Dog, Go! as one of our books for reading, of course. As a special treat, you can have a movie night and watch, The Art of Racing in the Rain. Now, I will tell you that while this movie has some pretty cool scenes with legendary cars, it is very sad at times. There are some difficult moments as he and his family go through some very tough trials. Bring tissue and maybe consider something else if you have extra sensitive children.
Formula one: formula 1 pit stop
Nascar: nascar pit stop
Race clip: nascar race clip
The Rules of the Road
After our morning routines and grab bag fun, we settled into our theme for day four, which was a little about car safety and a little about the perfect road trip. Like many of you, I have had those heart stopping moments when you think your child is about to just run out into traffic or they start to open the car door on the street side and get out. I decided to talk about some important safety rules that I want them to remember, and we started with the basics. Using the acronym NLSS (because who doesn’t need another acronym), we launched into our discussion about necessary safety rules. NLSS stands for “Never Lose Safety Sense,” and yes, I made that up. I broke it down further with a safety rule per letter.
N-No running or playing in a parking lot
Unfortunately, we have all heard tragic stories of children getting hit by cars in a parking lot. I want them to be aware that anywhere cars are driving, or could be, they need to be aware and take safety precautions.
L-Look both ways
This one is obvious. As they get older, I realize they will not always be holding my hand and I want them to have this habit ingrained in them as they approach a street or road to cross. At this point, I am constantly saying, “stop, wait, what do we do?” I let them tell me and demonstrate looking both ways. My oldest has actually tried to pull me back a time or two because he saw a car and thought I was about to step out in front of it. I wasn’t, but I am thrilled he was paying attention.
S-Stay on sidewalk
This goes right in line with just paying attention. As they go places in groups or with a class, I want them to stay on the sidewalk and out of the street. My children are young enough that I am always with them at this stage. I don’t know about you, but I have noticed that my little one is all over the place at times. Just running free. This is another way I can just reinforce paying attention to where he is walking. I have also specifically told each of them to never chase a ball out into the street. If they are playing and a ball goes into the road, I told them to let an adult know and we will get it for them. We practice that when we play in the front yard. If a ball looks like it’s going rogue, I will quiz them and ask, “are you going after that if it goes into the street?” It’s one time I am happy to hear the word, “no,” from my boys. It’s an A+ if I get a “no, ma’am.” Got to make sure they remember their manners.
S-Seat belt
Seat belts are the law, yes. We always wear them, of course. While they are young, they ride mostly with us or grandparents, so we make sure they are strapped in appropriately. Again, as they get older, they may find themselves in a situation where people are trying to cram 10 individuals into one car, or they may want to ride with their friends so bad, but to do so would be dangerous. Accidents are beyond our control, but I want to know that my child is strapped in as safely as possible to hopefully avoid major injuries whenever possible. So, we explain how the seat belts protect us and why it is important to wear them, and we also tell them never to ride in any car where they are not able to be strapped in safely.
To reinforce a little geography, our next activity included rolling out the U.S. Map. We decided to plan a trip. Where do we want to go and how will we get there? What is our route? What states will we be traveling to and is there anything along the way we might want to see? We had fun talking about where we would visit and what we would pack for our trip. It is a fun activity, and you can even through in a little math for the grade school kids by looking at the number of total miles. If they were driving 60 miles an hour, how long would it take to go 300 miles? What places would that put us on the map? For recess, we headed out with our bikes to enjoy the fresh air. During reading, we included Little Blue Truck Leads the Way, which is another one of our Little Blue Truck favorites.
The Final Lap
We finally reached our last day of our car-themed week. After our morning routine, we reviewed our Bible story and memory verse and talked about our favorite activities of the week so far. What were their favorite cars? What did they learn? We also settled in for a fun parking lot spelling game, one of our favorite movies and a car-themed treat. After all, what is Friday, without a movie and a treat? First up, was our spelling game. I took a black piece of construction paper and made three parking spaces by adding two yellow pieces of masking tape, dividing it into three equal sections. We used toy cars and the circle letters we used earlier in the week for the alphabet car game. We took turns sounding out easy three letter words. The boys added letters and got to pull their cars into the spaces as they made simple words. Next, we settled in for our feature film. What would this week be without the movie, Cars? We enjoyed watching Lightning McQueen tear up the racetrack. We love all the quirky characters in Radiator Springs. As a mom, I also appreciate the lessons about hard work and taking responsibility for your mistakes. I love the emphasis on friendship and slowing down to enjoy the view. We are definitely fans of #95 at our house. Little car brownies were on the menu for our special treat. You can just make regular brownies and cut them into rectangles. Use some frosting to attach two M&Ms on each side for the wheels and stick a teddy graham in the center. Just like that you have little car brownies complete with cute little drivers. Another variation is just to add a red, yellow, and green M&Ms to make stop-light brownies. Just as easy and just as good! For recess, we took our sidewalk chalk outside and made some cars in the driveway. I grabbed Classic Car, again to flip through and read some more interesting car facts. Then I let them pick some additional books to round out our reading time.
We thoroughly enjoyed our week dedicated to cars. I hope you find this post helpful if you are looking for some fun themed ideas for either a supplement to virtual education or some activities in between the weeks your kids are at camp. As you head into summer, grab some of these activities or all of them and have a fast and furious week of your own.
With my love of music, I have to throw in some relevant tunes that you can incorporate into the cars playlist that I know you will make. The band, Cake has a song from their album “Fashion Nugget,” called “The Distance,” that starts off,
“Reluctantly crouched at the starting line,
Engines pumping and thumping in time.
The green light flashes, the flags go up.
Churning and burning, they yearn for the cup.They deftly maneuver and muscle for rank,
Fuel burning fast on an empty tank.
Reckless and wild, they pour through the turns.
Their prowess is potent and secretly stern.”
It is quite motivational, so you could always play that while they complete their chores or any competitive activity. “Stick Shifts and Safety Belts” is also a song from the same album. It is a fun, alternative, quirky song about riding down the road sitting next to the one you love. I suggest adding it to your playlist too.
I also watched Ford v Ferrari, this week for the first time which I highly recommend if you are interested in the history of racing at all. Ferrari led the pack in racing and were the favorites to win year after year at the famous 24 hour Le Mans race in France. Ford decided to get into racing and with the help of Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles, the British race car driver, they made it happen and (spoiler alert) beat the Italians. A very impressive story.
As I have reviewed our car activities this week, I am reminded of a few things.
- As much as I want a Ferrari, I realize I will likely never have one.
- As Carroll Shelby said in the movie, “you can’t buy a win.” You need hard work, perseverance and expertise. The right guy (or girl) for the job. Excel in your field and you will go far.
- Keep your eyes on Jesus because he has overcome, well, everything.
Last, but not least, in the words of Lightning McQueen,
“Float like a Cadillac, sting like a Beamer.”
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