- 10 - 20 mins
- Fine motor, scissor skills, imaginative, creative
- Minimal mess
- Requires preparation
This DIY cardboard car wash is the perfect little addition for any car lovers play area. Made from recycled items and things you have at home; in a matter of minutes you can create a great little imaginary activity and the best thing about it, is your child will feel a sense of accomplishment when helping you create this fab little toy!
This activity is directional based, in which your child will be encouraged to follow steps in a task. They will use hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills to construct and decorate their car wash and practice important scissor skills too.
Scissor skills are important to develop. Cutting allows a child to build up the little muscles in their hands (fine motor skills) with the open and close motion. It supports the development of hand-eye coordination, increases bilateral coordination, and improves focus and attention.
What you will need
- Medium size box
- Paper
- Coloured markers
- Scissors (adult and children)
- Glue or tape
- Ruler
- matchbox cars
Activity steps
Set up (adults to prepare):
- Using the adult scissors create an entry and exit to your box. All boxes will vary slightly. On our box it meant cutting off the end flaps. Once created you will be able to look from one side to the other like a looking glass.
- Now measure some paper against your box. You want your paper to fit over the open ends; be sure to leave some excess overlap to attach it to the box later. This will become your entry and exit for your cars to run through.
- Now use your markers to draw the entry way to the car wash on the paper. A basic arch as an opening, some bubbles and a sign should do the trick. It doesn’t need to be fancy, but by all means be as creative as you wish. I kept mine simple as I wanted the focus to be on the scissors skill elements.
- Now, inside the arch, draw some vertical, dotted lines to indicate where to cut. This will become your car wash wipers. I put a small cross at the top of each line to remind my son where to stop cutting.
- Now repeat the steps above but for the exit of your car wash.
Now for the construction (to do with your child):
- Give your child the drawn entry template, and some child friendly scissors and explain to them where to cut. Younger children will need support with this.
- Now using your tape or glue (which ever you prefer or have) attach the paper to one end of your box.
- Now repeat the above steps for the exit.
- Let your child decorate their box with the markers and you are ready to play!
- Watch your child beam with accomplishment and success and watch their imaginations get a workout as they play with their very own cardboard car wash.
Variation:
- Your child may like to create and draw their own entry and exit. Perhaps you could provide the base outline with the arch and let them decorate or add some signs. This would be a great way to introduce and add a literacy element to the activity.
- Perhaps you would like to make your car wash a little more intricate- try using some cardboard rolls and add some car wash flaps inside. Maybe you could explore with mechanics- can you make your car wash flaps move? What other resources could you use?
- Explore with a range of materials!
Recycled items are great for box collage, with options endless. Have fun and show us some pictures of your car wash. What did you use?
Learning Outcomes
- Visual motor skills (hand eye co-ordination)
- Bilateral co-ordination
- Visual perceptual task (following direction)
- Fine motor skills
- Imaginary skills
Reference sites
We would like to acknowledge these amazing sites that have inspired us to create this activity. Thank you!