Step by Step Fun!
Create a roadway on the floor with masking tape. Then have children crawl along as they push a car down the road.
Using masking tape, make two parallel lines to create a roadway on the floor. Have children push a small toy car within the lines of the tape to drive to the end. Make a car wash at the end with sudsy water, or a play garage so there is a reward for getting to the destination. Note: Do not use tape on wood floor. It will pull up the polyurethane and stain.
Activity Alternatives:
- For children who use a wheelchair or need to complete the activity sitting down:
- Make a small track on a table or wheelchair tray. This can help encourage crossing midline and hand transferring.
- Make the road wide to give children plenty of space to stay on the road.
- Make the road a simple, short, straight distance to the destination.
Schedule Boosters:
- Have time to turn this into a longer activity outdoors?
- Use a large tarp to create masking tape roads or railways to cover longer distances over grass or sand to further support development of gross motor skills through interaction with the environment and rich sensory experiences.
- Have limited space and/or time?
- Use a large cookie sheet - this provides an opportunity to use nonmagnetic and/or magnetic characters to place around the track or to “walk” on the track, to use smaller vehicles, and/or to have a contained and shortened road.
- Use a wall mounted dry erase board - working on a vertical surface boosts the challenge to upper body stability and coordination, as well as eye muscle development (ocular motor).
Challenge Boosters:
- Add angles and turns in the road (e.g., under the table, around the chair) to encourage visual processing and coordinated movement.
- Extend the road to the next room(s).
- Use only one strip of masking tape so the child must use heightened precision to drive on the line.
Benefits of Play:
- Bilateral coordination: When children crawl, they use reciprocal leg and arm movements – moving arms and legs at the same time, but in opposite directions. This helps strengthen the connections in their brain to ensure it communicates and uses both sides of their body in a controlled and organized way.
- Weight shifting: As children crawl along with their car, they are shifting their weight in the same fashion they need for walking.
- Eye-hand coordination and eye-movement: When children follow the paths, they build the connection between what their arms and hands need to do based on what they see. This includes increasing their precision with reaching, placing, tracing, aiming, following a trajectory, and estimating distances.