Little Cars Drive to the Car Wash
Each child drives a little car with a pretend steering wheel around town: cruising the highway, stopping at the gas station and rolling through the car wash, where the teacher brushes them with fabric. It builds locomotion, changes of speed and attention to signals.
How to play
- Beforehand, use cones to mark a wide car-wash lane on one side of the gym and set loose cones as gas pumps. Kids spread out.
- Everyone grabs a pretend steering wheel and starts the engine: "Vroom, vroom!" They drive around town walking, no crashing, for one minute.
- Voice signals with claps: "Highway!" (easy jog), "Town!" (slow walk), "Red light!" (stop). Two minutes.
- Cue "Gas station!": each car goes to a cone, stops and fills the tank saying "glug, glug, glug" while counting to five.
- Cue "Car wash!": cars move through the cone lane on hands and knees or walking, several at once, while the teacher gently shakes the fabric over their backs. Two minutes.
- At the end, clean cars park in their spot, turn off the engine and stretch like they're drying in the sun.
Rules
- Cars don't crash: if another car comes, steer around it.
- Enter the car wash at one end and exit at the other.
- At the gas station, one car per cone or share without pushing.
- Jog easy, never full speed.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, just walk, stop and go through the car wash.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, add the highway and the gas station.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, drive in reverse in town and switch vehicles (motorcycle, truck).
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the child drives their wheelchair or with a helper, and the teacher shakes the fabric calmly in the wash.
- Autism: preview the route with pictures or let the child watch the wash first; the fabric only touches if they're okay with it.
- More skilled kids crawl on their bellies through the wash; less skilled kids walk through holding a hand.
Learning goals
- Move at different speeds without bumping.
- React to spoken stop and go signals.
- Pretend to be a vehicle with the body and voice.
Equipment for a class of 25
- fabric pieces: 2
- cones: 10
Teacher tip
Set up the car wash before class and do the first run yourself. Keep the lane wide so several kids go through together and nobody waits in line.
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