Adelaide has played host to the VALO Adelaide 500 since 1999. It’s one of Australia’s largest domestic motor sport events and it’s watched by millions across the world.
Many children enjoy watching and learning about these impressive supercars which have mind blowing speeds and impressive design features.
An interest in all types of vehicles such as cars and trains is very common in young children, and there are lots of benefits of encouraging young minds to explore them further!
Everyday vehicles
If you’re a parent or caregiver, you’re probably familiar with how fascinating vehicles can be to children. Ever found yourself standing in the street watching a garbage truck empty rubbish bins, or spent hours on the edge of a construction site as various vehicles do their jobs?
Emergency vehicles in particular can be a real highlight for children and seeing an ambulance, police car or fire engine speed by provides lots of potential for discussion. Talk to your child about where they might be going, why they need to move so quickly and the special features that their vehicles have to enable them to function efficiently.
We always encourage parents and caregivers at our Adelaide childcare centres to walk, use public transport or cycle as much as possible to support our commitment to a healthy planet.
Yet, we also understand that sometimes long journeys require getting your child in the car – if so you might want to check out our handy guide to Car Seat Safety.
Encourage your child to watch out the window to see other vehicles and speak about them as you see them on your journey.
What are the benefits of playing with vehicles?
Toy vehicles offer multiple opportunities for children to explore interactive and imaginative play. Did you know that the first toy cars appeared in the early 1900s, at around the same time as real cars began to be manufactured?
Since then there have been huge developments including remote control cars – yet the humble toy ‘push’ car is as popular as ever.
A car mat placed on the floor and a few push along toy vehicles can be the ideal setting for your child to engage in imaginative play. This type of set up can help them to develop social skills including communicating with other children as well as expanding their vocabulary and enhancing their language skills.
Playing with vehicles in a relaxed setting is a natural yet important way to encourage children to share toys by passing them to one another. Children will need to problem solve if they both want to use the same vehicle and they often create their own games such as setting up a traffic jam or devising a race track for the cars to go on.
Smaller toy cars also help to develop fine motor skills as they require more detailed handling, hand eye coordination and dexterity.
Ideas for vehicle games
Vehicle games can very easily develop organically if you provide children with a clear area to play and some vehicles to use.
They can also be tailored in order to work on developing specific skills for children requiring extra challenges:
1. Improving Balance and Coordination
Why not extend a child’s interest in vehicles by taking them to a play setting where there are small cars or vehicles that they can ride in? You could encourage them to try out push along cars that they can drive or introduce them to balance bikes.
2. Increasing Spatial Awareness
Speak to your child when they are playing with toy cars about which spaces they can fit into or how some of the cars are longer or shorter than others.
If you are able to take your child somewhere with miniature vehicles that they can use, you’ll quickly see them develop spatial awareness by learning which way to turn the wheel, or how they can reverse into a space to let another child pass.
3. Developing Fine Motor Skills
For children to further develop fine motor skills, small vehicles such as toy cars are a fun and interactive tool to use.
You could ask your child to pick up a specific vehicle and place it in a different location, or you could challenge them to drive two toy cars at the same time to encourage coordination and problem solving.
4. Discussing Speed and Time
Older children will particularly enjoy discussing which cars and which vehicles can travel the fastest. A great activity is to set up a small ramp either indoors or outdoors, and start all of the toy cars at the top. Encourage children to guess which vehicle will move fastest and then extend the exercise by showing them how the force of your push can increase their speed.
In conclusion, playing with vehicles is not just a fun activity for children, but it also offers numerous developmental benefits. Children can improve their social skills, expand their vocabulary, enhance their language skills, and develop their fine motor skills by engaging in imaginative play with toy vehicles.
Encouraging children to explore and learn about different types of vehicles, such as emergency vehicles, can also be a great opportunity for discussion and learning. Vehicle games can be tailored to work on specific skills such as balance, spatial awareness, and coordination. Overall, playing with vehicles is a great way to promote both learning and play for children.
