DIY Car Track That Rocks

DIY car track with cars, gas station, some street signs, trees and a house is finally in our sandbox and on the blog of course for you to see.

Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on plastic car tracks (that will be broken and lost in no time) you and the kids can create something that will last you a lifetime (and longer). It’s a perfect craft which turns into even more perfect toy. Can it get any better?

I love that every rock gives a child many creative challenges such as: different shape, texture, size.

The story behind today’s craft and activity

Our little baby toddler is turning into a real boyish boy. He loves cars, actually anything that has wheels. He would try to imitate car with about anything.  And then one day he picked up a rock that really reminded a shape of a real car and start playing with it…

As it happens with most of our crafts and activities, the inspiration moment has happened and mama is heading for some paint, brushes and more rocks.

Later on we went on a  hike and picked some rocks of different shapes. While we were “shopping” for the rocks Sofia decided that we should make a road for them. Suddenly, our rock basket became “slightly” heavier.

Since we were making the road, we decided to add some road signs, gas station and a house with some trees.

How we painted the rocks

1. We washed them and dried them in the sun.

2. We used acrylic paint.

3. We tried to work in stages: first we colored rocks with the base color, then waited it to dry and then on top we added other colors if needed.

Remember

You don’t have to do it in one day. We didn’t. We painted some and continued on next day and next day. I think it took us maybe 4 different times to finish them up. It’s all about fun, isn’t.

Why this toy is amazing

I am not a bragger, but this one is really a ‘killer’ around our house (sandbox) now.

I love this DIY car track set for many reasons.

1. It’s portable. After kids done playing they can just put everything in the box, so the sun and the rain won’t damage them. It’s also perfect to take it to the beach (if you can convince your husband to carry those 50 rocks).

2. You can customize it. Kids can build a new set every time. By changing up locations, turns, stops and traffic lights. It’s a part of the game for them.

3. It’s very easy to add on and expand this set. Add more road, houses and you have yourself a whole rock town. You could even add people rocks.

4. Playing it on the sand is so much fun. We experimented with the relief by making little hills from sand and digging holes for rivers and lakes.

5. It’s easy to position the rocks in the sand.

6. But I guess the best part about this DIY car track is that it will never brake. Literally. The color might ware off after some time but the shape will stay.

7. Painting rocks is very relaxing. And addictive. It truly is. You should definitely try it.

You might notice that we are slightly obsessed  with rocks. We had this very colorful storytelling activity that literally rocked, then kids had an awesome free play with rocks, where they came up with 5 rock activities.

For some incredibly awesome inspiration check out my Rock Board on Pinterest.  I am constantly  on look out for the best rock crafts and activities with rocks.

 

Follow PlayTivities’s board ROCKS on Pinterest.

If you are looking For some more DIY Toy Ideas (and tutorials) I wrote an eBook