Why should we have bikes, trikes and scooters? Yes, learning to ride these vehicles encourages physical development, balance and spatial awareness, but what do they offer once a child has developed these skills?
We need to appreciate vehicles as a tool for learning – a way to support a child's development in the absence of an adult. By encouraging children to take risks, explore problems and devise their own ideas in vehicle play, we are developing key characteristics to support children throughout their entire lives.
Some settings are concerned about their limited space and resources to allow children to fully enjoy vehicle play. These activity ideas are for settings of all shapes and sizes, from those that are well-resourced to those that are not.
TRAIN RIDES
This activity will encourage teamwork and resilience as the children work together to make the train move.
What you need
- Rope.
- Scissors.
- Bikes, trikes and scooters.
What to do
- Cut the rope into strips of around half a metre in length. Cut enough strips for all of the vehicles.
- Line the vehicles up one behind the other.
- Tie one end of the rope to the rear of a vehicle and the other to the front, ensuring there is some slack in the rope.
- Explain to the children that the vehicles have turned into a train.
- Allow the children to explore how to move the train. Ensure an adult is on hand to support the children in understanding the process of getting it to move. Explain to the children that they all need to push and pedal at the same time, and show them how to navigate turns and corners.
Bikes, trikes and scooters can be linked with rope to create a train
Taking it forward
- Encourage the children to create train tickets to engage in writing, number and being creative.
- Introduce Bee-Bots and help the children to programme them.
PAINT WHEELS
This activity will help develop the children's hand-eye co-ordination, balance and gross and fine motor skills. They will engage in mark-making and creative play, making links to colour-mixing.
What you need
- Bikes, trikes and scooters.
- Several pieces of guttering.
- Washable paint in a range of colours.
- Paper or card (optional).
- Masking tape (optional).
What to do
- Lay the guttering flat on the ground.
- Fill each piece of guttering with one colour of paint. For example, one piece of guttering filled with red paint, another yellow and another with blue.
- If using paper or card, secure it to the ground using the masking tape. Ensure the card is next to the exit of the guttering.
- Explain and model how to ride the vehicles through the paint-filled guttering. For example, explain that the wheel must go through the guttering to collect paint to make marks.
- Explain that each piece of guttering has a different colour.
- Allow the children to ride freely, picking which guttering they wish to ride through.
- When the colours start to combine, use this as an opportunity to discuss colour mixing.
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Taking it forward
- Use masking tape to mark out words, symbols or shapes onto card. Place the card at the end of the guttering. Allow the children to ride paint from the guttering over the card. Remove the masking tape once the paint is dry to reveal words on the card.
CRIME SCENE
Initially, the crime scene will cause lots of interest and the children will naturally share their thoughts and feelings about who was involved and how the collision occurred, which will develop their communication and language skills.
What you need
- Two bikes, trikes and scooters.
- Hazard tape.
- Cones.
- Magnifying glasses.
- Chalk or paint.
- A computer and a printer.
- Paper in a variety of sizes.
- Mark-making resources, such as pens, pencils and crayons.
What to do
- Create a crime scene using vehicles, cones and tape.
- Decide on who will be at fault for the vehicle collision. Use toys or known characters from a story or TV show, making it easier for the children to describe them in steps later on.
- Using chalk or paint, create a trail of footprints leading away from the crash scene. Print pictures of the characters and place them at the scene (optional).
- Allow the children to investigate the scene. Some may have a negative view of the police. Practitioners can be on hand to unpick the children's views and discuss the police's role in supporting them to be safe, in the process developing their communication skills.
- Create wanted posters. Model how to create one and, if developmentally appropriate, model using a sentence stem and/or describing bubble when completing the writing aspect. Provide a range of poster sizes and mark-making resources to ensure that all the children can participate.
Taking it forward
- Children can interview staff members to see what they know about the crash (it is always great to watch a known staff member pull out their best acting skills).
- Ask the local Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) if they can visit to support the children in their investigation.
BASKETS
This activity allows children to explore the world around them and develop mathematical concepts. They will have to share some items, and their personal, social, emotional and language development will therefore be tested.
What you need
- Bikes, trikes and scooters.
- A ball of string or rope.
- Scissors.
- Baskets or strong food/freezer bags.
- A range of small items: balls, bean bags, building blocks and small-world figures.
What to do
- Cut the string into lengths of approximately 50cm.
- Attach a basket or bag to the front of the vehicle.
- Place items around the setting for children to collect.
- Explain that the vehicles now have baskets to collect items from the environment.
- Invite the children to ride their vehicles and collect the items that interest them.
- After some time, discuss what has been collected (this can be done in small groups or individually).
Taking it forward
- Give the children a ‘colour bingo’ card to encourage colour hunting and matching colours.
- Place small balls in each of the baskets and encourage the children to try to throw balls into the other riders' baskets.
