Developmental Skills While Playing With Cars

Pediatric therapy sessions typically involve a lot of play time! Why? Children learn about their world through play and  imitation of adults, and play is much more motivating than sitting at a table completing worksheets. When a child plays with a car, here are a few of the skill areas that are targeted:

Cognition while playing with cars:

• Experiencing cause and effect relationships, such as when a car drops down a ramp

• Labeling basic parts of a car

Fine Motor or Hand Skills while playing with cars:

• Strengthing hand-eye coordination skills and improving hand dexterity while building a toy car. Consider building a visual model for your child to copy

• Improving hand coordination and hand dexterity while repairing a car using toy tools. Facilitate this by placing your hand on the child’s and physically moving his hands if necessary

• Practice using both hands simultaneously while turning a steering wheel

Gross Motor or Whole Body Skills while playing with cars:

• Improving strength and coordination while climbing in and out of child-sized car

Speech and Language while playing with cars:

• Vocabulary:

– Parts of a car:

• Wheels

• Buckle

• Steering wheel

• Seat belt

• Door

Early Learning Concepts while playing with cars:

– go/stop

– fast/slow

– on/off

– up/down

– smooth/bumpy

Have fun playing with cars with your child, and know that they are really learning in the process!