100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 65: Car Ramp

Today's toddler activity idea came from my childhood friend's Facebook page. She has a daughter just a few weeks younger than Oliver. In a photo she'd posted, she had a shelf set up like a ramp with race cars strewn about. It was obvious her daughter had been shooting cars down the ramp, and I thought, "Why didn't I think of that?"

I brainstormed what I could use around the house for a ramp. Andrew's aunt had sent us a name plaque wall hanging for Jo, so I pulled that off of the wall and set it up in the living room (upside down, to protect the front) as a ramp. It didn't hold very well, so I used the coffee table to hold it in place, like this:

I then showed Oliver how his little cars, which Santa had brought him for Christmas (free from Kohl's using the $10 coupon they'd sent me for signing up for email alerts!), could roll down the ramp. He loved it! He spent about 15 minutes shooting cars down the ramp. Jo decided to watch (she's his number one fan):

This activity didn't last any longer than most new activities, but it was something fun and new. It was also very easy to set up and really didn't involve any clean up time. I opted to keep the board downstairs so that it'd be readily available, and I caught Oliver setting up the ramp again himself a few hours later. It's obvious he had fun.

I assume most people have some wheeled toy in their house for their kids, but, if not, I think it's worth a few bucks to pick one up. Use your imagination to make a free ramp with things you have available around the house. In a pinch, you could probably use your largest, hard-cover books to make smaller ramps.

The ease and fun of this classic activity make this a good one. I give it an A!