Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Easy DIY Outdoor Play Roads for Kids

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The easiest DIY outdoor play roads for kids ever. They're perfect for keeping toddlers and preschoolers busy.

We have been having some really warm weather lately (finally!), which means we have been outside enjoying lots and lots of outdoor play. However, it seems that the boys lose interest in their outdoor toys pretty quickly. Toddler attention spans, I tell you...

So me being quick on my feet, I whipped up a quick activity to keep them going longer. I did after all want a bit more time to sit back, relax, and read a few more pages in a book. Is that too much to ask? Yeah, probably...But the solution today just happens to be the easiest outdoor play roads for kids ever.

The best part is that we just used materials we had on hand to create these roads for toy cars. This activity is pretty low prep too.

These roads would also pair nicely with these DIY ramps for toy cars. I mean why not go ahead and create a whole metropolis right in your own backyard. I say go for it!

The easiest DIY outdoor play roads for kids ever


What You'll Need to Make these Outdoor Play Roads for Kids

You only need a few materials to make some of your own roads: sidewalk chalk, paving stones (scraps of wood or cardboard work too - or just draw on a sidewalk), and some cars. We used these chunky Tonka Chuck and friends cars. Obviously, use whatever toy cars you have on hand though.

Supplies needed for making DIY outdoor play roads for kids

First, I arranged the stones to make a small roadway.  Although we do have plenty of bricks to make a much larger system of roadways if we wanted. Anyway, next I drew dotted lines down the center of them with chalk so that they'd look more like roads. I used yellow chalk to draw the lines because, obviously, that just makes the most sense. Then that's it. The roads are ready for play time!

DIY outdoor play roads for kids made from paving stones and chalk

Once the road was set up, J started racing two cars. My youngest K, on the other hand, was more interested in walking on the roadway as if it was a balance beam. Hey, whatever works. I'm not going to complain about how they want to play. All I know is that this activity kept both boys busy for quite some time. And that's a win in my book.

Child driving toy cars along DIY play roads

Child driving toy cars along DIY play roads outside

Child driving toy cars along DIY play roads in the backyard

These roads are so easy to make! And, since we used chalk, nothing was permanent about these outdoor play roads for kids. You can simply wash off the chalk whenever you want to reuse the blocks for something else.

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The easiest DIY outdoor play roads for kids ever - great activity for toddlers and preschoolers to play with in the backyard!