Friday, August 14, 2015

Mario Kart Rainbow Road Small World Play

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One of my favorite video games as a kid (okay, as an adult too!) is still the original Mario Kart game. Naturally, I'm thrilled that my kids have grown fond of the Mario games and characters themselves, so I put together a small world idea based off one of the tracks from the Mario Kart video game: Rainbow Road. 

This simple Mario inspired small world idea for kids encourages lots of imaginative play and creativity.

Small world play for kids: Mario Kart Rainbow Road from And Next Comes L

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Mario Kart Inspired Small World Play Idea for Kids

For this small world, we used:

Either build a track for the kids ahead of time or get them to work together with you to create an epic Rainbow Road track out of Magna-Tiles. This part can be tricky, especially trying to line up the pieces so that they'll actually connect at the end. We managed after a few attempts to get the track just right.

Building a rainbow road out of Magna-Tiles, inspired by the game Mario Kart from And Next Comes L

Then line up those racers and do a countdown! 5-4-3-2-1...GO!

Building a rainbow road out of Magna-Tiles, inspired by the game Mario Kart from And Next Comes L

Who's in the lead? Is it Yoshi? Is it Peach?

Mario Kart Rainbow Road small world play for kids using Magna-Tiles from And Next Comes L

Oh no, Yoshi has been knocked down by one of Donkey Kong's items!

Mario Kart Rainbow Road small world play for kids using Magna-Tiles from And Next Comes L

But hold up...who's this approaching the finish line? Can it be? Yes, it's Toad! Toad wins the race! PS: Toad's my favorite!

Small world play for kids: Mario Kart Rainbow Road from And Next Comes L

This small world is great for imaginative play, but it's also great for exploring ordinal numbers by discussing the places that each racer comes in at (e.g., first, second, third, etc.), which is easily J's favorite part. His love for math sneaks in everywhere. 

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This post is part of the Small World Pretend Play Ideas from A to Z series hosted by Still Playing School. I already shared an alligator themed small world and I'll be back with letter X!

Small world pretend play ideas from A to Z

Mario Kart Rainbow Road small world play for kids using Magna-Tiles from And Next Comes L