Oh, how this little boy of ours loves cars, trucks, tractors, and all things that go. Help him set up some sort of ramp and he’ll send vehicle after vehicle after vehicle down that hill. It’s his jam.
One day a little while back while Grae, Sam, and I were down in the playroom, this idea sort of randomly sprung to mind. Brad had tucked a bunch of empty wrapping rolls in our play closet earlier in the week and Sam was enjoying his trucks but was frustrated that the ramp he’d set up wouldn’t stay in place. While I briefly thought about trying to help him tape his giant ramp in place, I remembered our stash of paper rolls just waiting to be used for something fun, and that’s when this little car ramp sensory bin was created!
Now thinking back, I’m pretty sure that this idea was inspired by The Imagination Tree’s awesome cardboard tube racing activity… I remember seeing her beautifully painted tracks and colourful images a long time ago… I probably just didn’t realize what a little car enthusiast I’d have on my hands one day in the future!
Our ramps certainly aren’t as pretty as hers and maybe one day we’ll paint an entire set of paper roll roadways {how fun would that be?}, but these certainly did the job and setting everything up was incredibly quick and easy.
Because this little set up was completely impromptu, I didn’t take photos of the set up process like I usually do, but I think it’s pretty self explanatory.
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All you need is a pair of scissors, some cardboard tubes, painter’s tape {CAN}, and a big, shallow bin {CAN}. {Any big, shallow bin will do, but this huge under the bed bin is one of my absolute favourites for any kind of sensory or small world activity.}
All you have to do is cut the tubes in half lengthwise, trim them down to whichever size you like, and then use painter’s tape to secure one end to the edge of the bin and the other to the base of the bin.
Add a bunch of little vehicles and it’s time to play!
The beauty of having your ramps contained in a big bin? The cars zip down quickly, but stay within reach! A bin of this size also means that there’s more than enough room for several kiddos to play at once, and Miss G actually did play alongside Sam for quite a while.
While we’ve tucked our bin away for now, I’ve saved the paper tube ramps to use again next time and I’m certain it won’t be long before Sam requests this activity again.
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Every once and a while, I seem to go through a paper roll collecting stage. I have no idea why, because I truly never have anything planned for them, but it happens none the less. When I noticed a little collection of them today during nap time, I decided we’d put them to use this afternoon.
Though we really haven’t done a whole lot of paper tube crafts, I remembered how much Miss G enjoyed the 
Next, came shaping them. The good news is that it wasn’t difficult. For the triangle, square, and rectangle, I basically made the required number of corners by folding the tubes, then played with the shapes a little bit until I was happy with them. You can see exactly how to form the heart shape 
At this point, Gracen was still asleep and I just couldn’t wait test them out. So I didn’t. ☺
When my little lady woke up, she quickly discovered the stamping station I’d set out for her, and she was thrilled.
She stamped away testing out each shape thoroughly… 
Her personal favourite? My impromptu bow tie stamp dipped in purple paint (of course). 
