How to make a car park play mat

After the success of my last two play mats, I put together a car park play mat, and this has been Harry's favourite so far, as well as being the easiest one to make!

All you need is an A3 piece of cardboard (or larger if you like!) with black construction paper glued on. The lane dividers are made with white cut up stickers, and for interest I've added a disabled space, direction arrows and a pay point (the blue box!). A fun way to extend this activity would be to put coloured stickers or numbers into the spaces and get the child to match up colours or numbers stuck to the top of the car.

I'm surprised by how much Harry has taken to these playmats. They are so simple, and cheap and quick to put together.

You might also like my other playmats - a racing car play mat and a construction play mat.

How to make a construction play mat

After the success of the racing car play mat I was inspired to think what other play mats I could make. I've got a few ideas, and the next one was a construction play mat.

All you need is a sheet of A3 card, or you could make it as large as you like! The different elements are cut from coloured construction paper and glued into place. Harry enjoys having the roadways to drive his vehicles down, and the different coloured areas can represent whatever he likes - sand, mud and so on. There's a little hut for the builders to rest in when they are not at work.

I laminated the finished play mat to make it more sturdy, and it folds in half for easy storage. I'd love to make a whole series of play mats that all connect together! It's quite open-ended, so Harry can use his imagination for the different areas. I hope he likes it!

You might also like my other playmats - a racing car play mat and a car park play mat.

How to make a quick racing car play mat

Harry has been to watch the racing cars at Silverstone this weekend with his Dad, so while he was out I made him a racing car playmat for when he gets home so that he can re-enact all the things that he saw. 

It's very simple to make, you just need a sheet of A3 green card with shapes stuck on from coloured construction paper. The lines down the middle of the track were made with cut up blank white stickers  and the "people" in the stand at the top are hole punches. The little racing cars were from Tesco, they are actually designed to hold birthday candles. They are a bit cheap and cheerful but a nice size, and also the wheels go round.

It folds nicely in half, and I have now covered it with sticky backed plastic to make it a bit more durable. I don't expect the toys that I make for Harry to last forever, but it would be nice if it lasted for a little while! I'm really pleased with it!

You might also like my other playmats - a construction play mat and a car park play mat.