Explore and Play: Wheels and Ramps

Materials

• different toys with wheels
• tall or long ramp
• towel
• “Different Surfaces and Objects” chart

Directions

Ask children to name some things they know with wheels, including some of the things we read about in Mama Zooms and Samantha on a Roll.  

1. Have children choose one of the toys with wheels and roll them down the ramp you’ve built ahead of time.
2. Ask children to observe and describe how the toys go down the ramp.
3. Cover the ramp with a towel and have them roll the toys down the ramp again. Does this change how the toys roll?
4. Challenge children to put something with wheels on the ramp and make it so it DOESN’T roll.

Reflect and Share

Ask children, How is a wheel like the other things we’ve rolled down a ramp? How is it different? How are the toys with wheels different? Do all the toys with wheels roll down the same way?  How are they different? If children were able to get a toy not to roll, ask them to explain what they did and why they think it didn’t roll.  Add the ramp with the towel to the “Different Surfaces and Objects” chart.