How to make a hot wheels ramp

Wondering how to make a small ramp for toy cars? Well, try these super easy DIY ramps for toy cars.

Two summers ago, we built a deck. However, up until two weeks ago, it had no railings. Since we used a railing kit that came with grooved handrail pieces, we ended up having quite a few scraps leftover. So of course I had to use them for something. That's just how I am.

Well, we used the leftover wood pieces to make DIY ramps for toy cars.

And my boys absolutely loved this idea, keeping them busy for quite some time. This activity combined cars with science and outdoor play and required zero prep really from me. So I call that a win.

How to Make these DIY Ramps for Toy Cars: What You'll Need

Here's what we used to make these play car ramps:

• Scrap pieces of wood handrails - You could certainly use scrap 2x4s, cardboard boxes, or even rain gutters. Feel free to use whatever you have on hand to make these DIY car ramps. No need to go out and buy anything.

• Your child's favorite Hot Wheels or toy cars

The benefit of using wood handrails over something like a 2x4 is that they have raised edges that keep the toy cars in the center of the track. You can see the raised edges in the picture below. That's why these handrail pieces work so well.

Now, if you want to get all fancy, you could even paint roads on these wood pieces. Or you could even decorate them with some road tape (it's like duct tape that looks like roads). But to be honest, you don't even need to go that crazy. Just the plain wood ramps was more than enough to keep my boys preoccupied for a while as you will see.

To make the play car ramps, simply prop up the wood handrails next to something like a deck, stairs, a chair, etc. Be sure to keep the raised edges facing up. Then it's ready to let different toy cars come barreling down.

Time to Race Some Matchbox Cars!

We propped our ramps on our deck's stairs, trying the ramps at different heights and angles. You can see our setup below. Setting up the ramps this way allows us to sneak in some learning about physics and science. Which cars and ramps would be the fastest? 

Since our deck actually has a railing now, it was a little tricky to get to the top of the car ramps from the stairs. Not that J seemed to mind. His little hands could still fit underneath the railing.

The boys quickly found a favorite ramp and took turns putting their car down the ramp, resulting in little giggles and cheers. Wait...this activity encouraged turn taking skills too? Well that's awesome.

So that's our DIY wooden ramps for toy cars. Told you it was quick and easy to make! And it certainly kept my boys busy for quite some time.

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