This week I discovered on one rainy, and almost stormy day, that you can make a toy car racetrack out of pool noodles. They can look as professional or as kid-created as you want, depending on how active the kids are in the process. Scarlet wanted to make her own signs and flags (or help her little brother) as well as help with every aspect of this fun party trick.
Des’ toy car obsession isn’t going anywhere, and if anything, is growing stronger. Scarlet picked up the same love for toy cars this year which is a main reason we made them a garden racetrack back in March. It’s still active in the yard!
I know this sounds funny, but we probably always have spare pool noodles lying around the house. Personally, I would love to use red ones, but my kids picked out pink and blue for the racetracks. You’ll need just a few things from around the house:
DIY Pool Noodle Racetrack For Toy Cars:
What You Need:
Pool noodles, of course
A serrated knife, or razor
Toothpicks
Paper and markers
Tweezers or pliers
Cars, of course
Stickers for decoration
A box, chair, wall, etc.
(Once you prop them off the ground, they zoom pretty fast!)
Des’ fourth birthday is Monday. I can’t believe it! I want to smile and sob at the same time. So, I wanted to make an activity that would entertain him and friends, but also get Scarlet in on the craft and execution part of it.
What You Do:
1 – First we got two pool noodles (or however many you want). I was looking for ones with a large diameter to make a “road” wide enough for the cars. Then I fell in love with pool noodles with smaller diameters. So it requires an extra cutting step:
2 – Cut the noodles in half. We also used the razor to cut a “road” wide enough for cars. This did not slow them down!
3 – Lay the four pieces down side by side, and connect them with toothpicks. You may need to use them all the way down.
4 – It’s decoration time! Clearly, I let my kids decide this part but you can easily create graphics or printables for “Start” and “Finish” lines on a computer, rather than hand-drawn. You can make flags with construction paper and toothpicks!
5 – Prop your “track” up on a chair, wall, table, box, etc. The higher the prop, the faster the cars zoom down. We have races!
You are brilliant and now I want to do this on my back porch. How fun! I think all of the kiddos would want to play and that is saying something around here 🙂 Hallelujah and thank heavens for Advil!
ha! I have this vision of you doing it alone, and playing with the racetrack too, when the kids aren’t around.
… because I did that.. maybe.. yesterday.
This is such an adorable DIY! My son has a ton of race cars and I can see myself picking up some pool noodles for him to make these. #client
The best part is that my kids are still playing with it!! I made it days ago. Ah, I love it.
Oh my gosh – how fun! My nephew would love this.
It really is fun. My kids have been playing with it for two hours now! Ahhh.
Cute idea! I love items that have multiple purposes.
They’re amazing. I’m wondering what their true purpose is, and I realize I have no idea!
This is awesome and seriously never would have thought to use pool noodles for this, but so going to have to make this for my girls now!! 🙂
We just love to make everything a racetrack around here! That’s all Des, and a little Scarlet too!
So fun!
And Advil is what I use for headaches…I get them often.
I get them from stress, which happens… quite a bit.
What an awesome racetrack! I use pool noddles to store my boots 🙂
Hey, that’s so clever!!
What an awesome idea! Now I just knew it had to be a Tamara and Cassidy thing. You guys come up with some of the coolest things, why have I never thought of this before? Going to do this the next time I pick up some noodles. 🙂
Sometimes I have no idea how our brains work, but I’m glad they come up with some fun zany things!
My sons would have loved this so much! What a great idea!
Yeah, I was thinking about how I would have loved it as a kid!
that is a cute idea with the pool noodles. would be fun using the race track in the pool or something
I agree! My kids asked if they could take it in the bath, and I couldn’t see why not. Except for maybe space issues in there! The pool would be better.
Oh, so cute!! I love this idea. I think my daughter might have even liked it better than my son when they were little. (She was the one with the Hot Wheels car wash.)
Ahhh! I want a Hot Wheels car wash. I hope it’s not too late for me.
Happy birthday Des!!! I’m always surprised at all the things you can use pool noodles for.
Des says thank you!
Happy, happy birthday to Des! These race tracks are so much fun. I could definitely see having them at a birthday party as a ‘calm’ activity. Also, Advil was a life-saver for me after all my c-sections. Couldn’t do without out it!
They can play with them in the pool too, which is very cool!
I feel the same way about Advil after both births.
I love this idea…so cute and creative! Happy Birthday to Des!!
Thanks! He’s nearly four. I can’t believe it. My baby!
What a clever idea! I’m sure the kids had a blast playing with it.
And happy birthday to Des!
They totally did! And tried to take it to the bathtub and to school!
OMG!!! This is the cutest idea ever! I want to make one for my boys!
It’s so easy! It literally just takes minutes. And it can be played with in the pool.
What a great idea for little ones and inexpensive! I always need to grab an Advil after “real” car races! LOL! So loud!
haha, I hear you! Advil is really the only thing I’ll take for anything.
Super cute idea and seems so easy! My kids would love this!
It’s so easy! And can be used anywhere – even the pool.
This is a great idea! We will have to do this for our kiddos, they will love it
I was surprised that even my older one really loved it. It’s fun! (I admit to racing cars on it when they weren’t home)
This is such a great idea! My boys went through a phase where they loved all things Cars and that’s pretty much all they played with. They still play them now- even at 6 and 8 years old!
My six-year-old still does too. Makes me happy to think she might for a few more years! Yay!
This is such a fun idea! I try to think of different ideas for my kids and this is a new one!
I’m so glad! It’s an easy one which is what appealed to me.
Such a great idea and it looks like something you’ve bought in a store! You did such a great job!!!
Thank you!! Best comment ever! I always think I’m so sloppy.
Now this is a fun idea! We have the plastic tracks and they have become weapons so this looks like a much safer way to race cars 🙂 Oh, and I hope McQueen won 🙂
My son is getting plastic tracks for his birthday so I appreciate the heads up!
McQueen totally won!
I love this idea! I’ve been looking for tracks but they all seem to fall apart.
I know! My son takes them all apart and then I can’t find all the pieces. I hate that.
What a smart idea. We’ve always got a broken noodle or two and I never know what to do with them.
ha, same here. Those things have a tendency to always be around. Luckily there are so many things to do with them!
My kids would love this. We don’t have any broken noodles, but they are so cheap (from the $1 store), I could break a few down.
Yes, and they don’t have to be broken! Mine were brand new.
What a darling idea! My kiddos would certainly love it if we tackled that project this summer!
This is amazing!!!!!!!!
I wish you explained in more detail how you cut the noodles wide enough for the tracks. That would have really helped I’m trying different ideas to make them all uniform how yours look, cause I have the small noodles.