We have had some sections of rain gutter around for a while – You may remember them from our post on how to turn a cardboard box into a jump for Hot Wheels cars.  We’ve also used the rain gutter sections in the summer for backyard water play.  Lots of cheap fun!

Anyway, for the better part of the past four days, the boys have been playing car races with the ramps.  It has been amazing how entertaining this activity has been for all four of them – ages 22 months through 10 years old.

This was the basic race track design.  They have been testing cars against each other to see which is faster.  Right now, they are really into what model of car is what, so I keep hearing things like, “Wow!  The Mustang is faster than the Corvette!”  When they send two cars down at once, they sometimes hit each other and crash, but that just adds to the fun.

Hot Wheels Car Races with Rain Gutter Track

Sometimes they prop up the end of the second gutter section to create a jump.  It works pretty well!

Then they had the idea of adding a block tunnel to the middle of the track:

Hot Wheels Car Races with Rain Gutter Track

Hot Wheels Car Races with Rain Gutter Track

It was fun to watch the cars travel through the tunnel!  And making constant modifications to the track seemed to be the most fun part, especially for Aidan.

Hot Wheels Car Races with Rain Gutter Track

If you have any trouble with the rain gutter sections slipping, you can secure them in place with masking tape.  Our vinyl rain gutter came as a 10 ft. piece from Home Depot, and we cut it into sections with a saw.

Be sure to check out our cardboard box jump for Hot Wheels cars!  That activity also provided many hours of play.

5 Comments

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  1. Katepickle Nov 12, 2013

    This is so cool! You always have the best ideas!

    Reply
  2. Debi Nov 12, 2013

    Awesome! I'm going to do this for Christmas! I love giving them something they can use their imagination with!

    Reply
  3. ForYourBoy.com Nov 12, 2013

    I love this idea. What boy doesn't like hot wheels and we have plenty of them in our house! Adding the block tunnel was a nice added touch.

    Reply
  4. Katherine Dec 31, 2013

    Who knew a rain gutter and a cardboard box could offer such entertainment? My husband and I put together the jump and the carwash this afternoon, our 3 year old son has had the best time!! his 9 month old brother even tried to get involved, LOL

    Reply
  5. Kirsten Feb 25, 2014

    We had so much fun going to the hardware store and making the race tracks together. My boys (6 & 3 yrs) tried various configurations, then decided to try marbles on it as well! It worked really well...especially with the end cap on so the marbles couldn't escape underneath the couch! We also bought an "elbow joint" to go with the tracks/gutters (from the same section in the hardware store) to create a jump and/or turn in the tracks. Thanks so much for this fantastic idea!

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    1. Sarah Feb 27, 2014

      I'm glad they enjoyed it! Building different configurations is what my guys like doing best. I'll have to tell them about the marble idea!

      Reply

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