Practical Life: Car Wash!

Recently, we did a little avant-garde practical life with baby washing!   Since then, the washing trend has continued with Luke tubbying his baby brother almost all on his own.  (Never fear: Mama was right there for safety’s sake!) 

Luke tests the water temperature, puts a cloth over Brother to keep him warm, and washes his front side.

Luke washes Brother's back side.

Luke dries Brother and cuddles him, so he will be warm and cozy.

Then, on another day, the whole family did a bit of loooong overdue car cleaning.  (Can we say we’ve been neglecting to care for that environment – the interior of our car – for nearly three years?  Yikes!)

So, here’s our little Car Washing Practical Life Album Page

Materials:

Working together.

-         a large cloth or blanket

-          vinegar-solution spray bottles

-          a roll of paper towels

-          a vacuum and extension cord

-          a dustbuster

-          a hose

-          a bucket

-          dish detergent

-          small cloths and towels

and, of course, one very dirty car!

Presentation:

Part One – Emptying the Vehicle

1. Invite a child to lay out a cloth on the lawn.
2. Demonstrate how to very carefully remove all items from the vehicle.
3. Wonder aloud together at how much stuff can fit in one vehicle! 

Did we really have all this stuffed in our vehicle?!

Part Two – Wiping Down the Vehicle’s Interior

So intent on getting that spot clean...

1. After struggling to take the seats out of the vehicle, invite children to clean the interior.
2. Offer each child spray bottles with vinegar-solution in them.
3. Demonstrate how to spray the interior walls, floor and other “hard parts” of the vehicle, including windows, wiping with paper towels until clean and dry.
4. Marvel at how much better the car is already looking while collecting nearly an entire roll of dirtied paper towels.

Windows, too!

Part Three – Cleaning the Vehicle Floors

Okay, get in and help vacuum if you wish.

1. After plugging in a vaccum to a long extension cord and dragging it to the car, ask children to simply help by watching and stauing out of the car.
2. When children get too eager to offer more hands-on help, invite them to take turns using the dust buster on the larger areas of the vehicle’s floors while you.
3. Position oneself in very odd ways to get into every nook and cranny in the vehicle.
4. Guffaw at just how much gunk must be emptied from the vacuum and dust buster.

Part Four—Washing the Vehicle

Not all things can be totally independent.

Such concentration.

1. After an eating break (with more practical life, such as setting the table) and before the EEE mosquitoes come out full force for the evening, holding folks hostage inside, acquiesce to children’s desire to finish the car cleaning job with a car wash.
2. Invite children to drag the hose toward the car.
3. Invite them to gather small cloths and towels.
4. Witness them eagerly pouring a generous – but not too generous – amount of dishwashing detergent in a bucket and filling it with water.
5. Allow children to spray the entire car down with a hose.
6. Demonstrate how to scrub-scrub-scrub (gently and methodically as possible) the exterior of the vehicle with sudsy cloths.
7. Have Daddy hold children up so they can clean the vehicle’s roof.
8. Encourage children to rinse all the suds off with the hose before they dry on the vehicle.
9. Quickly clean up and run back inside upon seeing the first of the aforementioned hostage-holding EEE mosquitoes.
10. From the window, marvel at the newly cleaned vehicle and discuss how to keep it that way a little better, so we don’t spend an ENTIRE day cleaning it again.

Variations and Extensions

-          Wheelie Toy Cleaning

You can't get me!

Points of Interest

-          Creating a sizable pile of “stuff” that has been taken out of the car.

-          Spraying the solution and wiping it off – making things shiny and clean!

-          Seeing the dust and gunk get “eaten" by the dustbuster.

-          Spraying water and splashing suds. -- and running from them!

Oo, almost missed this spot!

Control of Error

-          items left in car (we found a stray item or two under a seat, but cleared them out.)

-          vehicle interior walls dirty or stained (got to get that elbow grease going)

-          visible particle on the vehicle floor

-          dirt spots left on the car

Aims

Sensory + Skills!

eye-hand coordination, concentration, control, proprioceptive experience (lots of bending, stretching and crawling), tactile experience (rugs texture, wall texture, suds, eater, etc.),  responsibility, family work time, care of environment, ability to clear a space, ability to spray clean, ability to vacuum, ability to wash the exterior of a vehicle






Age

Jack could only watch.

anyone who can walk

Language
car, vehicle, spray, gentle, vacuum, crevices, etc.

A little tongue-in-cheek?  Perhaps.  But, in the spirit of everyday Montessori homeschooling life!   Not to mention some free -- and productive -- outdoor family fun.

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