Transportation Art for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Last Updated on September 26, 2026 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: Have a child who doesn’t care for art? Try this transportation art for toddlers and preschoolers. Process art has never been so fun!

There are some toddlers and preschoolers who’d rather be in the block area than the art table. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I love to figure out ways to tweak activities so that even these children will want to explore art.

Since cars are always a huge hit with this age group, I decided to add them to paint at the art table.

The result? Instant hit! Fun process art!

AND, it’s super easy to set up. No special instructions are needed. Just drive the cars through the paint and have fun!

Transportation Art for Toddlers and Preschoolers

What you will need:

Different colors of tempera paint
Small toy cars
Large sheet of white paper
Paper plates, 1 for each color of paint

Setting it up:

Cover the surface of your table with white paper. Add a puddle of paint to each paper plate and place them on top of the paper, spread out.

Note: We like to remove the chairs from the table for activities such as this. The children like to be able to walk around the table while pushing the cars around.

What is nice about this paint activity is that you can vary it each time. We’ve used Duplo Legos with wheels and even farm transportation vehicles. Monster trucks are another fun vehicle because of the big tracks they make.

We love activities such as this that can be adapted to fit the interests of the children!

Activities like this often encourage those who normally don’t care for getting paint on their hands. They are so excited to work with the cars that they usually are too distracted. However, we do keep baby wipes nearby for those that notice. If your child continues to have a hard time wanting to touch the paint, you could try this mess-free version from Toddler Approved.

There’s also a color mixing lesson built into this process art activity! As the children are driving their cars through each color, they are making new colors. Encourage them to see what colors they can make!

And just to forewarn you, the hands might also get involved. I hope you will take a deep breath and be okay with it, because this is an important sensory experiment. Just keep those baby wipes or damp towel ready!