DIY Cardboard Car Track Ramp

My preschool son got a new set of cars over the holidays, and this week we decided to make our own DIY Cardboard Car Track Ramp for him to race them on.

The idea was simple. We wanted a way to make the cars go fast and race each other. Our recycle pile was taller than normal because of the Christmas holiday, and we happened to have a large box waiting to go in the garbage. We decided it was perfect for our upcycle project.

First we cut the short sides out of the box. This allowed the long sides to fold down forming a very long straight rectangle. Then we placed stripes of duct tape, even spaced, lengthwise down the rectangle.

At this point we tested out the track. We decided that laying on the stairs would give us an awesome incline and great SPEED!! We were right! The only problem was that the cars weren’t staying in their lanes.

We checked the cupboard for a solution and found a bag of drinking straws. I keep them around for our green smoothies, but they were perfect lane protectors in this case. Armed with a hot glue gun, we lined each lane with it’s own color of straws. There was a green lane, the blue lane, and the yellow lane.

We tested it out on the table first. My son dug out some of his favorite cars from the toy box, and drove them down his flat track. I so wish we had pull back cards, because they would be epic on this flat track. We don’t, so we quickly moved on to our fast track.

We laid our diy cardboard car track, lanes and all, down on the stairs. It made the PERFECT ramp. It was steep, fast, and fun. My little guy started his cars at the top of the ramp. They raced down the stairs at super fast speeds and until they jumped off the track at the end. We didn’t have something to stop them at the end, so they bounced and jumped down the remaining stairs. It was awesome! My son was giggling and laughing, and couldn’t wait to get his little bestie over to race cars with him.

If you have cars that are fragile, I would recommend starting midway down the stairs so they can roll off at the bottom. You could also place a pillow or cushion at the end of the track to stop their progress. We kept his special cars on the flat track, and only used his regular cars on the ramp.

This DIY Cardboard Car Track Ramp was deceptively simple. It was a great way to upcycle and old box, and it has proven durable as well. The track is still completely intact and making good use of my stairs after several days. I hope you enjoyed the project. Give it a try on a rainy afternoon.

Happy Racing!