Silvia from @fairyglitchmother returns to bring us some amazing waytoplay road ideas!
The waytoplay road is an incredible open-ended toy that allows your children (and you) to create toy roads and worlds. It is a flexible race track made from child-safe rubber, fantastic for endless fun. We love to play with it at home, and it has been one of our favorite play activities this summer. We bought the Way to play King of the Road set for my son's 3rd birthday, and he loved it. We've been playing and creating ever since.
When we started to play with the set, we began piecing segments together, and then we realized that, on many occasions, we couldn't make the track close perfectly. Then, of course, we could overlap the final segments at the end, but that bothered me a bit (and my son too).
I know that the beauty of open-ended toys is to explore without rules and have fun. So we've created many open roads that lead to nowhere and everywhere simultaneously, without any planning or strategy in mind. And it has been a blast. But I also like to create beautiful designs and close tracks, which is more challenging (I couldn't find many examples in one place).
If you are anything like me and want some road design ideas, you've come to the right place. So I thought I'd share with you the ones we have created at home for some quick and easy inspiration.
Why do we like to play with the waytoplay road?
There are many reasons why we enjoy and encourage our children to play with the road:
- An open-ended tool with endless possibilities.
- It is an exciting invitation to creativity.
- A fantastic complement to other toys
- It can be challenging and helps with problem-solving; not all combinations lead to a closed-track, so it takes time to figure out how to make your track fit and close.
- It is a flexible toy that can be used on land and underwater.
- Durable and unbreakable (although my son did bite one piece pretending it was pizza, and now we have his teeth prints as a reminder.
- Very easy to clean
It is lovely and so much fun.
The King of the Road set
The waytoplay road is a flexible race track made from child-safe rubber fantastic for endless fun. It is a collection of road segments, race tracks, parking spaces, and crossings in different sets that can be combined.
We got the King of the Road bundle; it comes with 40 pieces to create many tracks. It is their most extensive set. The box comes with 16 curves, 16 straights, 4 intersections, and 4 roundabouts. So if you want 648cm of fun, this is the box for you (they've measured it 😉 ).
All pieces are reversible and have a different design on each side. The only exceptions are the intersections and roundabouts, which have the same design on both sides. Here you can see what you have on each side and what you can expect. It is also great to combine it with the other sets of the waytoplay family.
15 great Way to play road perfect fit designs
It's time to see some designs! I've taken the liberty to name them to differentiate between them because there are 15 here, which made things easier for me.
I hope you will like them!
Perfect fit Closed-circuit Way to play road designs
I love these designs. I like combining curves and straights to make race tracks. The cars can go on forever here. I've used all the 16 curves in the following two designs, so you need the King of the Road or more than one of the other waytoplay sets to create these.
For the next five designs, I've also added some straight sections. You either have all the 16 curves or all the 16 straights - which is why it can only be done with the King of the Road or combining more than one set.
Here we are introducing the intersection and roundabout pieces for crossings. There will probably be more traffic and car concentration now 😉 even more if you place traffic lights 🤣
If you'd like even more ideas, you can check over 10 more for basic shapes, closed-circuits with overlaps or roads with the Wobbel board on the full post here. They are great fun too!
Open-ended roads
And, of course, you can always create open-ended roads that lead to everywhere and nowhere at the same time. They don't close or fit; they go until you are out of pieces to add to the road. So there is no need for designs here 😉. Instead, I'm leaving these to your imagination because I am sure they will be unique and wonderful. You don't need my help here.
What is the waytoplay road made of?
The road is made from the highest grade flexible PVC, and it has passed testing to the most demanding norms. They say that it is supposed to last a lifetime and is practically indestructible, even for children!
They have been tested and are free of BPA, cadmium, PAH, lead, and Phthalates. If you have a silicone allergy, it is also safe for you.
So the roads are durable, waterproof, safe, and flexible - that makes them the perfect ally for hours and years of play.
Where to buy it?
You won't find a store with a more extensive selection than this one: the waytoplay store. You'll find everything here! You can also use their store locator to find a small shop near you to buy local.
I honestly believe this is one of those toys that will be with us for a very long time. Probably my children's children (if they decide to have children) will be able to play with them too.
I hope that putting this together will help other families get started and enjoy the King of the Road set. We had trouble making closed circuits, so I am guessing we are not the only ones out there with this problem. ☺️ I hope this will be useful.
Probably I'm the one having the most fun setting up roads by piecing the segments together and decorating them as small worlds 😅 🤣 but my children love to join and drive their cars anywhere we go. Of course, once my son has finished playing, he likes creating a bit of chaos before tidying up. It's all part of the experience.
Happy playing!
