License Plate Detective

About 30 minutes, indoors, for ages 5 to 7.

Where it works

Works in any indoor space

Who it's for

ages 5 to 7

Try this adventure now:

  • a plate with more letters than numbers
  • a plate a different color than yours
  • a plate with a picture or symbol on it
  • a plate with a repeated letter or number

Today's Challenge

  1. 1.Which plate had the most numbers?
  2. 2.Did any two plates match?
  3. 3.What was the shortest plate you saw?

Quick Start: What you need

  • 1pencil

The Goal

Turn the highway into a spotting game using nothing but the plates on nearby cars.

How to start

  1. 1

    Gather what you need: pencil. Nothing else required.

  2. 2

    Head indoors and see how many you can find: a plate with more letters than numbers, a plate a different color than yours, a plate with a picture or symbol on it, a plate with a repeated letter or number.

  3. 3

    Talk about what you are seeing. Start with "Which plate had the most numbers?"

  4. 4

    Print the worksheet to check things off as you find them, and keep it afterwards.

Design Your Own Plate

Draw a license plate you would want for your family car below.

The first license plates were issued in France in 1893, decades before most cars existed.

If you want to push it further

  • Find a plate with your initial on it
  • Spot two plates in a row with the same first letter

Print it and go

The worksheet has the checklist, the prompts, and a space to draw in. One page, ready for a bag or a glovebox.

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