100 Ways to Use Your Wagon for Kids

Happy National Little Red Wagon Day! Celebrated annually on the last Wednesday of March, this national day honors the iconic little red wagon that has brought generations of families decades of smiles, laughs, and warm memories. To help you and your family celebrate this holiday, we’ve compiled a printable activity list of 100 ways to play with your wagon. From pretend play and fun activities to DIY décor ideas and creative inspiration, there will be plenty of ideas perfect for the whole family that will keep everyone playing for hours on end.

Parents can print out the list and use as-is for a reference or follow the directions to make a DIY idea jar. Cut the list into slips of paper along the dashed lines. Put all of the ideas into a bucket or jar – decorate with your family if you want! –  and pull out a new way to play whenever you need it. We even left a few blank slips if your family has their own ideas to add.

100 ways to play and use your wagon for kids

1. Pretend Air Plane - pretend you are an airplane pilot as you get pulled in the wagon
2. Imaginary Safari - Take it on a imaginative safari tour in your backyard
3. Birthday Present holder
4. Use it as a fort in your backyard
5. Pet Carrier for around the yard rides
6. Use your wagon for Bean Tag Toss
7. Make your wagon “Base” in Tag
8. Rocket Ship - pretend it’s a space ship that just landed in your backyard
9. Outdoor Nap Bed
10. Stuffed Animal Hauler – bring your stuffed animals around for a ride
11. Pull your siblings or friends around the yard for a ride, alternate who rides & who pulls.
12. Haul your water balloons to the backyard
13. Plan a wagon relay race at home
14. Go for a family walk with your wagon
15. Keep your toys stored in your wagon
16. Pull your siblings or friends around the yard for a ride, alternate who rides & who pulls
17. Haul your water balloons to the backyard
18. Plan a wagon relay race at home
19. Imaginary fishing boat in your backyard
20. Your wagon can be the start or finish line for backyard races
21. Help parents garden by bringing back the flowers to plant
22. Pretend your wagon becomes a Choo-Choo train and who pulls the wagon is the train conductor
23. Your wagon becomes an imaginary pirateship that sails the backyard
24. Draw “streets” with chalk on your driveway and take rides along the drawn paths
25. Pretend you are shopping in your backyard with your wagon
26. Turn your wagon into an outdoor sandbox.
27. Use it when you are playing hide & go seek
28. Make your wagon a school bus for your backyard
29. Use your wagon in your next family picture
30. Use it as a prop in a play or musical
31. Pretend it’s a covered wagon from an old western movie
32. Have your kids sit in the backyard to read a book in their wagon
33. Pretend taxi making stops throughout your backyard to pick up & drop off passengers
34. Keep your wagon for future grandchildren, pass it along within the family
35. Collect nature items around your backyard using your wagon – examine your findings with a magnifying glass and take note of your scientific observations!
36. A place for your dolls to nap in the backyard
37. Sit back in your wagon and color in your coloring book in the backyard
38. Pull your kids around while catching fireflies in the backyard
39. A carriage ride for all your princess dolls
40. Have a puppet show with the wagon
41. A traveling circus cart for the imaginary circus in your backyard
42. Kids can sit in their wagon in the backyard and enjoy a popsicle in the warm summer
43. Hold a finger puppet show in your wagon
44. Sit your stuffed animals in the wagon for a “tea party” outside
45. Pretend it is a radio station broadcast booth and put on a show in your backyard
46. Sing a song while being pulled in your wagon
47. Have a picnic in your wagon
48. Pretend it’s the neighborhood ice cream truck
49. Use it as the imaginary backyard command center
50. Play a game with your wagon – fill up the wagon, pull it, empty it, and go back to the starting line
51. Pretend it’s a big truck in the backyard that you are driving
52. When riding in your wagon, make up a song about how it takes you places
53. Imagine you are flying into space in your wagon “rocket” while playing in the backyard
54. Use your stuffed animals to create a “Zoo” and visit in your wagon
55. Pretend it’s Halloween – dress up in your favorite costume and decorate your wagon to go with it
56. Put your favorite books in your wagon
57. Use your wagon to carry all of your finds during an indoor scavenger hunt
58. Create a porch display with your wagon
59. Plant flowers in your wagon
60. Take your wagon on a Bear Hunt around the neighborhood
61. Have a “drive in” movie in your backyard or inside and use your wagon as your vehicle
62. Throw a parade in the backyard with your family and decorate your wagon for it
63. Have an indoor picnic and use your wagon to haul all the supplies from the kitchen
64. Use your wagon as a cooler for cold drinks while you play outside
65. Pretend your wagon is a mail truck and leave cards for your neighbors in their mailboxes
66. Use your wagon to hold all of your coloring supplies while you draw
67. Turn your wagon into a race car
68. Create an outdoor sensory bin with your wagon
69. Do a science experiment in your wagon
70. Play charades and pick prompts out of your wagon
71. Pretend your wagon is a canoe and go on an aquatic adventure in your backyard
72. Bring speakers outside and sit in your wagon for an outdoor concert
73. Turn your wagon into a table or bookshelf
74. Use your toy wagon as a centerpiece on the table
75. Fill your wagon with all of your favorite things and use it as inspiration for a painting or drawing
76. Take your wagon on a “road trip” around the house and yard and name each location after a landmark
77. Haul all of your sports equipment with your wagon
78. Make all of your favorite ballpark snacks, sit in your wagon, and watch your favorite baseball movie or an old game of your favorite team
79. Have a contest to see who can make the most creative decorations for your wagon using supplies from around the house
80. Video chat with your grandparents from your wagon
81. Use your wagon to collect rocks around the neighborhood and paint them with positive messages
82. Take your wagon for a ride and pretend you are on a rollercoaster
83. Use your plastic eggs from Easter for another Easter egg hunt – use your wagon to collect the eggs
84. Use your wagon to deliver breakfast in bed to your mom on Mother’s day
85. Take your wagon on an iSpy adventure around the neighborhood
86. Use your wagon to hold all of your chalk and make creations on the sidewalk
87. Create a tall tower out of plastic cups in your wagon and try to pull it around without toppling the tower
88. Pick a color and fill up your wagon with as many things of that color you can find around the house
89. Take your wagon camping in your backyard
90. Haul all of your beach gear to the backyard and play in the sprinkler
91. Give your wagon a car wash in the driveway
92. Bake some treats and pretend play bakery with your wagon as your store
93. Use your wagon to help deliver laundry to its proper place
94. Collect food and clothing you’d like to donate in your wagon
95. Pretend play going to work with your wagon as an office
96. Turn your wagon into your ultimate superhero vehicle
97. Go “grocery shopping” in the fridge and use your wagon as a cart
98. Write a story about your little red wagon
99. Pretend it’s Christmas – wrap items from around the house and deliver them to family members with your wagon
100. “Paint” your wagon with shaving cream

What are your favorite ways to play with your wagon? Let us know by using #radioflyer on social media!