Nominate a Child for Go Baby Go

Nominations for Go Baby Go are currently closed. Nominations will reopen spring 2025. For questions, reach out to us at [email protected].

Qualifications to nominate a child

Do you know a child who would love a Go Baby Go modified car? If so, please review the following questions below to ensure they qualify:

1. Does your child have a mobility impairment?
2. Can your child hold his/her head up in sitting?
3. Can your child lift one or both arms up?
4. Can your child see approximately 3 ft. in front of self?
5. Does your child weigh less than 65 lbs?

What is Go Baby Go?

Go Baby Go is a worldwide, community-based research, design and outreach program that provides modified ride-on toy cars to children with limited mobility free of cost. The movement was started at the University of Delaware by Cole Galloway to meet the growing need of providing power mobility to young children with disabilities.

The Go Baby Go movement has since spread all over the world with schools, organizations, and businesses starting chapters and giving away modified cars to promote this critical early mobility.

Photos from Go Baby Go Events

What are the benefits of mobility for young children?

Power mobility has been shown to help young children with physical disabilities improve spatial awareness, upper-limb coordination, visual-perceptual skills, spontaneous vocalizations, social initiation with peers, and overall motivation to explore.

Despite its benefits, power mobility in young children is often underutilized due to restrictions in funding, environmental barriers, and parental hesitancy. In recent years, modified ride-on cars have become a popular intervention tool for young children with mobility impairments as they are shown to be a low-cost and feasible alternative or adjunct to powered mobility devices. Several case studies have also determined the feasibility of these cars as therapeutic training tools in young children with disabilities for improving self-directed mobility, socialization, and family’s perception of children’s capabilities.

Who is involved in the program?

The Pediatric Physical Therapy Residency founded the Go Baby Go chapter at Brooks Rehabilitation in 2018. The modified cars were distributed to various outpatient and inpatient Brooks clinics specifically for patient use. In 2019, the Go Baby Go chapter adopted the name “First Coast Cruisers” and began awarding the modified toy cars to children with disabilities within our community. The Brooks Pediatric Recreation Program hosts the annual First Coast Cruisers community build event in collaboration with volunteers from local universities and organizations.

How is Go Baby Go funded?

Power mobility technology is very expensive and not readily accessible to many children with mobility impairments. Go Baby Go’s mission is to provide modified ride-on toy cars to children who would benefit from a form of power mobility at absolutely no cost to families. Therefore, we must rely heavily on donations from our community partners to make this a reality. Our donors have the option to sponsor different levels of a build: from parts of a car, a whole car, or the entire build. Sponsors also have the opportunity to advertise their business via a logo on our modified cars.