Pinewood Derby Fun

[sctmom]

If your pack doesn't have a part of the race that siblings and parents can enter, then make one NOW!

We just had our Pinewood Derby on Saturday. I think we had more in the "outlaw" race than in all the other races combined! A 4 year old girl took home 1st place, a 5 year old girl took home 2nd place, a cub scout took home 3rd place. Not to mention the fun EVERYONE had.

 

One dad had his car he had made 26 years ago when he was a Cub. The boys loved looking at it. He pointed out to the boys his dad handed him some sandpaper and a chisel and said "have fun". He didn't get to use powertools!

 

The girls who won the outlaw race were so thrilled. As one dad pointed out, it was a little sad that his daughter attended more Cub Scout events than some of the Cub Scouts.

 

We use a triple elimination system for racing. Pretty soon most of adults were OUT. Rules were thrown to the side about working on your car during the race. Adults stood there next to the line with graphite for the kids. LOL

 

The crowd was going wild when it got down to the last few kids. The 4 year old is very self confident and knew this was HER race. The trophy had to be pried from her hands to get her coat on to leave. The boys in the meantime were over in the foyer of the school having their own races on the floor with their cars!

 

Also, our pack did a great job of having weights and graphite there to help those who needed it. A couple of Boy Scouts (former Pack members) did the weighing, also putting on weights and applying graphite. Sure leveled the playing field for those who had not done this before.

 

 

[tdyer56]

My pack is having an open class set of races for the parents, siblings, and anyone else who wants to join in. I believe it will be great. I have had a few parents come up and tell me it has been fun building thier own car along side of their boy. That also gives the adults something to do instead of building their scouts car for them. Hopefully it will work out well. I will keep you posted.

[NHScouter]

Our Pack has had a parent and sibling race for some time now. I'm a woodworker and the temptation to 'help out' my sons would have been too great had I not been working on my own car (during my oldest son's early years) or helping his younger brothers when they were pre-Scouts.

 

A side advantage is that these pre-Scouts get a chance to get involved and it's a great recruiting method to get them involved as Tigers as soon as they hit school!