pinewood derby and tiger cubs

[js3462]

Our pack was just restarted about 2 months ago and we have all new leadership, I would like some feedback on pinewood derby and tiger cubs, we are going to run our derby and have all dens including tiger cubs participate, I spoke with a leader from another local pack and he said they have tiger's do a raingutter regatta at the same time as older scouts are doing the derby.

I am concerned that the Tiger cubs won't be able to do too much on a derby car, but would be able to build a regatta easier. any thoughts or advise???

our derby is scheduled for March 19th. the scouts will get their cars at the Jan. 24 pack meeting.

[Twocubdad]

Our tigers build PWDs and have a ball with it. Building a car should be a parent/son project.

[gungho4scouts]

Our mall has a Legoland complete with a Derby track to race the cars the kids make from the buckets of Legos on hand. No matter the age it's the most popular spot at the mall. So the notion of age being a limiting factor doesn't quite compute.

[TundraHawk]

My son was a Tiger last year, and he had a blast working on his PWD car. I'd really encourage your pack to include the Tiger den.

 

With our Tigers last year, we had them raid their matchbox car collection and find one that they would like to model their PWD car after. With a bit of help, they drew the design on the block of wood, and then we had a parent cut them out. My husband and I left the sanding and decorating to our son. The axels and wheels were a combined project with father and son.

 

It was a great experience for our family. Y'all could also have a raingutter regatta for the entire pack later on in the year.

 

 

[js3462]

Thanks for your replies, we will have the Tiger cubs in the PWD. I agree it would be fun for them and we will do the raingutter regatta for the whole pack later this year.

[fotoscout]

Your initial assessment is correct. With assistance, the raingutter regatta boats can be simpler for the Tigers to make, BUT that is no reason to deprive them of the Pinewood Derby experience. Tigers everywhere participate in the Pinewood Derby. Sure dad or mom have to do some work on the car, but that's the sharing part..errrSearch, Discover, Share!!!!

 

Some of the most imaginative cars we get come from the Tigers. They are not bound by the conventional wisdom of what a race car should look like.

 

There is a miss conception that the boys are required to build the car without any help. That is wrong. Building the car should be a family centered activity. As the years go on the boys need less and less help building the car, they take what they learned the year before and add to it. This is not about building a competitive car, its about building a car that will make it to the end of the track. Its about building a car that looks like something that came from the boys imagination. Three years ago, one of our Tigers showed up with a car that looked like a Shark. The kid was into sharks. Of course dad had to do a lot of work on the car but the boy painted and decorated the car. To this day, that car still has the place of honor on the boys dresser.

 

So to answer you question, YES absolutely the Tigers should participate in the Pinewood Derby.

 

Some things to take note of: as you know the Tigers will have a very short attention span. You should have some other activities for them to do. If your pack does not do the raingutter regatta as a pack activity you might want to provide this as a displacement activity for the boys. There are lots of Pinewood Derby crafts available, you could bring a TV & VCR and play race movies. Matchbox cars are always a hit at the Pinewood Derby, etc, etc, etc.

 

The Pinewood Derby is a big event for Cub Scouts and Cub Scout Families. It is one of those things that the boys will talk about with there own children.

 

[EagleInKY]

Let em run! They'll have a ball. I remember a couple of years ago when a Tiger's Dad won - er, correct that - a Tiger won the Pack pinewood derby! It's a parent-son activity. In those early years, the parent does most of the work. By the time their Webelos, the boy is saying "leave me alone, I want to do it myself".

[jens3sons]

Remember....Tigers ARE a part of the pack...they should be able to participate in any event the pack does.

My son is now a bear. Did he win or even come close to winning PWD as a Tiger?...NO! It wasn't winning that was important to him, it was the time his father spent with him building the car. I do however, need to give a lot of credit to my husband, he has so much patience when it comes to showing our boys how to use tools. He guided my son's hands as he cut the shape of the car, but my son did ALL of the sanding and the painting, and he had a very nice looking car to boot!

Good Luck!

[briantshore]

Our Pack has about 5 Webloes, 5 Bears, 5 Wolves, and 4 Tigers. The Tigers took 1st and 3rd Place in the Pack. And these cars looked like you would want a tigers car to look. Very simple design, and very modest paint job. In fact the 1st place car owner had to keep telling us which part was the front of the car. Needless to say it did not make the older more experinced Cub Scouts happy to be outdone by these young tigers.

Brian

[mbscoutmom]

Our Tigers don't carve their cars. They just sand and paint the blocks of wood. We have a separate race for them, and they have their own trophy. We always have some arguments from parents about this, but it's a long-standing tradition in our pack.

[Cubmaster-Fred]

Our pack just ran our PWD 3 weeks ago and our TIger Cubs participated just like all the other Cubs.

 

Our Tigers designed thier own cars and cut them out since it is a Parent Boy project.

 

CMF