Race Hints

The

Pinewood Derby

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Race Hints

1. Use an overhead projector to display the results for everyone to see.

2. Reserve the first row for the Scouts. The race is for them, not the adults.

3. Sticker the cars with a number but also sticker the kids so that they remember their number.

4. Have a test night the evening before the race when you set up the track. Have the official scale there.

5. Give the adults something to pour their creativity into. Have a parent (sister, brother, etc.) race. Call it The "Masters" Race (with fun awards of course). Have a leader race at one of your roundtables

6. Have the district meet at a mall. This is good for Scouting public relations. I bet the local TV station would turn out for it.

7. Invite a local celebrity or two (Mayor, Police Chief, Weatherman, Minister) to make a car and race it against the top scout cars. They can also be judges for the Scout race.

8. Ask the Federal Highway Safety Administration if they have crash dummy costumes that you can borrow.

9. Make simple car stands as a den project.

10. Bake some car shaped cookies.

11. Have a car building clinic after the previous months pack meeting. Contrary to popular belief, not all men know how to handle power tools.

12. Announce that there will be adult supervised free racing after the official races. After spending two-three weeks building the car, the boys want to race them more than a couple times.

13. Use this opportunity to tell your Webelos about inertia and gravity for their Scientist pin.

14. Use this opportunity to teach your Wolf Cubs about tools for their badge requirements.

15. Hold a coloring contest to keep the boys occupied between races. Have a picture of a Pinewood Derby car that they can color.

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