For those of us who were in Cub Scouts in our youth the Pinewood Derby brings to fond memories of fun and speed. If you are not familiar with the derby, I will explain. Every year Cub Scout Packs around the country pass out pine wood kits. The kit consists of 1 wood block, 4 plastic wheels and 4 nail axels. The Cub Scout and his parent must then transform said block into a car that weighs five ounces or less. All of the scouts in the Pack will then race their cars down a 36 – 42 foot race track on the day of the derby.
The hard part is making the car. Making the car fast, stylish and fun! Skeeter has been a scout for three years now. The first year we made a spectacular car. We worked on it for a month. It was very shapely and looked good. It did not win the race, but Skeeter and I were both proud.
Then year two we procrastinated. I made a kit car and it showed. We won nothing!
This year we spent a week working on the car and it was a nice blend. It did not win the race but did come in 9th overall. So it was a good car.
This year we also made a car for Pork Chop. It looked a lot like a Chevrolet Camaro. Mama designed it from a model of a Trans Am that is on our book shelf. The car was 10th over all in speed but won 5th place in the finals because it was the fastest of the siblings.
Skeeter was mad. Pork Chop was happy.
All in all our Pinewood Derby was a success, kids had fun and Skeeter and Porkchop had fun!
The derby is a great experience of competition and sportsmanship and is a wonderful tradition.
For more information about the pinewood derby see the following links below:
Pinewood Derby Speed Secrets: Design and Build the Ultimate Car
How to Book: Formula for Building & Racing PineCars
Wikipedia Page on the Pinewood Derby
- Spark Dad
