derby car :: projects with kids

"the monster" has his first pinewood derby tomorrow! he is out-of-this-world excited! in fact, i'm pretty sure it's the only reason why he joined cub scouts in the first place. when he found out that there was a parent/sibling division, i couldn't say "no" to his little face as he pleaded with me to do a car.

and so, began the stress of figuring out how to make a race car out of a block of wood... while simultaneously teaching my son to use a saw and not loose a finger. after a couple of failed attempts to hook up with a friend of a friend who has said "saw", we opted for the pre-cut version that you can buy at the hobby store. relief!

once "bump" saw the fancy race car pictures, he too wanted to make a derby car and enter the race. our finished (and in "bump's" case, mostly finished) cars are above. although we used the pre-cut blocks, all other details were chosen and attached by each of us to create our original cars. i was proud of myself for not jumping in and trying to do the boys' cars for them (as i'm sure many parents do). by making my own car, i was able to work along side of them and teach them instead. i am also incredibly proud of "the monster" because i think his car turned out pretty good!

anyway, the race is tomorrow. i'm sure we won't win any prizes, but if we do i'll be sure to brag about it on here next week. xoxo