Saturday, January 2, 2010

Courtesy Heads-Up Reminder: Pinewood Derby

For those of you involved in Cub Scouts, I offer a courtesy reminder that your Pinewood Derby is probably fast approaching. This is evidenced by the increasing number of hits I have been getting on my blog from people doing Google searches for Pinewood Derby designs.


Each year I procrastinate. Then the last weekend before the race, I quickly throw something together with my eldest son. Somewhere along the way, I mumble to myself, "Self, next year, you should start working on this a lot sooner and not wait until the weekend before the race." Especially this year since we're doing two cars - one for ES's official entry and one for YB to enter the "sibling" category of the race.

So here we are... 4 weeks out from the Pinewood Derby. I should probably get the boys to decide on their designs and colors and get to work.

But I've got plenty of time!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

The PinewoodDerbyDen.Com is here to help with your Pinewood Derby.

Anonymous said...

I was in CS, and my dad wouldn't "help" me like other dads did with their sons. LOL! Its not that he was too busy or an inattentive father, he saw it a "my" project. But, he gave me some tools - a handsaw, a hammer, a rasp, a can of black rustoleum spray paint, some sandpaper, and let me go. I was very proud of my shiny black car! Then I got to the hall. I saw the other (awesome) cars, found out that other dads "helped" their sons, and just kept my car in my jacket pocket. Some boys had put different wheels that what were supplied, some had even hollowed out a notch in the bottom, and poured in molten lead so that the car would be heavier and have more momentum during the race.

Few boys that age are skilled enough to use hand tools to that level - let alone the fine motor control required to do so. Thats why I think its great to have this as a father-son project. The boy observes the tools in use, and thus learns how to use them. He can perform some of the easier tasks, and makes decisions with the father for the look and feel. Its good you do this with your boys.

blunoz said...

Thanks SonarMan, I couldn't agree more.