No Rules Pinewood Derby

Looking for a ward activity idea? Or one for multiple families? Try a No Rules Pinewood Derby!

 We’ve done this at church for the past three years and it’s been hit every time. The ward budget covers the cost of the car kits and families sign up for one. Then, anything goes! They can choose to use all or none of the pieces in the kit and add their own twist because there’s NO WEIGH IN.
What about how much time it takes for every car to race every car? We don’t do that. What a relief right? I’ll talk about that in a sec.
But first here’s some answers to FAQ:

Can you add all the weight you want? Yes.
Can you build it out of all metal? Yes.
Can you roll a brick down the ramp??? Yes! as long as it doesn’t damage the track or impede an opponents car. (We had a family do this.)
Can you put a remote controlled engine on it? Yes!
There are only a few rules necessary which I’ve outlined below.

HOW PLAY WORKS
You will find that you’ll need two categories:
1. Gravity driven cars.
2. Power driven cars.
(It’s more fun and fair this way.)
Save the power driven car races for last. They can be the most exciting and it’s fun to end with a grand finale.

Have each team pick a name for their car, write it down on a piece of paper and enter it into the appropriate category. We had a bowl for each category.

Next your MC (pick someone who’s funny and isn’t shy) will take the Gravity Driven bowl and draw three names at random and call them out. We were in a church gym so a microphone was very helpful.

After those three cars, the MC draws three more names. Keep play going until the bowl is empty.
Then, throw all the names back in again, mix it up and start over. About three rounds of this is perfect.

After doing this for both categories the fun gets ramped up even more.
NEXT have the MC open up the floor to callouts. Players get to call out any other cars they want to race. This goes on until the evening is over.

We’ve had NO TEARS, and no complaints over fairness etc. This NEVER feels like a serious competition and there are no prizes. We’re all there for the fun. So if you have bad childhood memories of your pinewood derbys...no worries! This is nothing like it!

SUGGESTED
Include a potluck or treats. We had a tailgate themed potluck one year and a fourth of July breakfast another year.

The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE this activity. The adults get a kick out of it too. I like it because it’s so inclusive. Families with kids, singles, and couples without children all have fun. And I always enjoy seeing what everybody has built and “oohing, and ahhhing” over all their hard work. Each year the cars get more creative as people see what’s possible.

If you choose to do this, have fun!