Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

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Vitamin K
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Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by Vitamin K »

So I told my son about the LED lightning bolt car that Sporty had built and, of course, he was psyched and wanted to do something similar.

Alas, I had to slow his roll a bit, as our time frame for car building is looking smaller and smaller, and, on top of that, if I let him have LEDs on his car, there's no way I can get out of letting his sister and younger brother put LEDs on their cars too. But, to compromise, I said, "How about we plan on that next year, when it's your last pinewood derby?" (He is currently a Webelos I).

His response was an anguished, "You mean I won't get to do Pinewood Derby after that???"

Anyhow, I assured him that if he still wanted to build and race cars, we could find an outlet for it, but did get me thinking: Why isn't Pinewood Derby continued into the Boy Scout level? I mean, kids have fun with it. Adults have fun with it (otherwise this board wouldn't have so much traffic). Couldn't, conceivably, teens have fun with it too?

One possibility might be to make the Pinewood Derby a joint event between Cubs and Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts help run the event, and a few extra classes get added on for the older boys to build and race their cars.

I'm just curious as to whether anybody else has thought about this, or seen anything like it done before?
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Darin McGrew
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by Darin McGrew »

What is the purpose of your derby?

Personally, I think the "sweet spot" for the derby is in the 3rd-6th grade range. Most kids younger than 3rd grade aren't ready to contribute much to the construction of a derby car. Most kids older than 6th grade don't need much help from a parent or other adult. So from the perspective of promoting child-adult interaction, it makes sense to focus on the range where most kids still need adult help, but where the adult doesn't have to do nearly all the work.
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ciodude
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by ciodude »

BLAST Car racing was designed to take over for pinewood derby racing in the Boy Scouts. I don't think it's really taken off though.
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by Speedster »

Darin,
I must respectfully disagree. I Love the Tigers and I Love to watch them race. Their excitement is a thrill for me and the crowd. Any Tiger can come up with a paint job and apply it himself. If that's all he can do, so be it. HE did it and probably did it all himself. I Love all ages of racers but the Tigers have a special place in my heart.
Cheers,
Bill
Last edited by Speedster on Mon Feb 27, 2017 4:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by dna1990 »

Soapbox Derby in your area...? aasbd.org
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by Speedster »

VK, I think I might have solved your sons problem. Hopefully he will move on to Boy Scouts. Working with you as long as he has he is going to be very knowledgeable about building fast cars. You two also build beautiful cars so he is going to do well in the Design category. Introduce yourselves to a Girl Scout troop. Your knowledge, skill, and tools you own would be a huge benefit to the Girl Scouts come Pinewood Derby Time. Your son will have an opportunity to make lots of new friends.
Best
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ciodude
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by ciodude »

The real solution is to have your son take on the position of Den Chief with a local pack. Then he can keep making racers with his Den! That's what my son did for almost 5 years. He would just race in the siblings/leaders races.
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by ZebsRacing »

I have a Tiger in his first year, he was willing to do everything, but I let him sand and paint, of course. Now does the car look awesome? Not really, he decided to rush through the sanding part, has anyone had that problem? He learned a lesson when his brother took 1st overall and he took 3rd overall.
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by Vitamin K »

I like to cackle evilly every time I hand them the block back for more sanding.

"Enough sanding??? It's NEVER enough sanding! More!"
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by ZebsRacing »

Thats funny sir, but true. I just dont know how to instill in him that it may be a [crummy] job, but it matters. We all know it matters, but I want him to take pride in every aspect, not just be happy with a fast jalopy with thrown together paint. I refuse to go hands on with this part because I feel it is part of the "50" percent. That I think a Tiger should do.
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by ciodude »

They learn over time. My four girls spend varying amounts of time designing, sanding, panting and such. One of my twins sits down in the basement sometimes for hours getting it right. She consistently wins more design awards. Sometimes that motivates her sisters, sometimes not. Every year I work with them I expect more from them being a year older and I do less. If they don't fill the gap, it just doesn't get done. The youngest are now 12 (twins) so they get it. I remind them and cajole them at times, but to do more takes the fun and excitement out of it. They do what they want and have gone back at times and reworked things.
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by Speedster »

What will happen when the Girl Scouts keep racing past the 5th Grade and the Boy Scouts can't race anymore. The Girl Scouts will probably have joined the Boy Scouts by then so they can get the Arrow of Light and become an Eagle Scout. I suppose the Boy Scouts could join the Girl Scouts and keep racing.
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

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Hard to tell Speedster. The new direction is creating some bad blood between BSA and GSA.
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Re: Pinewood Derby at the Boy Scout level?

Post by Speedster »

The Girl Scouts have gotten so big in the Troops we're connected with we had to separate them and run them two separate days. On Feb. 10th we run the Cub Scouts, then Lion scouts, Sponsor Race and then the OUTLAWS. The next day, in the same school, we will be running 70 Girl Scouts while a Lego track will be set up in one of the main hallways. There will be no score keeping or timer on the Lego track. Our Pack leader happens to be a policeman and does a good job keeping order. We are using our District race rules for the Girl Scouts. However, we failed to make a rule, "Glitter must be covered in Clearcoat". Isn't this going to be Fun...
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