Too many kids miss out on the joy of "building something"!

My son and I have worked on his pinewood derby cars every year since he started cub scouts. We have had good success over the years finishing in 2nd, 3rd, 4th in his first four years as a scout. Last year was his last year as a cub scout (WEBELOS) thus his last year of pinewood derby competition (through scouting).

Being 10 years old meant he was able to use the knife, saw and drill, so he had a lot more involvement in the overall construction of the car. I was able to guide him and help out with lubricating the axles and wheels, aligning the wheels and fine tuning of the weight. This year, he not only took first place in his den (against his fellow WEBELOS), but he also took first place in his scout pack.

As a first place finisher he went on to represent his pack's WEBELOS in the district competitions against 20 other packs where he finished in 3rd place. The races were on a 4 lane track so the cars would run a heat in each lane. It was close, finishing with a combined 4 heat time of 12.2102 seconds (3.05255 sec/heat ), 0.0103 seconds behind the 2nd place finisher (combined 4 heat time of 12.1999 seconds or 3.049975 sec/heat ) and 0.0166 secs behind the 1st place finisher (combined 4 heat time of 12.1936 seconds or 3.0484 sec/heat ).

It's interesting to see the different designs the kids (or parents) come up with.

Oh and it's not just fun for the boys (and dads), but our Pack had a 'Sibling' class and an 'Outlaw' class. The 'Sibling' class allowed non-scout brothers and sisters to compete. The 'Outlaw' class was not strict with the rules and gave parents a chance compete against each other and. My daughter participated 3 or 4 years and I entered a car the last two years.

Here's a picture of his car at the district competition. His is the blue car.

Here's the entire field:

Yep - my son and I built 3 of those pine racers. Tried to get as aero as possible. We used a wood filling primer and sanded for hours until the body looked like a piece of plastic.

We saw some nearly stock blocks of wood run like crazy - they just had a better whee/axle set. Still lots of fun trying to build a better "mousetrap" so to speak. He still has them on his dresser.

We went from this into a few years of him helping me build a local car show entry, and then into a drag racing team a few years after he could drive a car. He has made a career of auto mechanics, and this was where that started.

We went from this into a few years of him helping me build a local car show entry, and then into a drag racing team a few years after he could drive a car.

Very Cool

Today, if the kid cut himself while whittling the car, the parent would probably be brought up on child endangerment charges. If you give the kid an allowance OSHA would get involved, too. Welcome to 2016. -- JHF