Today was Elias’ first AWANA grand prix. Up until we arrived at the event I had no idea what to expect, but I assumed it was similar to the boy scout car derby my brothers did a couple of different years (although I never actually attended those either).
Nathan and Elias received a block of wood and some wheels. They made a plan to cut the wood, but after only a few cuts Elias said he was done. We suspect he did not like the noise. Elias sanded it and chose a paint color. This morning they added the wheels and a little bit of lead for the finishing touches. Nathan could not go the event, but the boys and I headed off.
I was surprised how fancy some of the cars were. It was quite fun looking at all that can be done with a simple block of wood. We also had to name the car. As we were registering and getting it weighed I asked Elias what he wanted to name his car. He thought for a minute, and then said, “strange.”
Since Elias is a cubby, his group got to go first. Here is his car being loaded on the track:
And here is one of the heats:
Elias had a lot of fun watching the cars come to the course. There was a fancy electronic timer and everything.
As it turned out, Elias’ car was the slowest of all the cubbies, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. He was proud of his car, and at the end, everyone got a medal.
We had a lot of fun at our first grand prix. Next year we’ll have a lot of ideas in our back pocket. When we got home the boys got right down to playing.
