Pinewood Derby

Last week Sam and I spent most of the week working on his pinewood derby car. He drew his design on the wooden block and then we proceeded to cut it. We didn't have access to someone with a jigsaw so we cut it by hand. I let Sam do a little bit but it was taking quite a long time so I ended up sawing it by hand. He then helped with the sanding, painting and of course decorating it. Since this was our first year participating in the race I didn't plan on us placing so I prepared myself for a huge let down and a very disappointed son. I didn't prepare for him winning though

HE WON!!!!

He came in first place for his rank! Then it was time to sit and wait for the other ranks to have their races before the finals. He didn't place in the finals but he came in 7th out of 35 racers. Not bad for our first try at it! I was so proud of him and as you will see in the pictures below so was he.
After cutting the car we needed to sand it. Here it is pre-sanding.
Sam sanding away on the car. It was a lot of hard work and we both took turns.
The car after several coats of paint. Quite a few more to go before the night was through.
Sam's car winning one of the 6 heats for his rank.

He placed first in 5 out of the 6 heats.
Receiving his trophy for first place!

The car and trophy.

Here is a short video with more pictures that I took during the making of the car and also the race. We all had a lot of fun and are already planning next years race. You will have to pause the music on this blog to the left so that you can watch this video. Also I couldn't change the speed at which the pictures change but there is a pause button with each picture if you need to use it. Enjoy!

Make a slideshow - it's easy!