I wasn't able to attend this year's Pinewood Derby, but that doesn't mean I got away without helping.  As Mrs. Cubmaster, there's always a job for me to do, and Pinewood Derby is no exception.

Fortunately, the work that needed to be done for the Derby was something I could do in advance.  I had to make up the award certificates for each participant.

Since this is an event for boys between the ages of 6 and 11, there's a good chance that little egos will take a bruising if they don't win the first-, second-, or third-place prizes.  So we like to reward everyone's creativity, even if they don't win a prize for speed.

When my older son was a Cub Scout, all the participants received a ribbon that said "I did my best."  And while that was nice, we thought we'd try something different with this group of kids.  So we line up a Panel of Esteemed Judges (Boy Scout leaders who aren't related to any of the Cub Scouts) and ask them to award some prizes based on the looks of the cars.

My job is to make the award certificates--and to think of the categories for these awards.  With 22 boys in the pack, that job was pretty tough this year.  So we gave out prizes for things like:

  • Best Muscle Car
  • Best Car that Isn't a Car
  • Most Colorful
  • Shiniest Paint Job
  • Most Aerodynamic
  • Most Futuristic

After I thoutht up the categories, I designed a template, loaded some nice cardstock into the color printer, and printed out the certificates.  I was gratified to hear that the boys were thrilled to win awards that acknowledged the work they'd put into their cars.

But I've already warned my husband that if he does too much recruiting for next year, I'm going to have a hard time thinking of categories for these awards!  He's got to keep this Cub Scout pack a manageable size.

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