Lego Derby

I mentioned in a previous post, that Grayson had purchased some Lego/Derby wheels. They are basically just a lego block base, with holes drilled into the sides to attach regular pinewood derby wheels with small axles. GREAT idea! Although we have a TON of Legos, I didn't want to totally raid the kids stash (Gray had no trouble raiding the kids stash) so I hopped online and picked up some used bricks on Ebay. Gray picked up some small adhesive weights (to make the cars heavier, thus faster, or at least able to finish) and set up our first (but I'm sure not last) Lego Derby with the youth of our ward. 

We didn't use a couple sections of the track, making it just a bit shorter than for a traditional derby. The kids were given the go ahead, and they made their cars using the Lego bricks. Then it was time to race. With Grayson's setup, the cars all have names. As family history is the subject of focus for the youth this year, the kids were encouraged to give the cars names of an ancestor. So instead of the usual derby car names (the rocketeer, silver speedster, flash, turbo master) we had names like Aunt Ruby, OldGranny, Helga and even ThomasJefferson. 

During Pinewood Derby races, Grayson is always telling the boys to be really careful with their cars. A drop can put a car completely out of commission. Lego cars are even MORE fragile. Many of them would break as they went down the track, or flip as they hit the finish. At least they are more easily put back together than traditional wood derby cars.

Cooper wasn't interested in the derby (what?) but Colton and I headed over to the church to check it out, and of course Colton participated with the rest of the youth. I grabbed some video and made a muvee~

The Lego Derby is a great alternative to a regular derby. There is less cost (well, OUR initial cost wasn't less, but now each derby can be run for no additional output, no purchasing of car kits) and no real prep time or tools needed. It's fast and easy and fun. It would be great for a birthday party or school class activity. We'd been to a similar function (Lego Racers) at the local library and a small, simple track may be something we'll look into too.

Lego Derby ... a success.