AWANA Grand Prix

Friday night we attended the 2016 AWANA Grand Prix. Except for last year, which they decided to skip, our boys have participated in the AWANA Grand Prix each year for six years. The first two years in Cubbies the kids are not old enough to participate in the AWANA Grand Prix.

It is a fun night for all and since this is our last year attending AWANA it was extra special.

The AWANA Grand Prix is a pine-wood car derby. The kids buy a rectangular block of pine-wood and the wheels to go with it and then they get to shape, color and design it however they want. This year was the first year our boys did all the work on their own.

The primary rule that must be met for the car is it can’t weigh more than five ounces. Everyone learns each year how to design your car so it will roll straight and fast.

Thursday night is our AWANA night, and that is when the track is taken out of storage and set up. The track has four lanes. Each race involves four cars and they race four times rotating lanes so everyone races in each lane. Then from those four races two are chosen to move on. It can take a long time to get through all the racers the first time.

This is what Joshua looks like when he wins.

The kids sit along the outside waiting for their car to race.

Our boys did really well this year. They both moved on to the final race. Nicholas is the red car with the silver stripe on the far left and Joshua is the blue car on the far right.

Everyone is intently watching.

Here is one of the final races.

I think Nicholas was first and Joshua second. There are so many races I have a hard time keeping track.

This one I know Nicholas won. I think Joshua was third.

In the end, Nicholas won first place and Joshua fourth. Here is a slow motion video our friend Tom Russel sent to me. The arm you see going up on the right side was Nicholas’ when he won.

In addition to the winners of the actual race, kids can also win for design.

Here is Kirsten (tallest one), who happens to be one of the girls I lead at AWANA. She won first place for the girls in design. She turned her car into a bubble gum machine.

Her youngest brother, Aidan, won third place for his car designed to look like an eagle.

Here are the winners of the race for the girls. The Russel family also had two winners that night. Chloe, second from the right won first place, and her sister Mandy, left of Chloe, won third place.

Here are the race winners on the boys side.

Right to left: Joshua fourth place, Nicholas first place, Dylan third place and, Gavin in second place.

Here are all the winners of the night.

I just can’t tell you how much we love AWANA. We have eleven more Thursdays to meet and then they will graduate. It was a great way for our boys to finish their AWANA Grand Prix career.

Have a great Monday,
Karen