Is the Pinewood Derby Really for the Kids?

I would love to think that my kids could bring to fruition the vision I have, even if it is based on the design they described, for their Pinewood Derby cars, but frankly, they are from the ages 7-11.  How could I expect someone whose fingers don't quite get the message from the brain all the time to be mini-Picasos?  Apparently, I am not the only parent with these thoughts and observations.

This is made abundantly clear when my kids' cars are lined up beside all those apparent mini-Picasos.  My own children's cars are clumsy and often don't place anywhere near the first place.  And I can appreciate the beauty of the other racers' cars-- we ooo and ahhh over the the sleek finishes, the obviously superior aerodynamics, the perfectly weighted specimens and sigh when we look at the clumsy-yet-heartfelt designs of our own children's.  However, what is abundantly clear, in so many cases, is that dad (and sometimes mom) is often living out his/her own dreams and visions vicariously through the Pinewood cars.  I do note all of this through the prism of experience, and from experience I have learned the lesson.  It is hard when you  know the right way to get the job accomplished, you know you  have the required dexterity, the useful experience, the ability to search web engines for designs, in order to bring the perfect car into being-- and yet you are forced to work with a less than skilled worker.

You find yourself handing them the car and saying, "Ok.  Draw your design."  So the youngster eagerly applies his graphite pencil to the block of wood.  The lines are wobbly and not symmetrical.  What will it hurt if I straighten those lines, you ask yourself.  So you quietly straighten the lines while the boy is diverted with a 'hey, could you get the box and make sure we have all the wheels?'  While he is gone you quickly work to make everything perfect.  But wait?  What did he draw?  Really?  And he thinks that will win the race?  So you adjust the design just a little, tweak it you might say.

Next, you place in his hand a coping saw (if you have one) and do a quick demonstration-- just to get it started.  The boy then goes to work, back ... and... forth......and......back....and.............forth.  You realize this will take forever, so you pull-out the big boy-- your very own handheld jigsaw (if you are a lucky carpenter you might even own a power scroll saw **celestial music and golden light bursts** (yes I would LOVE to own one myself)).  Hold up there now, this is a power tool, this requires extra precautions and rightly so.  No one wants a child to poke out an eye or lose a digit.  So you hold his hands for a few moments, so he feels like he's contributed, and then you switch it off and move him out of the way.

Finishing up the cutting, you hand him the block of wood and give him the job everyone loves--NOT.  Sanding.  You give him 100 grit paper first, to knock off the largest pieces of larger burs.  He struggles with his small undeveloped muscles for a few minutes and declares that he is tired.  So you pull out the power sander-- or if you are an equipped crafter, the Dremel (love the Dremel).  And the sanding has gone from chore to fun-- but not for the boy, because it is a power tool and he just hasn't developed to a state of preparedness yet to use it successfully.  You know, the ol' lose an eye or digit maxim.

So now the car is as smoooooooth as a baby's bottom.  Surely the boy can decorate the car he has made, right? Well, at first.  But then those lines still aren't straight, are they?  I mean, he is only an hour older than he was when we first started.  So when he is not looking, you straighten the lines up, add a flourish here, a tweak there.  And viola!  A perfect Pinewood Derby car, made by your talented son.  You hand him the hammer amd nails and let him put the finishing touches on-- the wheels.  You go to bed and dream of  standing in the winners box-- err, you dream of your son-- standing in the winners box tomorrow after his Pinewood Derby car beats the pants off the other kids' cars.

The big day arrives and you stand behind your son while he holds his car with pride.  Look at the car he made, isn't it cool?  The racers race, the heats decided by a computer program especially designed for Pinewood Derby racing (this sport is only 57 years old! And look how far it has come).  Your boy comes in second.  But you'll do it better next year.  You'll go to Little Timmy's house, whose dad has ALL the tools you need to bring a better design to the table.  Next year, you will make sure to find the best aerodynamic design.  Next year you...you...you...you.

This is John's (16) "Two Hour Power" Car

But that is NOT what it is about.  It is about allowing the boys, from the very beginning (tigers, often) to design, with a lesson on what makes a car go fast (aerodynamics) and safety.  You guide the use of tools, well you have to, the kids should probably make it to adulthood with all their digits if it can be at all helped.  But it should be a learning lesson for HIM.  If you, as an adult, learn something along the way all the better.  But the lessons that he learned can be seen when, after he crosses over as a Webelos II, you line up his cars and from Tigers to Wolves you see that he learned how to draw a straight line, from Wolves to Bears you can ascertain that he developed the skills to handle the tools with more confidence, from Bears to Webelos I it obvious he was learning about aerodynamics.  And, as a Webelos II, you see the culmination of all the lessons learned, and maybe even a first place ribbon from the pack level, the council level, and maybe even the national level.  But in all cases, it will be a visual timeline of his growth.

This brings to mind a question: why do my children's cars always garner so much positive attention?  For the same reason their homemade costumes at Halloween receive such high accolades: The use of imagination and whimsy.   These tools or skills are what every child is equipped with.  These are the tools with which they are experts, of which they are masters.  And I have learned (sorry John that I did not learn it sooner with you, but I did learn it in time, I believe) to allow them the use of these devices so that they can own their creations.

Nickolas' whimsical Snickers Candy bar Car-- Webelo II

Someday my boys will have gained the necessary dexterity and useful experience that produces masterpieces of aerodynamic design, but they couldn't if I did all their work for them.

PS. There are packs who've taken into consideration a parents, and siblings, desire to participate.  And to those packs I lift my hat (though despite these attempts, it is still obvious there are dads/moms who  still "tweaked" (built) the kids as well as their own). These packs have a "family" category.  This is nice and useful for those parents who get it and still want to participate.