Racing Party -4yr- Hot Wheels Hot Potato

My son turned 4 and loves anything with motors.  Thus we decided to give him a racing party. 

My husband wrote the invitations which read "Pole sitter (name) is approaching turn 4 and asks that you join him in the winner's circle (with a pint of milk) to celebrate his special day!  Drive to the (last name)'s Speedway (address) on (date and time).  All registered drivers must be accompanied by at least one member of their pit crew throughout the time trial, which concludes after 500 laps or at 5pm, whichever comes first!" We decorated the house with black and white flags and balloons and borrowed cones from the church to set up a race course.

When the kids arrived, they had to go to a registration table, where they received "pit passes".  These were 4x5 precut cardboard with the schedule of events glued on one side and a registration form (name, address, weight, height, hair color, eye color, D.O.B. and special number) which they had to fill out glued to the other. 

I also put on a sticker with their special number for them to wear for their races. (The only number they couldn't select was 4 which was for the birthday boy.) There was also a space on the pit pass for them to color a self portrait.  With a hole punch I punched 2 holes and tied cheap yarn (Walmart)to make a "necklace" out of them, so the boys wouldn't lose them. 

After filling out their pass, they each received a plastic racing helmut.  I had made 3 racing cars out of cardboard boxes (spray paint and construction paper to decorate), so the kids would become the car. I thought this would be easier than asking everyone to bring a bike.  We made a racing course outside.  Each child got to practice running the course alone but had to make 3 stops along the way where the other kids were waiting.

At the first station, the children rotated the tires.  I had made the tires out of small paper plates and adhered them with velcro.  The next station was filling the car with gas (hose not turned on) and washing the car (old rags).  The final station was a tune up, where I had plastic tools for the boys to use.  After everyone had a turn, we then started the races.  With 3 ready made cars, the boys raced 3 at a time.  I had medallions for everyone. (Redners Market) 

We then went inside to paint mini wooden racing cars (Oriental Trading Place) and then to watch a video (Hard Hat Harry's Real Life Car Mechanic Adventures). 

We played games such as Hot Wheels (instead of Hot Potato) and Pin the Number on the Car (Since I am not an artist, I ripped out a coloring book page of a racing car, had my son color it and glued it onto a larger piece of construction paper.)  I then made circles with their number they picked for their races.  Afterwards we had snacks and cake. 

We just used solid color plates, cups and napkins (red and royal blue).  The table cloth was from Birthday Express. I tried to stick with round things (donuts, oreos, m+m's) to represent tires.  I also had chips and fritos and "Pit-stop Punch".  I made a cake with chocolate frosting (to represent dirt) and decorated it to look like the winners circle with match box cars and the racing candles from Birthday Express. 

Finally it was "trophy time", and my son opened his presents.  When the children left, they brought home their pit pass, racing helmut, medallion, and painted car.  In a Hot Wheels bag, there was also a Formula-One car, build a race car sticker set, (Oriental Trading) and mini plastic helmuts filled with candy that is also a bank (Birthday Express) and Hot Wheels fruit snacks.   We had so much fun not only having the party but planning it and making it a reality.