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Racing Party -4yr- Race Car Cake Walk

January 2002

Angie in York, South Carolina, US

Honorable Mention

My son has racing in his blood!  He has gone to NASCAR races since he was 3 months old, and naturally chose to have a race car party for this 4th birthday. 

To make things easy, I took him to our local grocery store where he picked out his favorite cake adorned with a race track, Jeff Gordon, and stands for the fans.  (You can choose just about any driver!) 

I sent out invitations with "Race on over, the fun is custom made for you." Guests knew which house to go to because of red, green, yellow, and white balloons posted in our neighborhood.  When they reached our house, they found a checkered flag on our mailbox signifying the finish line.

Decorations included a checkered table cloth, red napkins, green plates, yellow utensils (to represent the flag colors,)and plastic NASCAR cups that each child took home. Streamers and balloons were in the same color.

When the guests arrived they made their very own license plate with metallic poster board, their names followed by their ages (JORDAN 4), and glitter glue for the border.  They were able to wear their plate as a necklace. 

When the guests had finished, they went over to a large piece of butcher paper I had taped to the floor.  Guests were provided with their choice of race car and crayons in which to draw their own race tracks.  Then, each child raced their car (which they got to take home) on their own custom made track.  (An adult was stationed there to help.)

Next was a "green flag, red flag game."  The kids lined up on one side of the room and made their way to the adult on the other side by following the directions of a "green flag" for go and "red flag" for stop.  If a child did not obey the flag color, he had to start over.  The first child to make it to the adult won. 

The last game was a version of musical chairs.  Each child stood on a laminated piece of construction paper, one of which had a race car.  When the  music was turned on, the children moved by stepping on each sheet of paper.  When the music stopped, the child that was standing on the race car received a race-car shaped candy I made using several types of candy  (a pack of gum for the body, two miniature candy bars for the "cab" and round candies for the wheels).  This way, all children were winners. 

The party ended with the cake and presents.  Each child left with a treat bag that included a race-car pencil, candy, the race-car chosen at the beginning of the party, their plastic NASCAR cup, and their license plate. 

What a blast!  All of these activities work great if you are limited in space and cannot go outdoors due to cold weather or rain.

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