Amazing Race

Last Spring I arranged an Amazing Race for my Cadette Cookie Reward.  After sleeping over at the museum, going to Build a Bear, camping, zip-lining and spending the night at Great Wolf Lodge, I ran out of fun and AMAZING things to do for our End of the Year, Cookie Reward Bash.  Last year was particularly challenging as the girls have aged and all enjoy different things. The weeks were slipping by and I felt the pressure to find an activity.  While browsing different TV channels I came across an old episode of The Amazing Race.  Quickly I worked hard to create a really fun and unique event for my girls.  This proved to be fairly easy, inexpensive and the girls really love it!

I held this event in our neighborhood Town Square which is a large outdoor mall.  I felt this was a safe place with plenty of people, room to roam and lots of businesses to use for the tasks.  Creating the objectives was probably the most difficult part of this activity. I scoured the Internet for ideas and pulled some of the best ones.  Plus, it my internet search was great fuel to inspire my own ideas.  Once I arranged the tasks, I then created tickets, envelopes and obtained all the items needed to play the game.

On the day of the event we met for pizza at the mall and I explained all the rules.  The girls were divided into 2 and 3 man teams (based on numbers).  Next, each girl was given an Amazing Race T-Shirt.

These were easily made using iron on transfers, a simple black and white "Amazing Race" logo and my printer.  I purchased the t-shirts from Michaels in bold neon colors for $3 each, on sale. The t-shirts indentified the teams, kept the girls together and helped us keep track them from a distance.  Plus, it was a nice momento for the girls.  My daughter wears her shirt as a sleep shirt.

After dinner we walked them to the square, near the fountain, which was the designated meeting area.  The girls had 11 clues and they were passed out in different orders, so no teams were doing the same activity at the same time (to the best of our ability).  The goal was to complete all the tasks first. Everything must be done as a team, teams could not split up to complete in an attempt to complete the tasks faster, or the team would be disqualified.  

Every team was given their 1st clue, inside the envelope the girls had eveything they needed to complete the task.  The Post Office donated a few cardboard Priority Mail envelopes that sealed tightly.  The girls had to pull a tab to open.  this felt really official and kept all the clues hidden and organized.  The girls scattered once they received their clues and it was fun to watch them get really excited about winning.  They could not wait to move on to the next task.

I purchased gift cards from different stores at the mall as the prizes.  I hid the gift cards in their stores' bags and I attached some small visible item from the store like a headband, fingernail polish etc.  The 1st team got to choose from the bags and so on.  Girls at this age love gift cards!  After the game was over, I allowed the girls to spend their cards with their group if they wanted too.

Following our 2 1/2 hour race we went to a movie and then we had a backyard camp out, complete with a midnight swim. My daughter still talks about the event.  The race would make  a great Birthday Party as well.

I am happy to share any and all my resources for this event including my rules, clues, and t-shirt logos.  If you have any questions concerning the race, please e-mail me:  GirlScoutLeaderx2@gmail.com

Iron-on Logo:  (Printed on 8.5x11" iron transfer paper, then cut in half and applied to t-shirt, remember to reverse print unless your printer does it for you)

INVITES:

RULES: 

PRIZES & CHALLENGES:

EXAMPLES of CLUE TICKETS:

ENVELOPES:

****Tip: Provide a map of the mall to each participant or one per a team.


E-mail me and I will provide you with any of the materials above in a pdf format for easy transfer to your computer or to print.