Amazing Race Party for Kids
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My Honey and I hosted our annual cookout / campout last weekend for our family and friends, and this year we held it at a group camping spot at the lake. With nearly a hundred guests, many of them kids, I always like to have a fun game for the kids to play during the afternoon. This year I decided to put on a mini version of The Amazing Race, and it was so much fun!
Just like our first Amazing Race party, the real fun for me was coming up with the tasks and clues. I figured out some outdoor challenges that would be fun and kid-friendly. I printed them onto the customizable clue templates that are part of our Amazing Race printables collection, then stuffed them into some of our Amazing Race tear-strip envelopes.
I paired the kids up into teams and gave team matching bandanas.
I'm not sure why, but wearing a bandana seems to make kids think they are tough!
I gave each team their first clue in one of our Amazing Race envelopes and told them to wait until the race started. I sent an adult judge to each task station, armed with the clues to hand out as each task was completed. Then, just like Phil does, I started the race with a raise of my eyebrow and a swoop of my arm. They scurried about so excitedly and headed to the location where their first task was.
TASK #1 - ROUTE INFO: Walk around the entire circle, balancing a golf ball on a spoon. Don't use your other hand! If the ball falls off, start over.
There was a big circular drive at the campsite, but you could have your kids walk any marked distance you can manage. This task was much easier for the kids who took their time and didn't get too excited.
A few of the younger ones kept dropping the golf ball and had to start over, but they soon figured it out.
TASK #2 - ROAD BLOCK: Find a cup with a special marking on the inside. Eat the entire contents of each cup you pick up. Pick up one cup at a time!
This was my favorite task by far. I purchased some inexpensive paper portion cups and set them out all over the picnic table. I drew a smiley face in the bottom of 14 of the cups (we had 7 teams) and then put just enough M&Ms in each cup to cover the bottom.
This was a Road Block task, so only one kid from each team could compete. The players had to keep emptying (and eating!) cups until they found one with the smiley face. Some found it within a few guesses, and others took quite a while.
Unlimited M&Ms may sound like a dream come true, but after 20 or so cups, it gets to be a lot of chocolate! If you're worried about sweets, you could easily do this with Cheerios instead.
TASK #3 - ROUTE INFO: Count the number of stones that make up the fire pit. Write your number below and show it to the judge.
Okay, you probably don't have a stone fire pit wherever you are playing your race, but you could easily adapt this clue to count anything nearby. Our kids had no trouble counting the stones and getting it right -- perhaps I should have picked something a little more difficult.
TASK #4 - ROUTE INFO: Eat an entire cup of Jell-O without using a spoon, fork, or your hands!
What surprised me the most about this task was leaning that many of the kids I know don't actually like Jell-O. I would never have guessed such a thing possible, but the faces while they forced themselves to eat it really cracked us up.
Even Little Jo dislikes Jell-O, but she and all the other kids pushed through and ate what they had to to continue in the race.
TASK #5 - ROUTE INFO: Assemble the puzzle.
I picked up some 24-piece puzzles from the dollar store and set them on tables for the kids to assemble.
They worked very well together and had them put together very quickly.
TASK #6 - DETOUR: Either stack a pile of cans of soda in a tower that stays up for at least 10 seconds OR shake two cans of soda and spray them on each other.
We saved this task for last because it had the potential to get very messy. As is typical with a Detour task, the kids got to choose between two different tasks to complete. The first choice was to stack soda cans, and only the older kids chose this option.
The younger kids immediately went for the option to shake and spray soda on each other. What a riot!
Visit our whole collection of The Amazing Race party ideas to make your event as authentic as you can.
- Amazing Race digital printables - A complete set of digital files including clue cards, envelopes, signs, and more
- Amazing Race party - Lots of party ideas and tips.
- Amazing Race tear-strip envelopes - Start each leg off right with that authentic rip!
- Make an Amazing Race clue box - A great way to present clues for your racers.
- Make an Amazing Race Pit Stop mat and fanny packs - Learn how to customize packs for race gear and paint a mat for racers to jump on when they check in.
To make your final pit stop more authentic, why not decorate it with a Travelocity Gnome and some international flags? You might also want to hand out Amazing Race T-shirts to the winners!
58 comments so far:
Sounds like a FANtabulously fun party for the kiddos! Thanks for sharing your innovative ideas!
I wanted to thank you for making the clue templates available. I loved the button idea and the envelopes. I just celebrated my sons 16th birthday with a group of 8 teenagers and had a 16th Birthday Amazing Race at Epcot. It was AWESOME!
Irma, that sounds Amazing! We'd love to hear more about your party.
My unlce used this tamplete for his 40th birthday and it was heaps fun.
i wanna do it for my 17th now but i have a few months till then. it's a great idea and is heaps of fun.
I've only seen the show a few times and don't know all the ins and outs. Could you please explain the purpose of the "Roadblock" and "Detour" challenges as opposed to the normal challenges?
Great ideas! I sense a b-day party in my son's future.
Hi Wendy! A "Roadblock" challenge is one that must be completed by only one person on the team. A "Detour" challenge is one where the teams have a choice between two different tasks to complete. The Amazing Race is a really fun show, and is a great birthday party idea. You should definitely try to catch a few episodes before planning a party, though... it will help a lot!
Thank you so much for sharing this, Chica. It's very generous. I really want to do this for my stepdaughter's 12th birthday in July. I've already run it by her and she's excited. It should be fun!
You're welcome, Anika. Let us know how the party comes out!
Hey!
Thank you so much for all ideas and for making all your templets available. We have organized an Amazing Race in a small town in Sweden for our friends and neighbours two years in a row and are now making plans for our third. I picked up some great ideas from you! Thank you so very much!I absolutly loved this page!
/ Pia
That's wonderful, Pia! We (and our readers) would love to hear more about your race if you want to share any details with us.
We have copied and adapted your Amazing Race for 2 family parties. Now I am adapting it for a nature activity at Pocahontas State Park, where I work as a naturalist. Thank you so much for making it so easy to use. I love this activity!!!
That sounds awesome, Ranger Krista! If you have any task ideas that our readers could use for similar races, we'd love it if you could share them.
I am THRILLED to have found this page. I'm planning my daughters 13th bday and we are doing amazing race. I'm not very creative so appreciate you putting all your ideas and information available. Can't thank you enough!!
So glad we could help, Jill! Please come back after the party and let us know how it went. I know our readers would also love to hear about any task ideas you came up with for your daughter's party.
I did this for my son's 11th birthday party. It was a hit. The boys loved the challenges and I appreciated having the templates that you provided. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome
This is AMAZING! I'm planning my daughters 9th bday party and was going to do it in my yard but with all these great ideas I may take it to the local park for a little more challenging race!
Thank you for posting the ideas and the templates - it just made one more think on my list to do so much easier!
Tamara, we love making things easier :) Moving to the park sounds like a great idea, and it gives the kids a lot more room to play!
Thank you for posting such great information. My daughter wants an Amazing Race party for her 12th birthday and this will make it so much easier!
Thank you for posting your AMazing Race printables for free on your website. I am so excited to use them for my son's 11 year old party. Your printables and ideas are so fun! Thanks so much!
You're welcome, Shelli. Glad we could help!
I love the templates...we are doing an amazing race for our 12 year old grand daughter and her friends. We have enlisted the help of her other grandparents, parents and family members.
Naturally we had to adapt the pit stops to our village but are excited to host the party. Activities for our party include swimming in the local pool for dive sticks, trying on turnout gear at our local fire department, eating 3 scoops of ice cream, laying a flagstone path across our creek and many others.
Thanks for inspiring us!
Debbie, we're so happy to have inspired you. You have some wonderful ideas planned, and I love how you got everyone involved, from family members to fire fighters. Sounds like a fun race; I wish I could be there!
Did this with my Girl Scouts this weekend and it was A BLAST!!!! Added an extra leg and tweaked just a couple others, but otherwise, did it the same way. I even used the printouts on here and had one of my moms comment how official it all looked. Thanks so much for the inspiration. ;0)
Laura, we're happy we helped you look official and are so glad your girls had a blast!
that sounds like alot of fun.
This was soooo much of help..iv got to plan a treasure hunt for 40 kids and i decided to do it using these ideas..thanks...it was a HUGE help.. :)
Thanks so much for the fun ideas and the free printable templates! My daughter is turning 13 and we live in a pretty small town.. I am very excited to see how this goes! She actually picked this over getting a limo! :)
We had an Amazing Race in our school. I incorporated easy challenges such as trying to balance three books on their heads while walking towards the clue and walk back and hard challenges like climbing up and down four floors and counting the number of steps. That's quite a lot for 12 and 13 year olds.
Hi Chica,
Thank you so much for sharing all of your wonderful templates & ideas! I planned an Amazing Race party for my son's 13th birthday 2 years ago, and everyone had a BLAST! My daughter (then 11) requested an Amazing Race party for her 13th as well (now in 2 weeks), and I am planning that now! It is such a fun party for everyone, and so much more memorable (and cost-effective) than the usual rental-type ideas! Happy 2013!
So glad you enjoyed this party idea, Sue. I know what you mean about it being fun to plan and to host. Jo and I are thinking about having another Amazing Race this coming summer!
Thnk u so much for making your amazing race templates available for those who are interested. I enjoyed making the race envelopes and race buttons. I hosted my mom's 74th birthday with an amazing race. Each team was composed of a grandmother and a three year old child. We all had such fun. Had to cut the number of detours and route info as well as detours when i saw the teams really exhausted. Again, thank you so much!
Chica
Thanks so much for this. am writing in from India .. our daughter is a major amazing race fan and insisted on that as a theme for her 11th bday (in a months time).
Your site just makes it all so much easier.
THANK YOU :-)
What a fun idea, Amy, and I especially love how you paired up your teams!
So glad we could help, Toral! If you have any task ideas to share, I'm sure our readers would love to hear them.
Thank you so much for sharing these downloads. You made this moma's job as party planner so much easier. What a blessing!!! (:
Hi, I'm turning 12th on the 6th and my birthday party will be held on the 13th. I really wanted a theme this year, and I found this website on http://www.pinterest.com. I picked an Amazing Race Theme, and I'm going to have 5 friends over. I want to do the m and m game, but I'm having trouble finding more things to do that won't be to easy or to hard for pre-teens. If you could help me I would be very thankful! Thanks!
Candy, that sounds like a fun party idea! For some more grown-up task ideas, check out our main Amazing Race party page, where you can get some inspiration from our sample clues as well as the comments left by other readers like you.
Last weekend I did a surprise amazing race party for my 14year old and his class of 8th graders. They absolutely loved the idea and had a blast. I had them travel around Port Charlotte. The class made up 5 teams with 4 on each. I used your templates and a few of your ideas. As a detour I had them choose between a bookstore or grocery store and answer 10 questions at either one. As road blocks, one team member had to make 1 strike at a bowling alley ( I rented lane for 1 hr), eat a sundae at mcdonalds in less than a minute and if they failed would have to ask 3 customers for two of their fries, etc. It was fun!!! Thanks sooo much for your FREE downloads.
Jennifer, sounds like a great party, and I LOVE your task ideas, especially the bowling one. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for the ideas and the templates and for breaking down the game for me! I appreciate it more than you know!
At my church, we are planning an Amazing Race for our youth group in July. Our kids are so excited. Thanks so much for the templates and other ideas. They have been so helpful!
This post saved me! For her Sweet 16 party, my daughter wanted an Amazing Race. I planned it at the last minute and the templates saved me! THANK YOU, THANK YOU! So much fun!
You're welcome, Deb. We'd love to hear how the party went!
My son is turning 11 on 8/14 and wants an Amazing Race Party - as a single, full-time, working mom I had no clue where to start. Thank you SO much for making the templates and ideas available.
So glad we could help, Patti. Have a great party!
Thanks so much for providing these templates - i am a special education teacher and these ideas are awesome for our new children coming into High School! Thank you so much.
Hi! I was wondering if u had any ideas for something like this at the zoo. Any tips or ideas would help me a lot! This helped a lot thank you for posting such amazing and great ideas.
Ashlyn, maybe you could have the racers explore all the animals in a certain area and memorize the list, then come back and tell a judge in order to get the next clue. Or you could tie in the foods that the animals eat, and have the racers match them up somehow. You could also come up with a list of fun facts about different animals and have your racers figure out which animals they are. Hope that helps, and have fun!
Hi, I'm planning a race for the school aged boys at our church using your party as a guide! I was just wondering the length of time from start to finish for your party. Thanks, this site is like finding a treasure!
Laura, I can't remember for sure, but I think it took us about 2 hours for this race.
thank you for sharing this. It's really a good idea. I'm using some idea of it and adjust to my school, Charis Institute Solo in Central Java, Indonesia. Thanks. God bless.
we have 3 teams. do each of the 3 teams do all of the same detours/roadblocks/etc?
Jamie, on the TV show, all the teams would get the same tasks, but you can arrange your game how you like. You can give them options.
Thanks for sharing all the details! This is awesome!!! I’m planning a party for my 8 year old son and this is going to be perfect!!!
Kari, we're so glad we could help. Have a great race!
How do you print up the folders? Is it with colored paper?
Thanks!
Stephanie
Stephanie, we recommend printing everything onto white cardstock so that you get true colors from the design as well as some white areas, which would not show up if you started with colored paper.