NASCAR Birthday Party Ideas - Hot Wheels Theme

Your child will be excited to have NASCAR birthday party.

Set up a racetrack and gather the kids for a rigorous race with the following NASCAR party ideas!

Resources:

Invitations

Create your Hot Wheels party invitations yourself. Find a picture of a NASCAR vehicle on the internet. Photocopy the picture and glue copies on white invitation cards. Cut out a picture of the birthday child. Glue copies of it near the NASCAR (if the picture is "full height") or inside (if it's a "portrait" photo). Decorate the invitation cards with theme stickers.

Decorations

Have as much fun as you can with your NASCAR party decorations. Get checkered flags from a party store, and hang them around the yard. (You can also create checkered pattern yourself on the construction paper sheets, and tape them to various fixtures outside the house.)

Make a banner that says "Welcome to (last name) Race Track!", and tape it on the fence. Play racing theme music in the background.

Create an archway out of helium balloons and put it at the driveway entrance. (Tie balloons to kite string about 12" apart.) Put several orange cones on both sides of your driveway.

Have a bunch of black and white balloons tied to different fixtures. Place tires around the backyard. Tape several traffic signs to the wall. Make race "traffic light" out of heavy paper, and hang it at high level.

Put up posters of NASCAR racing cars or pictures of famous drivers. Hang personalized "Happy Birthday" banner in the area. Decorate the room with black and white paper streamers. You can borrow some Goodyear (or other famous tire company) banners from a tire store, and place them on the walls.

Cover the NASCAR birthday party table with checkered tablecloth. Put placemats with cars pictured on them. For a centerpiece, you can either have a birthday cake or a racing helmet. Spread out several Hot Wheel model cars on the table. Tie balloons to the backs of the chairs.

Guest Arrival and Introductory Activities

*License Plates: Give sheets of craft foam (pre-cut to license plate size) to your NASCAR birthday party guests. Provide them with sticky foam numbers and letters (available at craft stores) along with paints, markers, and other decorative materials (e.g., glitter, sequins, etc).

Get the kids to create their own personalized license plates.

*Race Car Creation Activity: Before the NASCAR birthday party, start creating several cars using large cardboard appliance boxes. Cut out the tops and bottoms of the boxes - so the children can step inside the car. Add handles on the outer sides of the boxes using pieces of clothesline.

At activity time, give paint, stickers, and other decorative items to the kids. Get them to decorate their cars with provided decorative materials.

*Wooden Car Decoration Craft Kit: You can get a wooden car decoration kit from a party store. Have the NASCAR birthday party gang decorate the cars with paints and stickers.

Favors

For the NASCAR party favors, give out pullback toy cars, NASCAR sticker sheets, whistles, glow sticks, yo-yos, and small trophies.

NASCAR Birthday Party Games

*Road Rally: Set up a course for players to follow using a map of local neighborhood or a nearby park.

Several days before the event, follow the course yourself and write the directions for the kids to follow. For example, you might write down, "Turn left at the oak tree," "Follow the path through the tunnel," or "Turn right at the first intersection."

At the NASCAR birthday party, pass out the directions and send the kids on their way.

*Obstacle Course: Set up an obstacle course in your backyard for the kids to maneuver in their cardboard cars (see Guest Arrival & Introductory Activities). You can use orange cones, chairs, tires, and toys for the obstacle items.

*Dueling Speedsters: Design a race track straightaway on the floor with two lanes. Have the kids race their pullback toy cars (see favors) to see who comes on top.

*Greaser Dudes: Purchase inexpensive white T-shirts for all the NASCAR birthday party guests. Have black, red and yellow fabric paints available. (They can be purchased from craft or fabric stores.) Create "checkered" templates by taking strips of heavy paper and cutting out alternating squares.

At activity time, provide the kids with supplies along with brushes and sponges. Get them to create checkered flag designs on their shirts using templates. Children can take their shirts home as mementos from the event.

*Pin the Tire on the NASCAR: Before the party, purchase NASCAR poster and cut out tire shapes for all guests using construction paper.

At game time, blindfold the kids one by one, spin them around, and get them to stick their tires on the race car where they belong.

*The Winners Cup: For this NASCAR birthday party game, you'll need two "driver kits" containing sunglasses, an oversized shirt or jumpsuit, a bicycle or baseball helmet.

At game time, divide the kids into two crews. Line them up at one side of the room, and place the gear on the chair on the opposite side of the area. Have first players from each team run to the opposite side, put on their gear, and run back to the starting line. Then, they will take their gear off (other players can help them), pass it to the next person in line, who runs to the chair, around it and back.

That player will take off his or her gear, and pass it to the next player in line. The game continues in this manner until all the players from both teams had a chance to race. The team to finish first - wins the race.

*Victory Laps: Before the NASCAR birthday party, write names of famous drivers on large sheets of paper. (The number of sheets should equal the number of party guests.) Then cut out small pieces of paper and write the names of the same drivers again, and put the paper pieces in a hat.

Arrange the sheets in an oval shape around the area. Play fast paced music (or a record of car sounds) as kids zoom around the sheets. When the music stops, the kids must occupy one of the paper sheets. You then can pull a piece of paper out of the hat, read the name out loud - whoever stands on the corresponding name - goes out and receives a prize.

Continue the game in a similar fashion until all of your guests have prizes. (Remove a large sheet with driver's name from the oval after that name has been announced.)

*Pit Row Race: Divide the kids into two teams. Line them up, and have one player from each team roll a tire, from a starting line around the chair, and back to the starting line again. Then the kids pass the tire to the next players on their teams. The "pit stop crew" to finish first - wins.

*Red Light Green Light: Before the NASCAR birthday party, draw two parallel chalk lines a good distance apart on the play area. Choose one player to be Race Official and have him stand in from of one line. All the other players stand behind the opposite line.

The game starts with the Race Official facing away from the other players. He yells "Green light!" and counts to five out loud as quickly as he can. The other players must walk quickly toward the Race Official while he counts. When the Race Official has counted to five, he shouts, "Red Light!" and the players must freeze instantly.

The Race Official whirls around to spot any players who are still moving. Anyone who moves must return to the starting line. Play continues until one of the players crosses the line while the Race Official's back is turned. That player then becomes the Race Official.

NASCAR Birthday Cake:

*Race Track Cake: Bake 13x9" sheet cake and a 9" round cake. Since the sheet cake needs to be somewhat thicker than normal - increase baking time. (Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake to see if it's done). Cool both cakes completely.

Cut the round cake in half and position the halves on opposite sides of the rectangle cake to form a racetrack. Trim the edges and frost the entire cake with chocolate icing. Outline an oval with white mint lifesavers to make the inside of the track. Frost the inside of the oval with green icing and cover it with green sprinkles for the "grass."

Cut graham crackers and stick them to the sides of the cake to make "walls." Put toy cars on the race track, and decorate the rest of the cake with miniature flags, a racing tower, and candies of your choice.

NASCAR Birthday Party Food Ideas:

*Speedway Sandwiches: Prepare sandwiches or subs using your child's favorite sandwich fillings. Then cut them using car-shaped cookie cutters. Serve the sandwiches on a tray.

*Fast Track Snacks: Create a snack mix for the NASCAR birthday party guests to grab and go. Combine dried cherries, pretzels, nuts, raisins, M&Ms in a large bowl.

*Finish Sundaes: Put a scoop of ice cream in each child's bowl with chocolate syrup on top. Add a toothpick with homemade "checkered flags" glued to the top for a winning touch.

*Bolts and Screws Salad (add nuts and raisins to the salad)
*"Grilled Tires" (Burgers)
*Hotdogs
*Pizza
*Oreo Cookies or Doughnuts (for Tires)
*Popcorn

NASCAR Birthday Party Drink Ideas:

*Speedway Sodas: You'll need cream soda and a bag of frozen chocolate chips.

Place a small amount of frozen chocolate chips on the bottom of each child's cup. Then fill with cream soda. For added fun, you can put a few drops of red food coloring into the cream soda bottle before pouring.

*"Champions Champagne": Serve sparkling apple juice or other drink to all the racecar champions!

*Drivers Bottles: Give plastic bottles filled with sports drinks such as Gatorade and Powerade to the kids.