With the Race for the Roses just days away, we thought we would share a few of the party tricks we are lining up for our festivities this Saturday.

 Hippity Hop Horse Race – How cute are these horses?!

I contemplated a stick horse race but came across these fun Race Horse Hippity Hops on sale at Overstock.com and couldn’t resist. I love that they look dressed for a jockey to join at any minute!

My plan is to have the kiddos name their race horse and pick a number. Maybe even pick one of the horses running in the actual Derby! We will call the kids up to our “starting line” by number and blow a whistle to start the race.   Knowing this fun group, there will be more than one race for sure!

Derby Bingo – FREE DOWNLOAD!

Our crowd will include a few different ages, so a homemade Bingo game should be entertaining for all ages and energy levels. Feel free to download this Custom Derby Bingo set I created for our party. The set includes 10 different bingo sheets and the call sheets.

Once the materials are printed out, the call sheets will need to be cut on the dotted lines resulting in one call card for each Derby Bingo word. If you need full bingo instructions visit http://bingorules.org/bingo-rules.htm 

Playing the Ponies – FREE DOWNLOAD!

Horse Racing is synonymous with betting and we certainly don’t want to leave the kids out of that excitement. Instead of placing a bet and tracking trifectas, the kids will have a simple horse pool. I have created a set of Derby Cards representing the 25 horses and jockeys that are still in contention for the BIG RACE!   Feel free to download the 2015 Racecards for your use.

I recommend printing and cutting these cards on medium cardstock. Once the racers are confirmed we will have to remove the horses that fell out of contention bringing our betting pool to the correct 20 cards. As each participant ponies up a $1, they will get to randomly select a race card to track.

Horseshoes

In keeping with the theme, I picked up some cheap Horseshoe sets from the Deals Store for $3. I selected a plastic set from the Deals Store for just $3 so that the kids can continue to play unattended with no fear of injury. However, I did see some nice, reasonably-priced sets at Target that may be more suitable for adult play. If you need rules visit Wikipedia. For scorekeeping, I will put out a little chalkboard to ensure more kids can be involved while teams play.

Thankfully the weather forecast is showing a 75 degree day with lots of sun so these outdoor activities should help keep the indoor “CRAZY” down to a minimum with 10 kids under 8 running wild!

 Derby on my friends!

 

Listening to: Old Crow Medicine Show on Spotify.

Drinking:  Taste Testing Mint Juleps here shortly. Click here for the recipe!