Easy Kids Craft: DIY Derby Track Inspired by The Boxtrolls and Special Sweepstakes

Learn how to make this easy DIY Derby Track with your kids, and read how I was inspired by my sponsors at Focus Films and “The Boxtrolls” to run a family Derby Race! To top it off, they are running an awesome sweepstakes for an all-expense paid trip for 4 to the L.A. movie premier of The Boxtrolls! Read on to find out how to enter!

My kids and I are so excited to see Focus Film’s upcoming animated movie “The Boxtrolls” which is set to hit theatres 9/26/14. This stop-motion animation film is the story of an orphaned boy, Eggs who is raised by the Boxtrolls, underground trash collectors. It looks as though it will have an interesting plot line that will captivate my 7 year old son, while being bright and lively enough to keep my 2 year old engrossed!

The Boxtrolls and Focus Films recently sponsored the FirstEnergy All-American Soapbox Derby Saturday, 7/26 in Akron, OH.

After watching a video of the event and seeing some fun pictures of the special appearances from The Boxtrolls themselves, I wanted to do something to bring the fun of the Soapbox Derby to our home! I came up with this easy craft project that my kids and I made together this afternoon, a DIY Derby track! Just like the Boxtrolls, we reused a few “trash items” from around the house, to build it!

It was a super easy project that we where all able to work on together. The best part was, that when project was done, we had a working track for racing matchbox sized cars, soapbox derby style! It also provided a great science lesson for my son about inclined planes (more on that later). Here’s how we did it:

The kids loved racing their matchbox cars down the track! To give it a bit of an incline we rested the starting line on a couple of books, which gave me a chance to explain to my son (who loves science) a little bit about inclined planes. He soon realized that more books, meant a steeper incline and faster cars! He had a really fun time experimenting with that!

The DIY Derby Track and our very own derby races made for a fun and easy afternoon activity inspired by The Boxtrolls. Now that you’ve had some excitement and fun with your own derby, enter The Boxtrolls sweepstakes for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip for 4 to the L.A. movie premier of The Boxtrolls. To enter: