Construction Party Game: Dump Truck Relay

I almost hate to categorize "Construction Party" under Boys Parties, because boys and girls alike were having a great time with these games! None of them were store-bought and they're pretty easy to put together with a little planning.

Dump Truck Relay Race

I took the lids off two large shoe boxes and decorated the sides to make each box look like the bed of a dump truck. (I just used yellow construction paper and markers and cut out the shapes freehand before gluing them on the sides of the boxes.) Then, I poked a hole in each corner of the box bottom and threaded some lightweight rope through the holes to make two straps for the box (like a backpack). Use duct tape to tape down the ends of the rope inside the box, or knot the end so it doesn't pull through.

Also in advance, make a big ol' pile of "rocks" by wadding up pieces of newspaper or paper from your recycling bin. You'll want a big pile -- a good 80-100 rocks will make for a great relay!

At the party, divide the kids into two teams. The first person on each team puts on the dump truck "backpack" and crawls across the room on hands and knees to his/her other teammates. The teammates fill the truck bed with paper "rocks" and the driver crawls back to the opposite side of the room where he/she dumps the rocks at the construction site. The driver can then get up, run back to the team, and give the dump truck backpack to the next driver on the team.

The winning team is the group who successfully moves the most paper rocks to their construction site -- but it's harder than it looks! With all the guaranteed giggling, rocks will fall out in transit. You might want to make a rule that the non-drivers on the team need to clean up the road while the truck's in transit. (They have to put the loose rocks back at the starting line -- no putting them in the truck while it's moving!)