Amazing Race Party -15yr- Giant Plywood Puzzle

We had an Amazing Race surprise birthday party for my daughters's 15th birthday.

I sent out INVITATIONS that resembled The Amazing Race" clues thru one of her best friends. After getting RSVP's back I had 25 shirts made in 5 different colors.

They said " FIRST CLUE: Who's Birthday is it today?( there was a cake with running shoes on) on the back it said "Amazing Race". I handed out the shirts and had the kids wear them on my daughters birthday to school. She was so surprised!    The first clue was given to each of the 5 teams by playing a game which I call "bombs away" There were 25 different circles in 3 rows of 6 and 1 row of 7.

I made a pattern of how to start and get out of the minefield. If the followed the pattern by guessing at first then by memory following their peers when the guessed the pattern right they got their next clue. Each TM had to finish this leg of the race in order to get the next clue.    

The 2nd clue said "People are dying to get in" Our neighborhood has a graveyard about 1 mile away.

The kids ran to the graveyard in search for the next clue.    The 3rd clue said" your all washed up" next to the graveyard is a laundry mat and a carwash. I used washcloths and painted the next clue on them. I put the washcloths in a dryer and turned it on.   The next clue told them to go to the deli at the convienent store. The person in the deli made the five teams a plate of gross cheese salads meats  and hot peppers.

Once the team ate everything on the plate the received their next clue.   It said find out what the date of the chili restaurant opened and bring a fortune to the girl in the big hat at the pizza restaurant. They had to go to the chili parlor to get the date and to the Chinese restaurant to get the fortune. They then traded the info for their next clue that one of my daughters gave them at the pizza parlor.  

The next clue said find the mailbox in the neighborhood that has skates on the mailbox. In the mailbox you woll find your next clue. There are about 100 houses in our neighborhood which made it pretty hard to find.  

The next clue said to go to our neighbors house and find your puzzle pieces and put them together. I Bought a 6 ft x 6 ft plywood and painted weird designs with leftover paint. I cut out different shapes to create a puzzle. Once the puzzle was completed the received the next clue.    I colored the prongs of 5 plastic forks black. Then stuck them and 200 other plastic forks in a neighbors yard. Each member of the team had to choose a fork if it didn't have a colored prong they had to put it in a bucket on the porch and another tm had to try until the found the colored fork. Then they received the next clue.  

The next clue said" make a shot or suck it up" Across the street they had to make a basket or suck up the jello thru a straw. On the bottom of the plate was the next clue.   They had to go to another neighbors house which had a kiddie pool filled with water and goldfish on one side of the driveway. On the other side was a line which I placed a plastic pail with a line drawn on it. The kids had to fill the pail up with the 6 goldfish and water up to the line. WHAT FUN!

All the kids were soaked using their hands squeezing out shirts hair and some were even filling up their shoes!   The next clue told them to find boards and answer questions on them. Once they answered the questions the could fond a hidden egg which contained a nail. The more questions they answered the more nails the got. They had to nail together a stool good enough to sit on.   

The next clue contained a pack of matches and said I hope you kept all your previous clues because they could come in handy starting a fire. The first to start a fire enough to roast a marshmellow won. Some kids saved their washcloth which made the best fire.  I ordered ribbons for 2nd thru 5th place and trophies for 1st place. I ordered them of the internet and got them all for under $30 and everyone got a ribbon or trophy. 

The kids loved the party and still talk about it. My Daughter is now turning 17 and wants another Amazing Race Party. Thanks to my wonderful neighbors and shop owners in my neighborhood the party was a hit.  All the clues were made just like the TV show. Did I mention the ran on food to each leg of the race and it was sprinkling that day. It was pretty messy. I put the goldfish in the pond in the backyard by the way.   

Thank you for letting me share this I hope it can give somone some neet ideas. The shirts cost $6 each plus $25 for set up fee at a local t-shirt printer.  They also had to stop at the pizza place to eat pizza and wait for the girl in the big hat to arrive. "