Minnow Races !!

Here's a fun activity for people of all ages: MINNOW RACES. I suppose the SPCA might have a problem with this because in our situation the minnows bite the big one the next day. But here's how it works. You buy several 10' sections of cheap plastic guttering and put end caps on both ends so they hold water. Fill gutters with water. Purchase a bunch of minnows and bring them home. Every person involved selects a minnow and puts the little fella in their own Dixie Cup to keep track of their very own minnow. Be sure to pick a nice name for your minnow like: Speedy, Jaws, Margarita, or something else.

We then set up a white board with a single-elimination bracket chart like the NCAA Final Four. Start out with two people who will race their fish. They stand at one end of the gutters and pour their fish into separate gutters. They then try to coax their fish to the other end of the gutter. Let the Cheering begin! You can coax your fish by tapping the outside of the gutter, but can't put your hands or fingers or anything else inside the gutter or in the water. We actually drew a "START" and "FINISH" line with permanent marker before filling the gutter with water. We put these lines about 2-3" inside each end of the gutter.

The fish will (hopefully) swim toward the other end. The minnows then go back into their owner's cups. Winner eventually goes on to next round. Loser gets flushed....I mean put out to stud. Since this is single elimnination, any loser is permanently out of the competition. Eventually you end up with one Grand Champion...who ultimately meets the same fate as all the other losers.

This is pretty good, clean, cheap fun. Let me know if you have questions.