Home  --  YW ideas  -- My Favorite Links  E-Mail Me Your Ideas

Here is the Halloween Road Rally!  It is great fun and I hope your youth will enjoy it as well!  I will put the items that are to be collected at the bottom of the poem just incase the UNDERLINE doesn't come through in some emails.   Happy Halloween!  

THE SOUL WHO SEEKS  THE POWER HEREIN MUST HAVE NO FEAR OF DARK OR DIN.

Welcome to the Halloween Road Rally!  We hope that you have a frightful experience!  The following rules must be obeyed.  Failure to do so will result in brutal torture and your teams disqualification.

1.  The items below may be gathered in any order.
2.  You must return with the 10 underlined items.
3.  All team members must return alive!
4.  Absolutley, positively no speeding! (The leaders were drivers and we had 6 teams)
      Violaters will be punsihed by the removal of a limb.
5.  Have fun!

A WITCH'S STEW TO DIE FOR

A STEW IN THE MAKING;
A BREW FOR THE GHOULS-
IT'S CONCOCTED FOR ALL WARLOCKS
AND HALLOWEEN FOOLS!

THESE ITEMS WE NEED
SO, A WARNING TO YOU-
GET THEM, AND QUICKLY,
OR THE SPELL BE ON YOU!

1.  ONE JACK WILL DO, 'O LANTERN TO YOU
BUT POUNDS IT MUST WEIGH BETWEEN THREE AND TWO.
A CRICKET OR SPIDER, LIVE YOU SEE
TO BRING BACK THE POWER OF CRAWLIES TO THEE.

2.  THREE STRANDS OF HAIR--BLONDE, BLACK, AND GRAY
TO KEEP ALL CADAVERS AWAY, AWAY!
TO KILL THE VAMPIRE, A NEW SPIKE OR NAIL;
BUT ONLY ONE, WITH RECEIPT-DO NOT FAIL.

3.  A BODY YOU'LL FIND, OUT BEHIND A KNOWN PLACE;
THE DEAD HAS SOME SHOES, SOME GLOVES, BUT NO FACE!
TWICE A WEEK, BY THIS SPOT YOU ALL CRUISE, YES YOU CRUISE-
TAKE A BOOT OR A MIT-ONLY ONE. (OR YOU'LL LOSE)
LOOK NEXT TO THE FENCE, NOW DON'T YOU DREAD;
YOU CAN BE SURE HE'LL BE THERE, OUT BY THE SHED.

4.  LET US STOP, AND REFLECT,AT THE FACE IN THE MIRROR.
IS IT HORRIBLE, WICKED, OR SIMPLY TOO NEAR?
NEVER MIND, BRING THE MIRROR, BUT ONE THING MUST BE ASKED-
CRACK IT ONCE AND FOREVER OR YOUR LUCK MAY NOT LAST.

5.  A CHOICE YOU ARE GIVEN, AND CHOOSE WHAT YOU MAY-
SHRIVELED HAND OR FRUIT BY THE END OF THE DAY!

6.  LOOK UP IN THE SKY, BY THE CREST OF THE MOON--
A WITCH IS FLYING A TOP OF HER BROOM!
HER BROOM WOULD BE NICE TO ADD TO OUR POT--
BUT ONLY ONE STRAND-THAT'S NOT ASKING A LOT.

7.  AND NOW, FOR A WALK, NOT FAR INTO NIGHT
NEAR THE W & OD BY THE 28 SITE.
PARK THE CAR, WALK A BIT, TIL YOU SEE A SIT DOWN--
LOOK AROUND FOR THE SPIKES FOR YOUR PART OF THE GROUND.
DIG A BIT, FIND A TREASURE;
A FRESH BODY PART--OH, WHAT PLEASURE!

YOU'RE DONE NOW YOU'VE FINISHED
SO HURRY ON BACK--
SO WE CAN FINISH THE PARTY,
AND SEE WHAT'S IN YOUR SACK!
 

ITEMS THAT ARE UNDERLINED:
ONE JACK O' LANTERN
A CRICKET OR SPIDER
THREE STRANDS OF HAIR
A NEW SPIKE OR NAIL
RECEIPT
A BOOT OR A MIT
MIRROR
SHRIVELED HAND OR FRUIT
ONE STRAND
A FRESH BODY PART

CLARIFICATIONS:

We divided up into teams with YM and YW divided up.  We had teams like "the Frankinsteins", the "witches" the "ghosts" etc.. we had made these little cartoon characters up ahead of time and when the kids arrived at the church they drew from a bag, and what ever one they picked they would pin on their shirt.  ie. Frankenstien, witch, etc.  That would tell them what team they would be on.  Then when it was time to go and they knew which leader they would be going
with, we gave each of the drivers a bag.  In it we had a sandwich baggie(for the strands of hair), a baby food jar (for the cricket or spider) , a small ground hoe (for digging), $2 dollars for any purchases (the pumpkin and the nail, and maybe the mirror).  There were no instructions given for the items inside the bag. Let them figure it out! Only the road rally poem and instructions were in the bag.  We handed out the bags and then said GO!  Everyone dashed off for their cars and they could read the instructions in the car while driving or right there in the parking lot. Every team did it different.

Things to do ahead of time:
Phrase #3:  make a dummy.  We just used some old clothes of my husbands and stuffed them with newspaper and a little straw.  We took this to our church and placed "him" behind a shed that is in our parking lot.  You'll need to place 2 gloves for the hands and 2 boots for the feet, because this is what the teams are suppose to bring back.  If you have more then 4 teams you may need to do another dummy.  That's what we had to do. Remember the instructions say to bring back only ONE boot or mit.  So if a team brings back two or more, they are disqualified.

Phrase #7-- You will need to alter this part of the poem for your area.  This is a well know bike trail close by our church.  We had gone there earlier in the day and buried "a fresh body part" for each team. We used stakes and stapled the teams logos (Frankenstien, witch, etc.) to the top of each stake so they would know where they should dig.  Ideas for "body parts":  I found small bouncing balls at Zainy Brainy that looked like eye balls (only did 2 because they were kindof expensive), I got an old jar and placed cauliflower in it. Then filled it with diluted apple juice. It looked like a brain.  You
could also get any raw meat or liver, place it in a baggie, to look like an organ.  You can be creative!  Cooked Spaghetti with something in it makes a good filler...those plastic fingers or something hidden inside.

Clarifications:

phrase #1  one jack 'o lantern. Have a small scale there.  If it weighs more then three pounds or under 2 they are disqualified. (of loose points) whatever you want to do.  There will be some dispute here as to whether a jack o'lantern is a carved pumpkin or an uncarved one. (I think it's a carved one..) but you can decide.

phrase #2
This was a fun one!  they have to go and BUY a NEW spike or nail at a Home Depot  or hardware store.  A handful of nails is only 25 cents or so...imagine what only ONE nail costs!  1/2 a cent?  They have to stand in line and actually buy  it because they need to bring back the RECEIPT to show that they purchased it!  This one is hysterical because it's so embarrassing!  All the kids commented and laughed about this one after!

phrase #4
They must bring back a CRACKED MIRROR.  If it is not cracked it doesn't count.  Some kids run home because they know they have a small old mirror that they dan donate...other went to a grocery store or drugstore and bought one of
those tiny pocket mirrors for cheap and then took it outside and cracked it.

phrase #5
raisin, prune, etc.  Let them figure it out.

phrase #6
Only one strand of a broom, not the entire broom.

We then came back to the church, leaders judged the sacks and we declared a winning team or teams.  If there is more then one bag that is complete, then it's the team that got back the soonest. We had a leader that stayed at the church and wrote done the exact time each team arrived.   We finished with donuts and cider.