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RAIN GUTTER BOAT RACES - SETUP & DIRECTIONS
A short Carnival Savers video/gif shows a foam floating boat blown down a gutter by blowing into a straw.
Supplies for Rain Gutter Boat Race:
 2 (or more) Floating Sail Boats (see below)
Plastic Straws - enough for each carnival player
2 Plastic (10 foot) Gutters & 4 plastic end-caps to seal off gutters and water-proof glue
8-foot Table for support of Gutters (or two 4-foot tables put together)
Plastic pitcher or empty milk jug to fill gutters with 3 gallons of water each
Blue material or blue tablecloth, "Finish Line" Balloons on Balloon Sticks and packing tape (optional), Blue Food Coloring for water (optional)
Tablecloth clips or packing tape to keep tablecloth from blowing (optional)
2 Stopwatches (or phones with a stopwatch ability) and White Board and dry-erase markers for the Winner's Board (optional - see idea below)
Carnival Prizes - consolation and medium carnival prizes - water-themed prizes or pirate prizes are fun for this game! (see suggestions below)
Make This DIY School Carnival Game:
Days before the carnival, seal the ends of each rain gutter with the end caps and waterproof glue, allowing plenty of time to dry!
Game Setup:
To set up this game, you will need a flat surface.
Set up your table(s) and place your rain gutters a few inches from the edge of the table, as shown in the photo.
Fill each gutter with about 3 gallons of water.
Use a small amount of blue food coloring (optional) to add a slight blue color to the water if you wish.
We decorated using flag pennant decorations and two balloons at the finish line taped to the end of each gutter on a balloon stick - now off to the races!
How to Play the Run Gutter Boat Race Carnival Game:
You need two carnival players each time to make this game fun!
Carnival players are given a straw and stand at one end of the gutter with their sailboats ready to go. The carnival volunteer says, "On your mark, get set, go!" On "go," the players try to blow on their boat's sail to move it down the gutter as fast as possible. The goal, of course, is to be the first to hit the other end of the gutter and be the boat race winner!
The winner gets the winner's prize, and the loser will receive a consolation prize. You can give each player a consolation prize if there is a tie.
Because you will almost always have a winner in this game, the prize is generally considered a medium-priced award (around 20¢ - 35¢ each), and the consolation prize can be worth less - see our examples below.
Most of the fun of this game is just playing - so you can save your big prizes for some other games!
Optional "Winners Board":
Kids can "race the clock" as well as each other. You will need two volunteers with stopwatches (or smartphones with stopwatches). At "Mark, Set Go," volunteers time the racers and, at the end of the race, keep a written list of the player's names and times.
Once every 30 minutes - a volunteer will update the "Leaders Board" and show the fastest ten players! In the last 30 minutes of the carnival, they award the top 5 (or 10) times with a top prize - or even ribbons, etc. All players receive a small consolation prize just for playing!
Additional Hints & Tips:
Note: You need a very FLAT space to host the game! If in doubt, try it out first. The ground must be level or the boats will not have enough water to float the entire length of the game! We propped up one end of our table with flat rocks to make it level - you could also use cardboard folded over.
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