You have probably engaged in many relay races in your lifetime. You have likely passed many of these along to your own children, just for fun, or as games during birthday parties. Here are some twists on those good old standby games.
Tong Race
Collect small objects and place them into two boxes. Make sure you add the same number of the same objects to each box. Place the boxes on a table at whatever distance you feel is appropriate (generally, about 3-5 yards away from the start line).
Divide the children into two teams and line them up single file. Place an empty box beside each team’s line. Give the first child in each line a pair of kitchen tongs or barbeque tongs.
Each child will run to the filled boxes, pick up an item using only the tongs, and race back to the start line to place the object in the empty box. If a child drops an object, he or she must pick it up, again using only the tongs, and hurry to back to the start line. He or she will then hand the tongs off to the next child, and the game continues until every child in the line has placed an item in their box. The first team to do so wins.
Spoon Races with a Twist
You can start by having a typical spoon race for a warm up. You can use ping pong ball instead of eggs if you like. Have children line up, hurry to the line, return, and hand off the spoon, as you normally would. After everyone has had a turn, make it a little more difficult. Change the path the children must take and include twists and turns or a hill that they must pass over. Another idea is to have them do something else with the free hand while running with the spoon in the other. Have them snap their fingers, clap their hand against their leg, rub their tummy etc.