Amazing Race Party Ideas

Amazing Race party ideas can be as simple or as elaborate as you want them to be. An Amazing Race party is generally a detailed scavenger hunt with personal challenges thrown in along the way. How can you throw a great Amazing Race party?

Pick a locale appropriate to your age group.
First things first: You need to pick a location for your Amazing Race party, plus a route for your Amazing Race participants. Select a locale and route appropriate to the age group of your party. If you're planning an Amazing Race for kids, you might do it at a local park, in your neighborhood or even at a mall. For adults, you might include bars and restaurants, or even expand it to include an entire city. Keep in mind that, if your Amazing Race route requires transportation, you'll need to plan for that.

Design a route.
Map out the route ahead of time. To add another dimension of fun and keep your players guessing, you can design a different route for each team. Scout out the locations you want to use for your Amazing Race, and arrange for teams to visit the locations in different orders. The teams will pass each other and invariably wonder how they're doing in the competition, but assigning different routes for each team will keep them guessing. Make sure the spots you select for clues and challenges approve of your plan and the fact that a number of people will be passing through. Set up the clues, and prepare any stations that require someone to be present.

Create challenges.
Challenges are half the fun of an Amazing Race, and what sets it apart from a regular scavenger hunt. Challenges can range from getting strangers to perform dance moves, to eating something particularly unpleasant (such as anchovies), singing songs, performing certain tasks or solving riddles.

Cater your challenges to the age groups of your participants. Kids, for example, might have to stick their hands in a bowl of wet spaghetti (without knowing what it is) to retrieve car keys and be assigned a driver. Your challenges can range from kind of gross to somewhat uncomfortable, but they should always be fun and entertaining.

Take video or pictures, if possible.
One way to add fun to your Amazing Race is to videotape your team's antics, or require them to take pictures of certain clues or challenges. This is a great way for people to remember their Amazing Race experience, and something fun to bond over at the end of the race.

Finish off with a meal or Amazing Race episodes.
Prepare a meal, plan for participants to end up at a restaurant or order pizza to chow on while you review the Amazing Race results. If you've taken video, it can be fun to watch at the end. Alternately, you can watch an episode of Amazing Race to tie in with your party.

Remember:

• In an Amazing Race party for kids, you'll need to arrange for adult drivers and adult supervision for each team.
• Don't plant clues inside a store or other location without getting permission from the manager.
• Be careful about your clues, as some areas have strict views on vandalism and may misinterpret your Amazing Race clue placement. Only use non-permanent clues, and check your area's regulations if you're planting clues in public places.