We wanted to do something really adventurous for Brennan's 10th birthday party and decided to do a "Mantracker Party". Christian and the boys had so much fun planning it trying to base it on a show they like to watch called "Mantracker". We decided to use a local forested park, make a map with a start, 10 check points, and a finish. The boys would get points for making it to the checkpoints and loose points for getting caught by the "mantrackers". We started out by face painting for better camouflage.
Then the boys were divided into four teams of two and given laminated maps of the park, which included the check points and finish line. The "mantrackers" did not know where the check points or finish line were, only that the boys would be within the boundaries. We gave them 90 seconds to start before they would be followed and "hunted". If I could have bottled the excitement and energy the boys had before the game started I would have enough get up and go for the rest of 2011!
This is Christian resting for a few seconds over a log after a hard run. The "mantrackers" quickly discovered that these little guys were fast and hard to catch!
Before too long the three "mantrackers" had a strategy. They worked as a team, hiding and ambushing boys.
Soon, there was a lots of catching going on :) Abby and I patrolled the park making sure everyone kept safe and taking lots of pictures. I had so much fun seeing the glee on the boys faces and seeing the mantrackers having a blast. It took about an hour and a half before the first team reached the finish line with all the tokens collected from the checkpoints.
This party turned out so great, I think it could become a yearly tradition! The only mistake I made was having all the boys back to our house for pizza, cake, and a movie after for over two hours. I thought they'd be tired and just want to sit and watch the movie, but I forgot that groups of nine/ten year old boys become crazy when they're together and can't be still and quiet for more than 15 minutes!
We wanted to do something really adventurous for Brennan's 10th birthday party and decided to do a "Mantracker Party". Christian and the boys had so much fun planning it trying to base it on a show they like to watch called "Mantracker". We decided to use a local forested park, make a map with a start, 10 check points, and a finish. The boys would get points for making it to the checkpoints and loose points for getting caught by the "mantrackers". We started out by face painting for better camouflage. 
Then the boys were divided into four teams of two and given laminated maps of the park, which included the check points and finish line. The "mantrackers" did not know where the check points or finish line were, only that the boys would be within the boundaries. We gave them 90 seconds to start before they would be followed and "hunted". If I could have bottled the excitement and energy the boys had before the game started I would have enough get up and go for the rest of 2011!
This is Christian resting for a few seconds over a log after a hard run. The "mantrackers" quickly discovered that these little guys were fast and hard to catch!
Before too long the three "mantrackers" had a strategy. They worked as a team, hiding and ambushing boys.
Soon, there was a lots of catching going on :) Abby and I patrolled the park making sure everyone kept safe and taking lots of pictures. I had so much fun seeing the glee on the boys faces and seeing the mantrackers having a blast. It took about an hour and a half before the first team reached the finish line with all the tokens collected from the checkpoints.
This party turned out so great, I think it could become a yearly tradition! The only mistake I made was having all the boys back to our house for pizza, cake, and a movie after for over two hours. I thought they'd be tired and just want to sit and watch the movie, but I forgot that groups of nine/ten year old boys become crazy when they're together and can't be still and quiet for more than 15 minutes!
