The skis shown above are an updated version of a decades-old relay race prop. Two kids wear the skies together, “running” a relay race against other pairs of kids.

The issue is safety. These skis have cheap rubber sandals that bend or tear away when a child falls awkwardly. This helps prevent ankle injuries that can occur if feet are tied into regular laced shoes.

The sandals (we call them slippers here in Hawaii where CLAMcentral HQ is based) can by purchased at your local Cheap Rubber Sandals Store. You can paint the skis to match your team color, or do what I did–buy colored sandals. At our KIDS PARTY midweek events (see CLAMcentral if you’d like to know more about that) we have four teams: Red, Yellow, Blue and Green.

More about safety: Because it’s difficult (and fun) to get two people on a pair of skis to walk forward or turn in a coordinated fashion, the kid in front tends to fall forward towards the floor. This can cause knee injuries on a hard floor. ALWAYS have the kid in back hold onto the shoulders of the kid in front. Blow your whistle to stop the race if the back kid lets go. This simple policy makes the game much less scary.

Materials: Slippers, duct tape and 1-inch x 4-inch pine boards.

Tools: Just a saw to cut the boards to three-foot length. I recommend you round the ends.

Difficulty: Building–easy. Skiing–forget it.

Yer Projects Blog pal, Tom Finley