Things to do in Indy: Month of May 500 Activities for Kids

The Month of May is Busy in Indianapolis: Indy 500 Activities for Kids

In Indiana, the month of May is a time for celebrations. There are many Indy 500 activities for kids and families. You will also find lots of race theme things to do in indianapolis in May. Here are just a few fun things to do with kids in honor of the race.

The Play Connection Inc. took a field trip the museum.

A fun, homeschool field trip or summer camp activity is to go to the track in Speedway, tour the museum and then take a lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a bus tour.

Sit in an Indy Car at the 500 Museum.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway offers a fun kid's club for just $25 a year. Kids get special prizes and passes for special events.

The IMS Kid's Club has great race theme activities year around.

The Motor Speedway even offers a curriculum plan and field trip for fourth grade. Here are a few more things to do with kids and indy 500 activities:

• Rookie Run for kids ages 3-12
• Speedway Public Library offers race theme programs in the month of May
• Kid's Day
• Indy 500 Festival Parade
• Teen driving course at track

Nearby, Indy Parks boast the longest Soap Box Derby Track in the country, William Shaw Memorial Soap Box Derby Hill. 

We attended a special design your own Hotwheel Car at the Indianapolis Children's Museum for FREE! We designed it, tested it, and designed the box just like the pros. 

Recommended Reading:

Eat My Dust! Henry Ford's First Race

Indy 500 party theme for kids

Indy 500 Centennial Celebration


Sign up for our free newsletter!

Plan an Indy 500 Race Theme for a Kid's Birthday Party or Special School Activity

Indy 500 Theme Race Party with Cardboard Racecars

The Play Connection, Inc. (my alter ego) did lots of fun preschool activities that are great for a birthday party or for kids' outdoor pe games. Due to the proximity of Indianapolis, an Indy 500 racing theme is always popular in May. Plan Indy 500 kid activities for a fun field day at school, and make your own race cars from cardboard boxes. Enjoy!

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.*

Indy 500 Activities for Kids.

Use recycled household items as props- 
including a plastic milk jug for a gas can.

Ideas on how to plan an Indy 500 Race Birthday Party: 

• Purchase inexpensive, large, black buckets to use in a pit stop race game. 
• Recycle a milk jug, paint it black with spray paint or acrylics, and use duct tape or paint to spell out G-A-S.
•  Turn a milk crate upside down to use as a Winner's Circle.
• Hang a race banner (we got ours at the Dollar Tree).
• Make 9 colored race flags for a realistic race experience.

Trick out your cardboard car with paper plate wheels or 
fancy, cardboard fan wheels.

Wondering 'what do the flags mean or stand for in the Indy 500 race'?  

• Green means go! Of course, you already knew that! Just like shouting "Green Light", the green flag is waved to signal the start of the race. It is also used to for restarts after a caution flag.
• Yellow flag signals caution for a hazard. It could be an accident, debris, rain, maybe a silly goose got loose on the track. The pace car hops on the track to lead the other cars in safety. When we play Red Light, Green Light, we use yellow to signal walk very slowly.
• Red flag STOP! Do not pass go, do not collect $100 dollars. A red light means freeze in your tracks. It is for accident or rain conditions.  Head straight to the pits or stay parked. No repairs, tire changes, or gassing up allowed. In other words, no fair cheating!
• Red flag with a yellow "X" means the pits are closed to all vehicles.
• Black flag means a penalty to a car on the track. Don't break the rules! It's also used for mechanical failures.
• Black flag with a white "X" black-flag penalty.  Your car isn't keeping score anymore.
• Blue flag or blue flag with yellow diagonal stripe Get out of the way, slow poke, a faster driver is about to pass. We use a blue light in our game to signal to turn around and walk backward toward the finish line.
• White flag the end is near! It's the FINAL lap.
• Checkered flag  Hooray! We have a winner. This flag means the race is over.

For our race car game of Red Light, Green Light, we purchased dowel rods and squares of fabric from Joann's Fabrics. To attach, rub glue on the dowel, wrap one end of fabric around the dowel, and staple as close to the stick as possible.

Lay out aluminum foil, tissue paper, paper plates, and colored duct tape.  
Let the kids' diy imagination run wild.

On your mark, get set, go! Mark off a track with chalk, tape, or use cornstarch paint in the grass. Get your flags ready to wave. Have parents or helpers use a stopwatch to track each child's time. No need to compete against others. Race around several times for your best lap. Now the fun begins!

On your mark, get set, let the games begin!

How to Play Pretend Pit Stop

Get parents and teachers involved with the fun. Before the game begins, designate a pit crew for each "driver". 

During a caution flag, have everyone pull into the pits. One member of the crew must run around the car 4 times checking pretending to check tires. 

Another crew member will take the pre-filled milk "Gas" jug (water) and pour it into the black bucket. 

Then, the crew members must use a funnel to re-fill the jug. Have the driver time the crew for even more giggles. When all the water is gone, the drivers can take off again.

Measure the water in the jugs to see which pit crew wins a prize. Just pour it back into the buckets, and see which one retained the most water (gas).

A game of Red Light, Green Light is fun around the track too.


Recommended Reading:

Things to do in Indiana: Indy 500 Race Activities for Kids

Eat My Dust! Henry Ford's First Race* 

Hot Air Balloon Glow at the Indy 500

Sign up for our free newsletter













ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

KCC Kids Make Native American Art and Crafts in honor of the Wampanoag Indians contribution to Thanksgiving

Studying Native American Art and Crafts? 

Get crafty with Alex Toys and celebrate the Wampanoag Indians.  Without them, we'd have nothing to celebrate. Here are companion activities for your lessons on Native American History.

Native American Footprint Headband Craft

Mayhem wanted to go outside and collect stones and leaves in her pouch like a real  hunter-gather. "Indian Dress" paper grocery bag tutorial.

What a fun word, Wampanoag. Here is a site with fun facts about the Wampanoag. We learned some Wampanoags are from Natick, Massachusetts where the Daddy was born.


Wampanoags today  See the real Mayflower here. See our version here.  Daddy is not Native American, but Mommy is related to Pocahontas about five different ways- her Indians are known as the Powhatan or Virginia Algonquian. One day, we'll write a post about this relationship.

Tie Dye Fashion Groovy Tote Kit from Alex Toys ~ Fun way to learn about dyeing clothing.

Alex Toys has great products for your Thanksgiving celebration or to help teach Native American ways and honor their contribution to our country in the classroom.

I wanted to teach dyeing with the Tie Dye Fashion Groovy Kit and teach weaving with their Native American Loom, but the projects seemed a bit daunting for a six year old, eight year old, and an OCD Mom. So, I kept  putting it off. 

We'll do that post next week. We can do it tomorrow. It just has to be done by Thanksgiving...

The Tie Dye kit by Alex Toys is awesome, super easy, and nearly mess free ~ we did most of it in a tub in the kitchen sink.

Soaking items to dye before tying off with rubber bands and twist ties.

Knotting off patterns with bands included in the kit and recycled bread bag twist ties.

Projects ready to dye. The included, Groovy Tote and some of our old, stained t-shirts.

I've done some tie-dyeing in the past, but this was so much easier. Although, the kit was for one tote bag we had enough dye to dye several things. I wish we had prepped more items. We decided to use some of the dye to make super messy, water color paintings in the sink.

Leave lots of white space for better contrast and to keep colors from bleeding together.

This is our only mess! How great is that?

Squirting dye on paper and blending with plastic spoon.

Secure your items in plastic bags for 24 hours.

Patience is a virtue. Enclose in plastic bags for 24 hours to set the dye, remove bands, lay flat to dry for another 24 hours, and then wash and dry.

The bag was included in the kit and we did three shirts and several paintings.
All bottles are still half full! This would be great for a birthday party or classroom. 

Tie Dye Paper Art  ~ Less Squeeze is Best

Tie Dye Paper Art ~ Learning Phase

The loom? Oh my the loom, it was far too daunting for this post. See our weaving experiences in Jake's Journey in Art ~  Home-school Weaving. 

Native American Fruit - Persimmons

Weaving is tedious work that takes time. Imagine if you were a Native American making clothing to keep warm.

Popsicle Stick Indian Craft for Preschoolers

Next month, celebrate the spirit of giving with Santa's Elves of Indy as we collect, wrap, and donate gifts for those needing a little extra help this Christmas season.

AlexToys.com donated these toys for our unbiased review.
Tweet

Disney’s Phineas and Ferb: The Best LIVE Tour Ever! – Sunday Nov 4, 2012

Looking for Fun things to do with the kids?

Printable Pumpkin Carving Templates
Full Color Printable Game and Activity

What mom doesn't have the theme song form Phineas and Ferb stuck in her head? I think it was my daughter's first words! One day, she was toddling across the floor and the next, she was shouting, "Mom, Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence!" Do what now? Well ever since then, I hum about 104 days of summer vacation.

Did you hear the news? "Mom! Phineas and Ferb are going on a live tour!” Join the Danville Tri-State Area Gang for a high-energy ride through their wildest invention yet in Disney’s Phineas and Ferb: The Best LIVE Tour Ever!  The beloved characters from Disney Channel's animated series embark on a bold escape from the television screen to a live action adventure – right in your hometown! This exciting live stage production performs at BANKERS LIFE FIELDHOUSE in INDIANAPOLIS, NOVEMBER 4, 2012. 

Are you kidding me? I get to hear the song live? I'm on it!


Did you know Phineas and Ferb was created by Emmy Award-winning Dan Povenmire ("Family Guy") and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh ("The Simpsons" and "Rocko's Modern Life"), this stand-out comedy series follows Phineas Flynn and his stepbrother, Ferb Fletcher, as they set out to optimize every day of their 104-day summer vacation, dreaming the impossible dream -- and then doing it, including building a rollercoaster or a beach in their own backyard.  

Unbeknownst to them, their pet platypus Perry has a double life as suave secret Agent P, deftly battling the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz to save the world.  Meanwhile, older sister Candace is aghast at her brothers' antics and makes it her life's work to tattle on them to Mom and Dad, though somehow she can never seem to catch them red-handed.

Agent P we love you! Perry the Platypus pajamas, t-shirts, toys and the like fill our house. Perry, you are a hero around here. So much so, we've researched putting a pet platypus in our pond. When our cat comes up missing, well the little one knows we don't need to worry- he's off on spy duty.

Guess what! I have the honor of giving you the secret spy code to discount tickets for the Indy show:

 ~Kid’s 2-12 years old only $10 with the CODE: CHILD for 4pm & 7pm performances.      Not valid on previously purchased tickets. Hurry, the secret offer ends Nov 3, 2012.

Bankers Life Fieldhouse (125 South Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis, IN  46204)

Sunday, November 4 – 1:00pm; 4:00pm; 7:00pm

Ticket Prices:  $75.00 / $60.00 / $37.00/ $25.00/$20.00/$15.00
To order tickets by phone:  317-917-2727
Online: www.ticketmaster.com

Disney’s Phineas and Ferb: The Best LIVE Tour Ever! 

Go to www.PhineasAndFerbLive.com, or visit us on Facebook and YouTube for more information.

Feld Entertainment has graciously given me tickets to attend the event and share with my readers.

*We never share email or personal information. Third parties may through content and advertising collect information directly from visitors and place or recognize cookie's on visitor's browsers. We are given tickets to attend these events and share our experiences with our readers.

Tweet

Indianapolis Kid's Film Series at Carmel's, The Studio Theater : Aug. 9

Kids' Film Series Indianapolis, Indiana

Chipotle Mexican Grill  and the Carmel Farmer's Market Present: "What's on Your Plate."

Indianapolis Kids Film Series.

Join us at the Studio Theater in Carmel on Aug. 9 for the first ever, Indianapolis Kids Film Series.

Enjoy a salsa demonstration and a screening of the new documentary film about kids, food, and  politics,  "What's on Your Plate."

The film carries a message much like Chipotle's vision for 'Food With Integrity,' which it works to share with children all over the country through a variety of educational programs. The August screening promises to be a fun and educational summer activity for families with children of all ages. Salsa demonstration begins at 6:30pm followed by the movie screening at 7pm.

The event is FREE brought to you by Chipotle and the Carmel Farmers Market (another Indy first!). Free kids meal gift certificates and grow kits will be given away to attendees.


Recommended:

Things to do in Indiana with Kids

Wordless Wednesday: Billy the Exterminator Event

Meet Billy the Exterminator at World of Wheels

Who is Billy the Exterminator? This guy. The kids were huge fans! Scroll down to see an episode and to find out, what happened to Billy the Exterminator? Looking for things to do in Indiana? 

Indy (Indianapolis, Indiana)is known for the Indianapolis 500 and other motor racing events. Indy also hosts a huge World of Wheels event every year.

Billy the Exterminator

We waited in line with an unhappy Jake for three hours.  Billy was delayed.  Not so sure he was worth the wait. We paid $45 to get into the World of Wheels, $5 to Park, and $5 for the photo. (Amanda was free.) Kids faces, priceless. 

Where is Billy the Exterminator now? What happened to Billy the Exterminator?

Billy is tiny, I felt like I towered over him. The kids were overwhelmed, Mommy had to prompt them to speak. Amanda had a question. 

Billy: "Sweetie, you had a question for me? Go ahead Hon, ask it."  

Amanda: "How did your hair get black? You have blonde hair." 

Billy: (Laughing) "Aw... some Girl Scouts jumped me and dyed my hair! Can you believe that?" 

Jake had already jumped off stage relieved he could go home and play video games, ironic, since this was his surprise.

Amanda covered her mouth in mock shock and laughed. "Mommy, did you hear what he said?" 

She's a star struck, boy chaser. Next time, we better wait in line to see Justin Bieber.

Recommended:

Things to do in Indy

Visit Speedway, Indiana and practice driving a race car

Indy 500 Games and Activities for Children

The Hoosier Outdoor Experience

Saint Patrick Day Greening of The Canal, Indianapolis INDY

Greening of the Canal, Downtown Indy

A few years back, Mayhem and I went to the Saint Patrick Day Parade Downtown Indianapolis and toured the green canal. Happy March!  When is Saint Patrick's Day? March 17, of course. The Greening of the Canal ceremony in downtown Indy is Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 5 p.m. Enjoy!

Saint Patrick Day Activities in Indianapolis: Greening of the canal.


Click here for Details about St. Patrick's Day Activities in Indianapolis.

Green Fountain for Saint Patrick Day.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Recommended Reading:

Fun Leprechaun activities to do with kids

The Night Before St. Patrick's Day*

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Fall Funtastic! Fun October things to do for Halloween in Indianapolis Indiana

Fun Fall things to do in October for Halloween in Central Indiana

At last... In the Fall of 2009, my kids suffered with the launch of my "Fun Kids" business. For them it was more like torture. This year, we were determined to find and do all of the fun things in October for the Halloween season.

Mayhem on a preschool hayride at Beasley's Orchard.

We only visited "Waterman's Farm Market" in Greenwood, Indiana to watch the pumpkin eating dinosaur, race big trikes around a track, pet a few goats, get swallowed up inside a stack-of-hay maze, and follow the trail in a field of corn on a very cold day during Fall-Break.  Oh what fun!  Waterman's is great, don't get me wrong; the kids love it.

This year, determined to make it up to them, I scheduled fall-fun into every spare minute.It started with a trip to "Trader's Point Creamery" during Oktoberfest; although the event seemed well received by others my kids gave it six thumbs down. It was crowded, hot, and we walked a lot.


However, it is a lovely fund-raising event for adults. Vendors sell their wares in a cozy farmer's market.  The farmer's offer crafts, fruits, jellies, jams, and warm, seasonal specialties.  If you come hungry eat here first.  The restaurant is closed while they serve gourmet burgers and organic items in the barn.  While these items were healthy and delicious my hungry kiddos didn't find anything appetizing (hot dogs ran out early) and my significant other spent around $40 on himself alone walking away in need of "real food".  Luckily, the dairy had cheeses and organic milk.

The kids did not enjoy the hayride thru the farm's hilly landscape to see the non-existent cows. The cows had come home for milking.  Nor did they dance a jig to the happy, live Polka Band.

Calves cried at the door to see their Mamas who were standing on the other side in line for the milking machines. The real pitchfork my son used to grab the hay was a big hit as was the tour of Milking time.

Not a big hit $13-40 pumpkins that were grown elsewhere. These were our first pumpkins of the season so the kids were overjoyed at the sight, but I bribed them with mega pumpkins two for $6 at Meijer. While they were kicking and screaming on the way out, I did notice a farm vendor selling little pumpkins for $1 each. C'est la vie.

Awesome, educational corn maze at Jacob's Orchard in New Castle, Indiana.

Needless to say, I had some fall-fun making up to do! On the next outing, I took them to a tiny apple orchard in my hometown, New Castle, Indiana. Previously known as Anderson's, the new owners renamed it "Jacob's Orchard" which made for a nice photo op for my son (and the 90 million others) named Jacob.

Unfortunately, Jacob had no desire to attend the event. He complained profusely until he spotted the inflatable tunnel. Success! Goat's, fortune-telling corn-maze, cider doughnuts made while-you-wait, apple slushies in apple-shaped bottles, and if you feel like it, You-Pick apples, sealed the deal. The price is right too.

He got hurt the first time but went back for more.

The angry faces say, "Let me go play".

Hay tower at Jacob's Orchard in New Castle, Indiana.

On a "No Pre-school Friday", Mayhem and I visited "The Old Farm Market" in Avon to purchase old-fashioned pumpkins and giant gourds. Bummer, the have gone out of business!

Mayhem with Fall Pumpkins and Gourds for Halloween.

Mayhem with a Pirate, Arrgh!

Fall Break called for a trip to our local Zoo Boo and the world famous "Indianapolis Children's Museum" for trick-or-treating, pumpkin bowling, and a scare-free haunted house entitled, "Skeletown". My little one tired out after the first treat-post preferring to be carried and then tip-toed timidly thru the haunted house expecting a fright at every corner. It hadn't occurred to me that, at four, this was the first haunted house she would remember.

Vampires, Indians, Scouts, and Racecar Drivers oh my!

Class field trips took us to  "Country Pumpkins" in Zionsville and "Beasley's Orchard" in Danville for hayrides to pumpkin patches topped off with a free mini-pumpkin. You might want to start logging a pumpkin tally about now.

Preschoolers and pumpkins.

Finally, Halloween weekend arrived.  The kids enjoyed our trip to "Westside Retirement Village" for a safe treating experience. The residents were sitting in the lobbies handing out candy and we were pleasantly surprised by a haunted garden on the way to more candy-giving seniors, six thumbs up here.  


My teenager appreciated the duality of the elderly enjoying the children. Such a cute idea transforming a pathway into a spider garden- a giant spider waved happily at the end of the trail to lull visitors into a sense of well-being just before a friendly, smiling ghost popped out to say, "boo".  Unfortunately, the happy boo had my littlest jumping out of her skin.

Now, we aren't known to be a greedy family but while we were waiting for Daddy to complete his projects at work we needed to pass the time, so, we stopped off at "Church of the Master American Baptist" for trunk-or-treat before meeting up for "Ghoulish Garfield" . Forget about icing, Indy Park's Garfield Park, put the cherry on top of the cupcake. Picture perfect.   


The haunted conservatory is scary. My teenager let go of her six-year-old brother's hand  to grab her Daddy's! Daddy carried the shaking little one with one arm and held Sam with the other arm while I led the way with Jake. Seconds after telling a witch he wasn't scared at all some 'air' caused Jake to stick to the floor. The same 'air' that had Sam unglued (go figure, it was literally just air from a blower of some sort). Kudos to the spookmaster.  

The exit led directly to the hayride. "I'm never coming to this park again," exclaimed Jake!  "I know, I got worried when it said, 'not suitable for small children'," winced Sam. No one wanted to take a hayride but the clown taking our tickets (literally) assured us it was only a means of transport so off we went. Unfortunately, we were short on time. The ride leads to the Arts Center to decorate pumpkins and then to the Burello Family Center for refreshments and such. Time was running out so we opted to stay on the wagon.  Neither of us felt the need to walk back to our car toting frightened children through a dark park. An amazing ride thru the park with the full-moon and stars above made for the perfect ending to a fall-fun evening.

I question my sanity, as I remember my first haunted house at the age of six. My uncle was playing Frankenstein. It must have been a scare-free time for everything was well-lit. The coffin and vampire are burned into my psyche forever. Dracula chased us into the next room as my aunt shooed him away with her purse. I recognized my uncle right away - he's well over six feet tall - still I worried about Dracula.

Could Frankenstein stop him from sucking our blood? Could he pry the casket open if the venomous vampire tossed me inside? I have no idea what treasures the other rooms held.  While the smell of alcohol wreaked from the vampire's fangs the smell of fear drenched my aunt's persona. I could not be consoled by their trifling claims otherwise. Isn't it odd that Halloween is my favorite holiday?  

Thanks to that fateful day, I've never met a Creep I've liked since.  To be sure, we're going to have three kids who have an irrational fear of air.

Trick or Treating in Avon's Washington Township Park.

Trick or Treat.

Then, I took the kids to "Washington Park" in Avon for the non-scary, trick-or-treat trail. It's a nice hike thru the woods. Candy stations are sprinkled along the trails, cute, carnival-style games abound, and the kids enjoy a costume contest and $1 pumpkins all before dark.  This one is perfect for even the littlest tykes unless they discover an urgent need to potty. (Don't worry Jessica, we made it back to the public restroom, but I overheard one little boy who had to go behind a tree.)

Super easy Halloween Costumes: The kids were done with puppies, ladybugs, clones, hulks and pumpkins. So we went with comfortable costumes; that's a ghost puppy and a skeleton kid.

Halloween Party Activities: Bobbing for Rubber Duckies!

Tomorrow I present, "The Princess and Wanda Witch" at Garfield Park Arts Center, 2:30-4:30 p.m.

Wanda Witch, lead actress in our skit.

Join us but don't dawdle; I have to hurry home to take my kids trick-or-treating, hand out candy, and visit the festivities at "Spirit of Life Church" in Clermont. 

It's hard work making up for lost time. Mayhem has had several different costumes to celebrate the season.



Recommended Reading:

Five Little Pumpkins (A fun Halloween book for children)

A Ghost Went Trick or Treating