The Pinewood Derby is a much-anticipated favorite Cub Scout event! To help celebrate the Scouts and all their hard work on their cars, give them one of these free printable Pinewood Derby certificates! Lots of designs to choose from.
The Pinewood Derby is a fun Cub Scout tradition. Every year, Cub Scouts around the country spend a lot of time planning and building their Pinewood Derby cars.
Some scouts are super creative and create cars from scratch which they paint themselves. Others decorate their cars with stickers or decals that show off their interests or favorite hobbies.
I'm always amazed at the creativity of our Cub Scouts. They can come up with some of the most incredible designs.
Many packs make their Derby a fun family event by having activities, music, snacks, and even a photo booth.
Cub Scouts whose cars come in first, second, or third for speed or design usually are awarded a trophy which can be store-bought or hand-made like these incredible car parts awards that one of my neighbors made.
For the Scouts who don't place, think about giving them a certificate to recognize their participation in the Derby.
There are so many neat ways to recognize the Scouts' cars. In fact, here are 98 Pinewood Derby award ideas–everything from the coolest paint job to most futuristic.
Where to Find Pinewood Derby Certificates
Purchase Them Online
You can find lots of Pinewood Derby certificates to purchase on Etsy. Some of these are adorable–like this one that has both a boy Cub Scout and a girl Cub Scout on them.
Many of these certificates are fillable PDFs so that you can add your own text before you print them out.
Create Your Own
If you're creative, you can make your own certificates using a simple design program like Canva. I use it a lot for graphics here on the blog.
Download a Free Pinewood Derby Certificate
The third option is to download a free Pinewood Derby certificate that you find online. Searching for them can be time-consuming, so we searched for you and found 9 free certificates. Check them out in the list below.
I have a special treat for you. I had 3 sets of Pinewood Derby certificates created to share with you! Just enter your email address in the box below to download them.
I love the way they turned out! Each set has first, second, and third place, a certificate of participation, and one with a blank where you can write in your own award name.
How to Print the Pinewood Derby Certificates
These certificates can be printed out on your home printer. I would use either cardstock or a heavier weight paper.
Another option is to send them to Staples or another office supply store and have them printed there. When I'm printing out pages that have a lot of color on them, I found that it's cheaper to have them done there than to pay for a new color ink cartridge.
How to Pick the Winners
We usually decided which awards we were going to give before the night of the Derby. Then when everyone arrived, our den leaders, Cubmaster, and Committee Chair would vote on the car for each award.
After all the votes were tallied, we wrote the winners' names on the certificates. That worked fairly well, but it was a bit time-consuming. If you decide to use this process, just know that you'll need some extra time.
Another way to pick winners is to print out the list of awards in this post and have one or two people select an award for each car. The names of the winners can be handwritten on one of the certificates.
When to Present the Awards
Because it'll take some time to write out the awards, I recommend that you present them at the end of the Derby so that you'll have enough time to complete them.
Pinewood Derby Certificates
Download any of these FREE Pinewood Derby certificates to use for your next race.
Look Wider Still
Look Wider Still has lots of great Cub Scout content on her site! You can also download a blue certificate if you prefer it over this red one.
Making the World Cuter
This template from Making the World Cuter fits two certificates per page and is fully customizable.
The Idea Door
The Idea Door offers a free black and white printable certificate. This certificate is a jpeg so you can print out as many as you need and use a marker to fill in the category and winner's name.
NOTE: This certificate was created before girls were allowed to be Cub Scouts, and it has the pronoun "his" on it. If you have girls in your pack, you may not want to use this one.
Let's Derby
Let's Derby has a 52 slide PowerPoint file you can download with every category you can imagine. You only need to fill in the name and race date.
Sugar Bee Crafts
Sugar Bee Crafts offers a PDF with two certificates per page. You can print out as many as you need and use a marker to fill in the category and winner's name. They also have a fun DIY Derby trophy tutorial.
Scouter Jeff
These Pinewood Derby certificates from Scouter Jeff are super cool! In his post, he said that they are given out at the meeting after the Pinewood Derby so that he has time to personalize them.
I would definitely send these out to have them printed rather than trying to print them at home.
Pinewood Pro
Pinewood Pro has three certificate templates to choose from. You can customize not only the category and race date but also include the Pack number and Den number.
My Certificate Templates
You can customize this certificate from My Certificate Templates to use for place awards, participation, or special categories.
Trophy Central
I love this simple certificate. There isn't a lot of color, so it won't take a lot of ink--perfect for printing at home.
Download your FREE Pinewood Derby printable certificates by entering your email in this box.
Yours in Scouting,
Sherry
P.S. Check out all the Pinewood Derby posts!
Tom
Monday 27th of February 2023
Please
Kimberly Chromicz
Friday 3rd of March 2023
Hi there! I’ve emailed you the printable. Enjoy!
Paul Grist
Friday 24th of February 2023
Please send me your Pinewood Derby certificates. They are wonderful! Thank you!
Kimberly Chromicz
Friday 3rd of March 2023
Hi there! I’ve emailed you the printable. Enjoy!
Heather Ryder
Thursday 23rd of February 2023
I am trying to get a copy of the printable certificates for our derby. I know our scouts would love each of these!
Kimberly Chromicz
Friday 3rd of March 2023
Hi there! I’ve emailed you the printable. Enjoy!
Jonathan Buck
Friday 10th of February 2023
Please send me these certificates. They look great!
Kimberly Chromicz
Friday 3rd of March 2023
Hi there! I've emailed you the printable. Enjoy!
andrew diamonti
Tuesday 7th of February 2023
Hello! could you email the printable awards to me? Thank you so much.
Kimberly Chromicz
Friday 3rd of March 2023
Hi there! I've emailed you the printable. Enjoy!