Survivor Party -11yr- Water Balloon Challenge

My daughter decided she wanted to have a Survivor themed birthday party for her 11th BDay. 

INVITATIONS: For invitations, I just altered one of the Survivor logos (I just picked the one with the best colors that worked with our party) to read Survivor Island (our last name) and then put the text of the invitation below it:  Who will be the Ultimate Survivor?  Can you survive Paige’s 11th Birthday (date, time, address) Come prepared for challenges of the mind, body and soul.  Stay for a backyard campout 

DECORATIONS: I didn’t do a lot of decorations, but did do a lot of prep work.  I cut stretchy spandex material into long, wide strips about 12 wide x 30 long and ironed our logo using dark color iron-on transfer paper onto the center to make buffs in two colors.  I hung up two plain pieces of tan fabric on our back fence on either side of the tent as tribe flags.  I also set out three benches in a U shape and had a firepit in the center to simulate tribal council.  There was also a voting area on the patio with a tiki man container we made with paper mache and painted. 

ACTIVITIES  GAMES: The whole party was all about the challenges.  When the girls arrived, they drew for buffs and proceeded to decide on a tribe name and symbol.  We ended up with two tribes of 5 girls each.  Each tribe went to their base camp (blanket spread out on either side of the tent) and painted their tribe flags. 

The first challenge was Leading the Blind one girl on each team was a caller and had to stand within a spraypainted square on the grass.  The other girls were tied together at the wrist and blindfolded in pairs two pairs per team.  The caller then had to direct the pairs out into the yard to find bags of puzzle pieces.  There were three bags per tribe, color coded, so the caller had to direct them to pick up the correct bags and bring them back to the ‘mat’.  Once all bags were back, they had to untie the bags (knotted many times) and assemble the puzzle (dollar store 24 piece puzzle).  This was a reward challenge and the winning tribe received a bag of beef jerky to share.  Also, each of the girls from the winning tribe received a tribal bead for a bead necklace she was given earlier. 

The second challenge was an immunity challenge called Shrinking Map 100 paper plates were laid out in a 10 x 10 grid.  Each girl picked a starting location along the outer edge.  On her turn, each girl stepped to another plate (left, right, up or down, no diagonal) and picked up the plate she stepped off of.  After each girl took a turn, they went again in the same order.  Eventually, some girls got stuck and could not move to another plate they were then eliminated.  The last girl standing won for her tribe.  The winning tribe then went to Tribal Council where they received a tribal bead for their necklace for winning and then each voted for the girl they thought made the best effort in the challenge.  That girl the winner of votes received an extra bead. 

The third challenge was the Food Challenge one girl from each tribe came up at a time to go head to head eating the same item.  First girl to eat it all, swallow, and stick her tongue out won a point for her tribe.  Tribe with the most points wins reward.  The food items were: olives with pimentos, sardines, baby food peas, sauerkraut and potted meat.  We ended up with a tie so the tiebreaker was that each member of the tribe had to eat 3 wasabi peas first tribe done won!  The reward was a bead for each of the girls and a can of chips for the tribe to share. 

The fourth challenge was an endurance competition.  I placed bricks out in the yard one per girl and each girl had to stand on one foot on their brick.  After 2 minutes, the girls then had to put both hands on top of their head.  After another 2 minutes, they had to raise their second foot out in front of them.  After 2 more minutes, the foot had to go behind them.  We gave out beads throughout this challenge the first 2 girls off did not get any.  The 3rd and 4th each got 1, the 5th and 6th each got 2, the 7th and 8th got 3, the 9th got 4 and the last girl standing got 6 beads and her tribe got to go to Tribal Council. 

The next challenge was Water and Balance I set up two 2x4 boards across two bricks.  There was a large tub of water at one end of the balance beams, and then smaller empty bowls at the other end.  The girls lined up near the empty bowls had to walk across the beam and retrieve water from the tub in whatever means possible hands, hair, mouth, buff and get it back across the beam to the bowl.  Once each girl came back across the beam, the next girl could go.  The girls used their hair a lot soaking it and then wringing it into the bowl as well as their mouths.  The first tribe to fill up their bowl to the top won the challenge.  They had a lot of fun with this and all said it was their favorite challenge.  The bowl was big enough that each girl probably got to go get water 5 or 6 times.  Winning tribe got small chocolate bars. 

Next challenge was the Obstacle Course I couldn’t do too much in my backyard, but turned this into a puzzle challenge as well. The setup involved tying a rope (1 per team) starting at a post to the patio.  I wove the rope under and around the trampoline, and then attached it to my fence.  I also stapled a bunch of playing cards to the fence right next to where the rope ended.  The girls were shown a series of playing cards (5 per tribe) that they needed to retrieve.  The girls then had to attach with a carabiner to the rope (with another small rope tied around their waist) and travel along the weaving rope to the fence grab a card and come back to hand off the tether.  Once a tribe brought back all 5 correct cards, they won and received a bead and went to tribal council. 

The next challenge was a Water Balloon Catch girls took turns throwing water balloons across an open area to their tribemates.  Each balloon that was caught without breaking earned a point and the tribe with the most points won reward beads as well as Skittles candy to share.  The last challenge was a classic Survivor Auction.  I had selected about 14 items and put them in paper bags.  The girls were each given 20 ‘Survivor Bucks and could bid on the items.  They didn’t know what they would get until after bidding.  Some were good (candy, beads, gum, lip gloss, etc.) some were not so good (sardines, baby toys, glue sticks, yarn).  They had fun bidding and no one was too upset.  I had also planned two more challenges knocking down tin cans (painted in tribe colors) with rubberband slingshots and retrieving marbles in a tub of ice water using only feet but it got dark and late so we ended up not doing those.  At the end of all of this, the girls on each tribe with the most beads were named the Ultimate Survivors and received glow necklaces. 

PARTY SNACKS: There was water and lemonade out for the girls during the challenges.  We had pizza mid-way through and then cake later on. 

CAKE: The cake was decorated like a large tiki mask really easy and really cute!

FAVORS: The girls got to keep their buffs and their necklaces from the party, as well as any rewards and auction items. 

We started the party about 6:00 PM and were done with all of the challenges around 10:00.  That’s when we did cake and presents and then the girls had a backyard campout.  They played on the trampoline and stayed up talking for a few hours and then had muffins in the morning before being picked up at 10:00 AM.  My daughter’s birthday is in late August, so we had the party the weekend right before school started and it was a great way to reconnect before Junior High started!!