Survivor Family Edition!

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We are huge fans of the TV show Survivor on CBS. We have had such a fun time recreating this show as a game for our family during quarantine. The best part about it is that we have used it not only as entertainment, but as a parenting tool. It has reduced the fighting, complaining and whining and brought about more service, a cleaner house and closer sibling relationships- maybe the complete opposite of the show. We hope you enjoy these free party printables and will let us know who the sole survivor is in your family!

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Click image for a print friendly version!

The goal of this game is to be voted “Sole Survivor” at a Family Tribal Council at the end of the week. On the printable above, I purposely left the prizes and privileges blank so your family can tailor this to your own preferences. Our family’s sole survivor’s prize was:

  • no chores for a day

  • winner picks what movies we watch for our movie marathon

  • huge candy bar

Printable logos below:

Fire tokens are our Survivor currency. The kids can use these tokens for special privileges. They can barter for tokens, earn a token for having all their chores done at the end of the day, get a bonus one by doing something special for mom or dad, or by winning an immunity challenge.

For the fire token privileges, we tried to look at where the most battles occur in our household. Where are the kids always begging for more or complaining? Bedtime was the first thing that came to mind. Bedtime is always an issue with kids wanting to stay up later. We decided to measure this reward in extra minutes that they could stay up, but if it would be easier for your family, you could they can use the token to have an extra book or song. We also get a lot of complaining over chores, so for us to make a way for them to get to skip a chore was a huge deal for our older kids. Check out the printable below for some of our other ideas. Click for a print friendly version.

Let’s talk immunity idols. Immunity idols keep you safe from going to Exile Island (more of a state of mind than an actual place. If they are still on Exile Island at tribal council they can’t participate in the vote or be voted for) where they would get an unwanted consequence or chore when you are in trouble (for things like talking back, being mean to a sibling, etc.). There are two ways to get these idols. One way is through our nightly immunity challenges. We did a few different challenges. The key was to keep these pretty short and as simple as possible.

  1. Exercise contest. We had a list of things the kids had to do, like jumping jacks, push ups, lunges etc. Jeff Probst (aka my husband) and I chose a winner based on effort and attitude.

  2. Rock, Paper, Scissors: we wanted a clear winner after the whining on the exercise challenge and this was perfect for that.

  3. Kahoot: it’s virtual game show where you pick a category and everyone chimes in through their devices. There are hundreds of topics to pick from. We played the Princess and the Frog quiz.

The other way to attain an immunity idol is to search for a hidden immunity idol. These idols are in hidden in different chores around the house, such as in a basket of laundry, under a bathroom sink by the cleaning products, or in a bedroom closet that needs tidying. To activate the idol’s power, the chore has to be completed. For example, the kids can’t just dig through the laundry to find the idol and keep it, they have to fold and put away that basket of laundry for the idol to work. This was actually amazing. My kids were working like busy bees trying to find idols!! It was also great once they were being a touch whiny or sassy, they would catch themselves so they didn’t have to give up their idols.

Printable Immunity idols: (we punched a hole in the top and used yarn to make it a necklace)

At Tribal Family Council we made a fake fire pit (you could easily use a real one- but we were just doing this on our back patio- tiki torches would’ve been awesome!), set up a bunch of camping chairs and had a discussion about our week. We also asked each of the players what movies they would be picking for the movie marathon the following day. We did this in hope that the voting wouldn’t appear too personal, that the kids would vote more on what movies they wanted. The whole point of this activity was to bring the family together, not to divide us or create a popularity contest. Instead of voting someone off the island, we were voting for the person you would like to win. There definitely was a bit of competition, but even emptying the dishwasher is a competitive sport with my kids. At least they were kind all week and just had a few squabbles after tribal council!

Click for a print friendly version:

One other really fun activity we did was to have a reward challenge (just like the show). For us that meant a round of UNO. Whoever won the card game got to go for ice cream with mom and bring a sibling of their choice. We had some other rewards through the week for the kids that didn’t win the ice cream trip.

You can print these off and use them as your buffs. Cut a slit on each orange stripe and pull a strip of fabric through.

The most fantastic part about all of this was when the kids were working to win each other over so they could get votes for tribal council. Their motives may not have been as pure as I’d like, but I think they started to learn that if they were unkind and obnoxious, it took a toll on their relationships.

These printables would also be really fun to use for a party. All of it could be tweaked for one day of family and friends fun. This gave us something really fun to do while we are on quarantine because of the coronavirus.

Check out some of our other homemaking and parenting hacks below!

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Hillary HessComment