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Survivor Party -12yr- Run Jump Crawl

April 2006

Jordan in Eugene, Oregon USA

Runner Up

SURVIVOR: Birthday Island THE PARTY! You're invited to be stranded! Said the invitations, and we really meant it. Last summer, my sister and I designed our own edition of the popular CBS reality series Survivor. It was her twelfth birthday, and we wanted to make it big. We also wanted to make it as close to the shows format as possible, which posed a little problem. How do you create a fun, entertaining party out of a television show that is based around lying cheating and backstabbing? Here's our answer: 

1.The Set-Up: Keeping with the format of the show, we started the party with two tribes, exotically named Siku and Kipaji. We found the names by looking in an African-English language dictionary online. Siku means Birthday and Kipaji means Present (go figure). There were ten people at the party, five in each tribe (Note: this is a good number, when some late guests arrived, we found it a little too loud to control). Each tribe had their own flag that marked where their camp would be, one on each side of the yard, and each castaway got a Survivor Buff of their color (look below for a cheap way to make Buffs). Before the party started, we let them decorate their Buffs with permanent markers and pin them around their heads or on their hands. This enhanced excitement and started a little bit of tribe spirit before the game had started.  Materials:  -Buffs: Go to a local fabric store. There should be small, precut squares of cloth (ours were even already folded in the right way). Get the right colors for your cloth and cut them into long strips, making each one about the same width. Write the tribe name and a few tribal designs (and if you're good at drawing, a personalized Survivor logo). For us each square cost about $2.00.  -Permanent Markers -Flags- Buy squares of the same colored fabric as the Buffs, but don't cut them into strips. Write the name and (again, if you can) draw your logo on the flag. Don't bother to buy a pole, just tape your flag onto a nearby fence or tree.  

2.Tribal Council: Here was our big problem, the only part of the show where you absolutely HAVE to hurt somebody's feelings. We wanted to keep the excitement and Machiavellian twist to the show, but we didn't want to have to go through the pain of ousting anyone for good. We also still wanted some potential for the show's signature alliances to be formed. Finally, we came up with this idea: after each immunity challenge (look below for ideas), we would take the losing tribe to Tribal Council, but we would draw a name from a hat to vote them off into the other tribe. The ousted member would immediately receive a new buff and travel to the other tribe's camp after TC. The tribe with the most castaways at the end of the fifth immunity challenge would then move on to a final immunity in which they would be narrowed down to two people. Between those two, everyone else would vote for a winner. This gave everybody a chance to play nearly the entire game ( the losing tribe also got to participate in the final immunity, below), and even ousted castaways would come out of Tribal Council smiling, because their new tribe would always welcome them with open arms. Always keep the format of the show: acting as the host, I would ask questions to each of the tribe mates trying to reveal where they stood in the tribe, etc.  Materials for Tribal Council: -Candles -Chairs -Torches (don't bother to light them unless you actually know how)     -Slips of paper with each of the Castaway's names on it (for the draw) -A candle for the torch-snuffing -Tribal objects  

3.Challenges: We used the basic format of the show as our guide. We organized the party into installments of one Reward Challenge and one Immunity Challenge. For the Reward Challenges, one person from each tribe would compete in a secret location against each other, out of sight of either of the tribe camps. This added an element of suspense for the tribes and allowed each of the partygoers to have their moment to shine. The Immunity happened in the usual format of the two tribes against each other, adding teamwork to the mix. In between those times, we let castaways snack on emergency supplies (see Supply Grab challenge) and hang out in tents at their camp (the tribes were not allowed to contact each other between challenges). Here's a list of all of the challenges that we did, in order: 

SUPPLY GRAB- Reward: Before the game began, we carried out a huge pile of supplies, all mysteriously packaged in non see-through bags (look below in Materials). Acting as the host, I signaled for the games to begin, lined them up and, after a brief introduction, explained the challenge. On my go, the tribes would be given five seconds to grab any and all the supplies that they could from the pile. There was no rule about dividing the pile between the tribes: whatever you could get, you got. After getting them riled up, I shouted the classic Survivors ready? Go! In about one second, all ten girls had snatched up every single supply. This challenge was quick, easy to prepare, and allowed each tribe something to do while we were setting up for the next challenge. It also got them excited and competitive against the other tribe.  Materials:  -Assorted snacks (crackers, cookies, pretzels etc.) -Paper bags (decorate them and hide the snacks in them) -Bottled water (also to be placed on the supply pile)   - The rules (give each tribe a copy of the official rules of the game) -A blanket or tent (this is another thing for them to do while you're setting up for the next challenge. 

RUN JUMP AND CRAWL-Immunity: In order to build up our challenges, my s-Tape, Chalk or Rope (to mark the line). -Immunity Idol (make it out of clay or just cut it out of paper)   

SLING SHOT- Reward: After asking each tribe Who's got great aim? They chose one person to represent them in the challenge. Those two were taken out of sight of the camps. The chalMaterials:  -Plastic Cups-Gravel-Paper or markers to decorate and adding point values to the cups -Reward: Bubble Gum (watermelon flavor, to give a clue to what the next challenge would be, below) 

WATERMELON MUNCH- Immunity: They may eat live bugs, rotting fish and half-formed chicken  (safe food only)

GROUP ELIMINATION: Whichever team had the least number of castaways at the end of the last immunity challenge (drip, don't drop) was officially eliminated from the game, but they got one last chance to vote somebody into the other tribe. This time, the winning tribe voted for who they wanted to be voted into their tribe, therefore saving that castaway from permanent elimination. The group elimination worked well because it wasn't just one person leaving, and they were assured that they would get the chance for revenge at the Final Immunity Challenge.  

STAND-OUT- final immunity: The simplest but most intriguing challenge in Survivor: the endurance challenge. We set the remaining castaways up on a long bench, once again each standing on a small plate that they couldn't step from and they were told that the two people remaining on the bench at the end of the challenge would enter the final two. Just one more thing your past has come back to haunt you. At that point, the eliminated castaways paraded out with a large cooler filled with water balloons. Each time an eliminated castaway answered a trivia question right, they got to toss a water balloon at the line-up. This was interesting, dramatic and fun, for both the ones on the bench and the people throwing the balloons. It got even more interesting as the castaways on the bench were told to stand on one leg, close their eyes and turn around in circles.  Materials: -Water balloons -Cooler (for balloons) -Bench (Or something else that is narrow or small for them to stand on, like logs or crates) -Plates -Trivia questions -Rope or tape to mark the line to throw balloons from

4.Final Tribal Council: The final two, were each given a torch and escorted into final tribal. They were given the chance to make opening and closing statements convincing everyone to vote for them as the winner. In the middle, each ousted castaways (as the Jury) got to ask one question to the remaining two. Then, everyone but the final two voted, I counted the votes and announced a winner. Make sure to just announce the winner, not read the votes because it could be hurtful if one person does not get very many votes.   

5.Afterwards: Have a party room set up and get on with the Birthday! We set our party up as the Survivor: Birthday Island Reunion show and talked about the events of that season.  

6.The Twists: Always keep a few simple twists on hand, especially a quick tribe mix-up if they get too uneven (this happened to us, so we threw all the Buffs into a hat and redrew evenly).  

7.Videotaping: I got a friend to videotape the show, which was really fun to watch afterwards, but it's not necessary.   I hope this explanation will help people that are looking for a competition- based Survivor party that is as close to the format of the real show as possible (without hurting any feelings). Even months later, kids and parents still talk about the party. This year we're doing a sequel; Survivor: The (our town)-ian Outback.  Thanks!

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