Summer Survivor Challenge

While Parents Try to Survive the Roller Coaster of Summer Break, You Can Channel Your Kid’s Competitive Side With This Fun Summer Survivor Challenge!

Summer break is upon us! I really wrestle with summer break! I love that my schedule and demands die down and we have some freedom to explore and play, BUT I hate that my schedule and relative order (6 kids is just chaos) disappear like bedtime on long summer days.

The kids fight, they get bored, my house gets thrashed, and we wander aimlessly without a daily purpose. As a planner and obsessive goal maker, I try to create some sort of goal or set of purposes for us to hold onto throughout the summer.

Usually, my kids just toss them out the window, laughing. I think this may be why most parents triumphantly cry “I survived summer break,” in September. So, while we parents try to survive the roller coaster of summer break, they can channel their kid’s competitive side with our fun Summer Survivor Challenge!

Developing Skills

There are enough activities for each week of the summer break, so you can work through one every week or so. These are actually a lot more fun than kids (and adults) think they will be. Working together towards a common goal is another kind of preparedness. By the end of the summer, you’ll have lots of fun memories, developed some new skills, and realized getting prepared can be a lot of fun.

All the resources you’ll need are right here in the post and can be printed and ready to go. Be sure to print your checklist and hang it somewhere in your home so everyone can stay motivated. We’d love to see your activities! Take pictures of your challenge events and post them on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtags #SummerSurvivor #PreparednessMama

Download a PDF of the summer survivor challenge.  Use the links below to get help completing the challenge. Take them in any order, whatever works best for your family.

Summer Survivor Challenge

1. Home safety scavenger hunt
2. Build a chuck box
3. Go camping
4. Have a pioneer week
5. Have a fire drill
6. Have an earthquake /tsunami drill
7. Plant a garden with the kids. Find space for them, even if yours is in already
8. Make a Baking in a Box solar oven and make something in it.
9. Have a meal that is cooked with no power (solar oven doesn’t count)
10. Create an emergency plan
11. Create an information binder
12. Have a kit night and live off your emergency kit for a night/weekend. Wear the clothes, eat the food, use the flashlights. Hopefully, you packed entertainment. If you don’t have a kit, plan what you need and schedule when you can purchase each item, then use the challenge to assemble them.
13. Can, freeze, or dehydrate something (bonus: if you grew it)
14. Do a water safety course
15. Learn first aid and CPR as a family, practice on each other
16. Make earthquake bags  or car kits
17. Visit a national park/historic site that has a natural disaster component (Yellowstone, Mt. St. Helen’s, Teton Dam flood, etc)
18. Work together on a family project, hands on, get sweaty type project with handy skills to teach your kids and enjoy the accomplishments

Tips for Summer Survivor Challenge Success

This year we’ll use a lot of family incentives to keep us moving forward and working together through the summer. Thanks to our local library, we have access to a series of “cultural passes” that let us visit local sites for fun family outings. So, with minimal cost, we can continue to motivate them to complete the goals. In the TV Survivor they do the same thing, so use what speaks to your kids to help them stay on board. We also set our challenges up like an appointment.

In the TV Survivor they do the same thing, so use what speaks to your kids to help them stay on board. We also set our challenges up like an appointment in the family calendar.

Example: June 5-9 – pull ivy and plant the kids garden.

Reward: Japanese Gardens on Friday or Saturday

The kids picked the reward and the dates, and we provided the acceptable options. These ideas are on the printable you downloaded, so you have a visual and a written record to keep you going and accountable.

We can’t wait to see your Summer Survivor Challenge adventures this summer. Don’t forget to share!