Family "Survivor"
by Shelley Clines
 

I am working on our Emergency Preparedness activity for next spring already and here is what I am planning to involve the entire family. I do not know where you live, so you can adapt your area's needs to the activity. It is a bit different than anything that I have seen out there, but still plays on the very popular theme of "Survivor" I am calling ours - Family "Survivor" Name of Ward or town. Each family receives a score card with a list of activities listed on the inside with the starting times (every 20 to 30 minutes depending on the topic) and on the back of it I have a scorecard. Here is the list of topics that we are planning on covering. Our activity will have 3 hours to get as many family points as possible then gather in the multi-purpose room for a taste of survival (emergency type foods and food storage meals) (I would like to give out a small cookbook with food storage recipes or emergency cooking essentials at the end also) while the "Family Survivor" winners are announced. Here is a list of the activity classes that we are planning on doing and the possible challenges for each:

72 Hour Kits - Challenge suggestion - build a milk carton 72 hour kit or play the memory game and write down all of the things for a 72 hour kit.

Basic First Aid - Challenge suggestion - First aid bandaging relay or jeopardy.

Earthquakes - Challenge suggestion - earthquake drill.

Family Disaster Plan - Challenge suggestion - create a family disaster plan, what to do when the electricity goes out for a week.

Fire - (we are using the smokey house in the parking lot that fills up with artificial smoke and you have to practice a fire escape)
 
Challenge - draw a fire escape map of your home and decide upon a family meeting point (by the apple tree etc.)

Floods - Challenge suggestions - water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink- fill a sandbag or build a sandbag barrier.

Food Storage & Preparation - Challenge suggestion - using the church's food storage calculator determine how much your family needs to store, then have a relay with all members of your family to load that much into your pantry - (game with smaller versions of bags of beans etc. and fill a pantry short bookshelves)

National Security Emergencies - Challenge suggestion - ?

Outdoor Survival skills - how to survive if lost in the woods, making shelters and fires - challenge suggestion - have a pile of sticks, rope, emergency blankets and the race is on to see which family can
build the best shelter in 5 minutes.

Storms - wind & winter - Challenge suggestion - put on tire chains

Volcanic Eruptions - Challenge suggestion - make a model volcano eruption, while wearing the appropriate eye and face protection in the event of ash fallout.

For each of the above mentioned activities I have a volunteer teaching the activity (Class) and handing out important info to each family. On their score card I have each activity listed in the first column, then the second column is ATTENDANCE where each family (doesn't matter the size) is awarded 1 point per activity just for attendance, the next column is titled CHALLENGE and after the informative activity each family will be asked to do a family challenge relating to the topic of the class. Here depending on the families performance they will be awarded up to 3 points. The next column is TOTAL and they carry the total over for that activity topic.

Another idea for the dinner part of it is to assign families a "Secret Ingredient" like from the Iron Chef show, and give them topics like wheat, rice, beans, and other typical food storage items to bring and then have their dishes in a certain category judged for taste and originality. You would have to assign not only the Secret Ingredient, but also the category (main dish, side dish, dessert) for them to make their secret ingredient into also.