Welcome to the Island 

Buy 30 leis and have the team line up in a row. Time how long it takes the team to get all of the leis from one end to the other. The trick to this activity is every team member must put every individual lei on before they can pass them to the next team member. They can put on several leis at once or they can do them one at a time. It is up to the team.

 

Cut out 200 paper fish (die-cuts or paper note pads work best). Put stickers on one side of ten of these fish. In 30 seconds the team must see how many of the safe fish they can find. 

 

Photo copy a picture of a motor (I found one on Google Images) and cut it into puzzle pieces. Before the program scatter the pieces across the room. Have the team find all of the pieces and put the motor back together. 

 

Is This Island Big Enough? 

Challenge the team to fit all of its members onto a square 3ft by 3ft without putting a foot outside the masking tape marked lines. Then have them try it on a 2ft by 2ft box and finally a 1ft by 1ft square. Every member of the team must be in the box, and no foot can be outside for a count of three seconds.

 

Drive a Motorcycle Through a Window 

On a piece of poster board (a large dollhouse would also work) draw 4 different size holes and cut out. Then lean against a wall and take 4 toy motorcycles. See how many motorcycles you can get through the window. You can give different points to different sized windows. 

 

Undo the Ship’s Knots 

Have four pieces of long string or laundry line. On each piece of string tie one type of knot (each line should have the same knot 10 times). See how many knots can be untied in 30 seconds.

 

In a small bucket of sand mix in a bag of individually wrapped Life Savers Candy. I like the mint ones because they are white. See how many can be found in 30 seconds. Put a tarp down under this activity. 

 

Make 10 various sized laptops by folding black construction paper in half and then glue in a white square as a screen and a white square as a keyboard. Then hide them in a piece of luggage filled with t-shirts and other travel type stuff. See how many they can find in 40 seconds. (I always mention that this is my personal luggage and money will be taken away for destroying it.) 

 

Since most of your food grows on trees you must grab the fruit from a bowl with your teeth and drop it in the brim of the hat. (I used plastic fruit from a craft store that can be put through the dishwasher.) How many pieces of fruit can your team move in one minute?

 

Catch a Parrot 

Since your team will eat anything they can find to survive on the island see how many of the rubber bands you can toss around the parrot to catch it and bring it home. I bought huge book rubber bands for this and a parrot for my shoulder that I found in a Halloween section at a store. I actually wore the parrot but that is up to your comfort level.

 

Eating Bugs 

On the raft ride to the island you are thrilled to find some bugs. How many can you catch while they are being tossed at you (without using your hands). (I found bug candies and tossed them in the air to be caught in the students’ mouths). There is a rule against eating off the ground, and with younger students I would make them catch them with their hands.

 

Create a Life Boat 

The ship’s engine has just exploded and you must use the materials around to create a boat that will float for at least 20 seconds in water. I brought a variety of recyclable paper products and masking tape. I gave them three minutes to work on their boats.

 

The Sun Is Really Beating Down 

You must create a tent using a bed sheet and other materials found in the room. The sheet must cover your entire team. (You can bring in various items to help create a cover if you are in an empty room).

 

Sinking the Boat 

You are J.J. and you think the storm you are in was set up by Hollywood to teach you a lesson. You have decided to teach whoever set this up by sinking the phoenix. I used three plastic bath toys and students had to drop marbles onto them to make them sink in a tub of water.

 

You Are All Starving on the Boat. 

You decide that you need to catch fish in order to survive. Using the fishing net, catch as many balloon fish as you can.