Fear Factor

Our friends, Laura and Joe, invited our family to join them in a game of Fear Factor this afternoon. Laura (who insists that she is not creative, but she isn't fooling anyone) designed 3 challenging activities in which the kids could participate, with the ultimate goal of winning a Target Gift Card. We all had a fantastic time, and I was impressed at the kids' competitive natures that motivated them to finish even the grossest challenge.

Our game started at the local elementary school. Team Harm was late, as usual. We got lost (again, as usual) on the way to the staging area. After a quick call to get directions, we arrived at the field and got our game faces on.


Round One:
The first challenge was to walk along a low retaining wall made of rubber. Along the long course were posted 9 flags at increasing intervals. The child who was able to grab the most flags in the quickest time won the round. Thankfully, this was a non-elimination round, so all the littles got to move to the second round.

Brogan and Colson each grabbed one flag before stepping off the wall.


Luke and Lainey made it a close race, but Lainey ultimately had the fastest time.





Round Two:

The second challenge began with each child throwing 2 stones at a target on the driveway. Each circle in the target had a different number.


We added up the numbers in the circles in which the stones landed to determine how many bites of brussel sprouts a child had to eat.


Braden had to eat 4 bites, poor Lainey had to eat 8!!

Colson and Brogan had the sense not to participate in round two, and both earned a Nutter Butter as a consolation prize. But of the other kids, even the pickiest eater made an attempt at finishing. None of the children sitting around that table have any excuse now for not eating their dinners. If they can choke down multiple bites of brussel sprouts for a chance to win a gift card, they can most definitely choke down my tuna casserole, thank you!

Yesterday I had Braden convinced that he'd be eating some sort of bugs, so he was relieved that he only had to eat brussel sprouts. Yes, that's a smile on his face. He ate his entire plate while smiling.


Wil made short work of his.


Here's Addie's "Before" picture.


Leila had an interesting, but very scientific strategy. She held her nose while eating the sprouts.


Round 3:
Braden, Wil, Luke, and Lainey moved on to the final challenge. Each child began the round with handcuffs around his ankles and wrists. When the timer shouted "Go!", each child had to unlock his cuffs, take them off, and then race across the backyard to grab a flag. Once the child grabbed the flag, the timer stopped. The fastest time won.

It ended up being a very close challenge between these two guys:




Wil raced to victory, though, beating Braden by a half a second!!! There was a bit of controversy in that last round, but after the judges reviewed the tape, the initial ruling was determined to be valid and Wil was declared the victor. Seriously, though, that boy was fast! Giving Houdini a run for his money kind of fast!

We ended the game with pizza and soda, and had a fantastic afternoon. Laura's decided her next challenge is to create an "Amazing Race."