Desert Island Survival

Materials:

• Sofa cushions
• towels
• string
• yardstick
• rubber bands
• blocks

Imagine this: You and your child are marooned on a desert island. All you have are the clothes on your back, whatever materials you can find, and your wits. How will you survive?

First, you'll need a place to spend the night. Have your child help you build a shelter out of rocks and leaves (sofa cushions, towels, and so forth; see Gimme Shelter for suggestions). When you get hungry, the two of you can search for fruit trees, roots, and berries (perhaps provide some actual food for the activity; all this play can build up quite an appetite). Or you can make fishing poles out of tree limbs and vines (string and a yardstick), bait the hooks with fruit or insects (rubber bands), and see what you can catch.

If you get cold, you can build a fire after you and your child collect a pile of wood (blocks). And, once the blaze is roaring, the two of you can plan enough exploration and imagination activities to keep you busy until help arrives.

Relax, civilization is just a search party away.

More on: Imagination Play

Excerpted from:

© 2005 by Steve and Ruth Bennett. Excerpted from 365 Unplugged Family Fun Activities with permission of its publisher, Perseus Books Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

To order this book visit perseusbooksgroup.com.