My son just celebrated his 8th birthday and we decided to give him a fear factor party. We had been camping one weekend and the campsite next to us was doing exactly that. We got a
couple of ideas from them and a few from this website and just made up the rest.
The one recurring theme that I didn't like about all the other fear factor parties on this site was that many of the children were disqualified or eliminated after a particular event. I wanted to make sure that each child could participate in each event so we just kept track of points. That way no one stood around watching while the others were having fun. Some kids that weren't great at one particular event, could make up for it during another one. We chose 10 different events and one bonus event. The party was scheduled for three hours and we ended up going WAY over time, almost 2 more hours! But everyone was having a blast so they all stayed. There were 7 boys invited, plus my son and his sister. Ages ranged from one 5 year old boy (who won the first 2 events!) to my 9 year old daughter with all the other boys either being 8 or turning 8 soon. We held the party at a local park - the weather was beautiful and we were blessed to get the whole park to ourselves. Here are the events: 1.OUR FIRST CHALLENGE IS THE 'MYSTERY DIG' "EACH CHALLENGER WILL HAVE 45 SECONDS TO LOCATE, WITHIN THIS DIRT, AS MANY DUCK FEET AS HE OR SHE CAN. ONE POINT WILL BE AWARDED FOR EACH FOOT LOCATED, REMOVED AND PLACED ON THIS PLATE." We had just bought some potting soil from WalMart and dumped it into a big bucket. We bought some duck feet from Chinatown (chicken feet would work too) and mixed them up in the dirt. For effect, we put some worms on the top of the dirt. 2.WELCOME TO THE 'BARF BUFFET' "EACH CHALLENGER WILL BE OFFERED A SAMPLING OF SEVERAL DIFFERENT FOODS ORDINARY TO SOME, EXOTIC TO OTHERS
HOW DOES TOFU SOUND? HOW ABOUT HEADCHEESE? OYSTERS? SEAWEED? FISH EGGS? SNAILS?? LARVAE??? ONE POINT WILL BE AWARDED FOR EACH DELICACY CONSUMED." This one had plenty of the kids gagging, as well as the onlookers. The easiest (tastiest?) was the larvae and the worst was a toss up between the tofu and the oysters. But everything was purchased from the grocery store (the cheddar-flavoured larvae from a specialty candy store, called the Candy Aisle, on Broadway). Each child got to eat a dirty worm (gummy worm moistened with corn syrup and covered in Oreo crumbs) as a chaser. 3.'DEM BONES' "EACH CHALLENGER WILL HAVE 2 MINUTES TO TRANSFER AS MANY DOG BONES FROM ONE PLATE TO A BUCKET, WITH ONLY 2 CONDITIONS: THAT EACH BONE IS TRANSPORTED ONE AT A TIME; AND THAT THE CHALLENGER MAY USE ONLY HIS OR HER MOUTH TO PICK UP AND TRANSPORT THE BONES. WHOEVER TRANSFERS THE MOST BONES, WINS." we had the paper plate and the bucket on the grass about 20 or 30 feet apart, and we set the paper plate on top of another overturned bucket. 4.'LEMONAID' "EACH CHALLENGER WILL BE PRESENTED WITH A JUICY SLICE OF LEMON. HE OR SHE WILL PLACE THE SLICE OF LEMON IN HIS OR HER MOUTH AND BITE DOWN, AS IF TO EAT. WHICHEVER CHALLENGER CAN KEEP THE LEMON IN HIS OR HER MOUTH THE LONGEST, IS THE WINNER." We soaked the lemons overnight in more lemon juice just to give them a bit more zing. 4 of the boys ended up tying for first. in hindsight, the wedges were a bit too wide for some of the boys, and I should have cut off the corners to make it easier. 5.'THE YOLK'S ON YOU' "EACH CHALLENGER WILL BE PROVIDED WITH HALF A DOZEN EGGS. HE OR SHE MUST BREAK EACH EGG INTO THE YELLOW BOWL AND THEN, USING HIS OR HER HANDS ONLY, MUST TRANSFER THE YOLKS TO THE WHITE BOWL. WHOEVER CAN GET THE MOST UNBROKEN EGG YOLKS INTO THE WHITE BOWL IN THE SHORTEST AMOUNT OF TIME IS THE WINNER." There was a lot of strategy used with this one. Some kids broke one egg at a time and transferred them that way, while others did 2 at a time and used both hands to transfer one each. \*\*BONUS CHALLENGE\*\*\* "EACH CHALLENGER WILL BE ALLOWED TO REACH INTO THE BUCKET OF PIGS' EARS 3 TIMES TO EXTRACT A COIN. THIS PARTICULAR CHALLENGE HAS NO POINT VALUE; YOUR MONEY IS YOUR PRIZE." We had a bunch of quarters and loonies that we dumped into the bucket, that way they had to feel around to try to get the most valuable coin. The pig ears were purchased in Chinatown and I soaked them overnight in water to soften them up. They were nice and slimy!! 6.'BIBBED & BLIND' "EACH CHALLENGER WILL TASTE 6 DIFFERENT KINDS OF BABY FOOD, WHILE BLINDFOLDED. ONE POINT WILL BE AWARDED FOR EACH FOOD TASTED; AN ADDITIONAL POINT WILL BE AWARDED FOR EACH CORRECT IDENTIFICATION." I bought 5 different kinds of vegetable and one beef baby food. Lots more gagging on this one, although at least I found a way to get my kid to eat veggies: just blindfold him and give him points for it!! ;o) 7.'DEEP SEA DIVE' "EACH CHALLENGER MUST LOCATE 5 PLASTIC UNDERWATER CREATURES FROM THE BUCKET OF BABY SQUID WITHIN 30 SECONDS. ONE POINT FOR EACH CREATURE." I bought a package of 'ocean figures' from the dollar store and used both the underwater figures as targets but threw in the little plastic deep-sea divers as decoys. One point for each creature but none for the divers. Again, we got the squid from Chinatown. 8.'BUBBLE TROUBLE' "EACH CHALLENGER WILL BE PRESENTED WITH A CONTAINER OF CANNED CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP. BURIED WITHIN THE SOUP ARE SEVERAL PIECES OF BUBBLE GUM. IT IS YOUR JOB TO LOCATE THE GUM, WITHOUT USING YOUR HANDS, AND BLOW A BUBBLE WITH IT. THE FASTEST BUBBLE BLOWER WINS." This one we didn't end up doing because, one; we ran out of time, and two; at an outside party with little water facilities, it was just too messy to clean up. Plus after I told them all what it was, pretty much everyone informed me they couldn't even blow a bubble anyway. Maybe another time
. 9.'ORGAN TRANSPLANT' "EACH CHALLENGER WILL HAVE 90 SECONDS TO REMOVE SOME SPECIFIC ITEMS FROM ONE BUCKET AND TRANSFER THEM TO ANOTHER. THESE ITEMS ARE: GUINEA LIVER, THE HEART AND TONGUE OF A PIG, AND THE STOMACH LINING OF A COW. 2 POINTS WILL BE AWARDED FOR EVERY ITEM REMOVED AND PLACED IN THE OTHER BUCKET." This one was gross. Aside from the individual items that had to be transferred, they were hidden in a concoction that was almost as bad: Asian noodles, oatmeal, coffee grounds and oil, all mixed together, plus a little water to keep it runny. The organs were purchased in Chinatown. I think the kids were more grossed out by the noodle mixture than by the stuff they were looking for! 10.'KEY TO GLORY' "EACH CHALLENGER WILL BE REQUIRED TO LOCATE A RING OF KEYS FROM WITHIN A BUCKET OF WET DOG FOOD. FROM THIS RING OF KEYS, HE OR SHE MUST IDENTIFY THE CORRECT KEY AND USE IT TO OPEN THE LOCK BOX PLACED 50 FEET AWAY. THE BOX IS FILLED WITH DIRT AND THERE ARE WORMS CRAWLING THROUGH THAT DIRT. EACH CHALLENGER MUST CARRY A WORM BACK TO THIS PLATE, USING ONLY HIS OR HER MOUTH. THE FASTEST TIME WINS." We just put a bunch of unused keys as well as the correct key all onto one key ring. The hardest part was getting the key in the lock everyone's hands were slippery from the dog food. Once they had the worm dangling from their lips, they had to run back to where they started and drop the worm onto the plate. VERY IMPORTANT: we brought lots of antibacterial handsoap and the kids washed their hands after every challenge that involved touching something. (We also had them AND THEIR PARENTS sign a waiver when they arrived!) All the kids had a goodie bag that contained a Lick'it Cricket (bought from aforementioned Candy Aisle), an edible eyeball, an insect tattoo, and a glow in the dark creepy creature. The grand prize winner got all that plus a candy covered scorpion (Candy Aisle), a bunch of chocolate coins and a crisp five dollar bill! My son had a great time, his friends had a great time, all the parents, my husband & I included, had a great time. It'll be hard to top next year! My only regret is that I didn't take nearly enought pictures and that also our video camera was not working. It would be wonderful to watch over and over.
