Busy Playing: Our Judy Moody Summer Thrill Points Challenge

A few weeks ago, we went to visit some of our old neighbors from Japan.  The girls wanted to go see the new Judy Moody movie, The Not So Bummer Summer.  I was worried that my boys wouldn't be that into the movie because it was about a girl.  We went to the movie anyways because they got excited when I mentioned going to see the movie (they had seen previews on TV).

Well, they LOVED it!  They loved it so much, when I took them to the bookstore to get a kick off summer reading book, they chose this:

Look what it's created:

My 6 year old hasn't gotten into any chapter books until these books came along, in fact, he can't put them down.  So far, he and my 7 year old have each read the No So Bummer Summer TWICE!!!  As soon as we get a new book, they start fighting over who gets it first.  One day, we had to alternate, by each reading a chapter, then switching.  In trying to be cheap, we went to the library, but all the books were checked out (then we found out we can't get cards yet anyways).  Luckily, at Barnes and Noble's, the books are buy 2 get the 3rd free.

Look what I found at breakfast today- he just can't put it down:

For those of you who don't know about the Judy Moody movie, Judy is worried her summer will be boring, so she comes up with a list of challenges for her and her friends to complete over the summer.  Problems arise when one friend is going to Borneo with her mother, another is continuing a family tradition by going to circus camp, and the other has a hard time facing up to challenges.  Judy and her one friend left for the summer, try to complete the challenges, such as tight rope walking, riding a HUGE roller coaster, and seeing a scary movie.  Judy has a little brother who is trying to hunt BigFoot all summer, and her way cool aunt comes to visit for the summer too.  This movie was not just for girls by any means, and neither are the books.

One day, we were driving in the car, and my oldest son said "maybe we can do thrill points challenges mom".  The wheels began to turn in my head for ideas for challenges.  My oldest son is a picky eater, I could challenge him with trying new foods.  My kids haven't played many sports, I can challenge them to try new activities.  I can continue our Random Acts of Kindness by challenging them to do them on their own.  I can let them be silly by challenging them to do silly things and I can show them how to turn something boring into a fun challenge.

I came up with a point system and made a chart:

I put mine and my husband's names on it because this shows them we are willing to take the challenges too (but sorry,I am NOT holding a snake).  The way our point system works is:

 1 point for making a small attempt, whether or not you back out 

5 points if you attempt, but do not complete a challenge

10 points if you complete a challenge

20 points if you are the ONLY one to complete a challenge

I wanted to make the prizes worth it to get the kids really excited and willing to push their limits.  I made up first through fourth place prizes, and each one has two choices.  For example, first prize is either 1 hour of wii each day for a whole week (no exceptions) OR $10 worth of coins for you to use at Chuckee Cheese.  Second prize is going out to do something fun alone with me or dad OR choosing a new book at the bookstore.  Third prize is getting your choice of ice cream treat (sundae, shake, etc) OR being the LAST kid in bed every night for a week.  Fourth prize is choosing a movie of your choice from Netflix for movie night OR I will make them a batch of their favorite cupcakes.

Last week, when I made the blueberry pie, two of my kids refused to try it.  When they heard the prizes a few days later, they were begging me to try a bite.  My oldest son really wants to win that Wii time, so he actually ate the bite and didn't gag ;) My youngest son wants the Chuckee cheese time and he ate it and LOVED it!  Every day, they are asking me what is the challenge and can they add their own to the chart.  I hope by the end of the summer to have the whole posterboard filled with challenges we have tried.  

Here is a list of what we have come up with so far:

I hope you have a challenging and fun summer too!