Carrying a rainbow of water bottles and wearing signature bandannas to identify them by team, 20 kids roam wood-chipped trails.

They have to fish out of buckets, use a compass and make ice cream using plastic bags. But there's no backstabbing or voting people off the grounds at Survivor: Arboretum! The "contestants," ages 8 to 12, aren't old enough to be playing with torches anyway.

Jared Alex, 11, was relieved when he learned that the grounds he would be navigating this week were the Dallas Arboretum's 66-acre garden.

"I thought we were going to be surviving in the wild," said Jared, who is attending with his sister, Jorden, 12.

Instead of a million-dollar prize, the campers were treated to sightings of intricately woven spider webs and their spinners, snails, birds, toads and other reptiles.

"That's cool," marveled Colleen Breen, 10, who watched from a bridge as a feeding frenzy of orange, black and white koi played out below.

Teams were formed and assigned colors – blue, green, purple and red – and challenges were balanced by crafts and games.

Initially, the tweens focused on getting to know one another before taking on their first assignment, "Gimme Shelter." Armed with two plastic trash bags, rope, duct tape and a stick, campers were charged with the task of constructing a tent that could withstand the elements.

"It was pretty easy," said Andrew Dickson, 10, whose love of the popular television series Survivor inspired him to join the camp. "I thought this would be similar to the show, and I thought, if I like the show, I'd like the camp."

By the second day of the weeklong camp, team-building success was evident among the Purple Turtles group. They brought along mascots, a stuffed turtle and two live pet turtles in a habitat-friendly container. More important, they brought energy after an initial outing that was adventurous, but a bit exhausting.

"It'll be interesting to see if they actually survive," said Tami Hogan, after dropping off her daughter, Gigi Rose. "They were worn out yesterday."

At the end of one 45-minute walk through myriad fern species and towering elm, pecan, and bumpy hackberry trees, a few of the campers were indeed a bit tired.

"Can I take a nap?" one of them asked as the group returned to their air-conditioned classroom.

Following respite and a water break, teams prepared to build miniature rafts using clay, large, multicolored sticks, craft paper and glue.

"The team [whose raft] floats and holds the most weight is going to be our winner," instructor Anne Luke announced.

Before joining the arboretum's education department, Mrs. Luke, a certified teacher, taught in a traditional classroom.

"I've always loved going to the arboretum, and I just love teaching science," she said.

Survivor: Arboretum! has proved to be a winner, with the final camp in the series booked solid next week and plans in the works to bring the series back next summer.

Orienteering, one of the last challenges of the week, is among the campers' favorites. A scavenger hunt of sorts, the race covers an estimated two-thirds of the gardens, relying on only a map and compass.

"We made sure they knew how to read a compass," said intern Madeline Greenblatt. "If you don't know how to use a compass, you wouldn't be able to do it. It's not overly challenging, but it's not easy, either."

Tricia Scruggs is a freelance writer in Dallas.