DURHAM – Home-schooled children got a hands-on lesson in teamwork from one of the masters on Nov. 26, during what was billed as “Survival Activity Day” at Maine Forest Yurts in Durham.

Thirty-four students and 18 adult chaperones, some from as far as New Hampshire and Boston, spent about four hours at the wooded site owned by “Survivor” winner Bob Crowley and his wife, Peggy. Nicola Morris of Pownal, director of the Homeschool Resource Center of Freeport, arranged the event with the Crowleys.

The idea, Morris said, was to get home-schoolers acquainted with students they haven’t met.

“It’s always been my vision to create a space where the kids could get a sense of community,” Morris said. We’re always on the lookout for home-schoolers’ opportunities.”

Homeschool Resource Center, located in a Freeport church, was established four years ago by families who teach their children from home. The center serves about 30 families, offering a variety of classes and programs.

Bob Crowley won the CBS reality show, “Survivor: Gabon,” filmed in Africa, at age 57 in 2008. The retired teacher earned $1 million for his successful effort. Crowley and his wife, who had lived in South Portland, later purchased a large farm on Auburn/Pownal Road in Durham.

Across the road from the farm, the Crowleys built Maine Forest Yurts, elaborate huts in the woods. They then established the Durham Warriors Project, a “Survivor”-type event that pays for expenses for veterans and active-duty soldiers alike to enjoy the yurts. They have hosted two Durham Warriors Survival Challenges at Maine Forest Yurts, and are making the three-day challenge an annual event.

Last week’s challenge was a new twist for the Crowleys.

The Crowleys got help in setting up the courses from daughter Page Crowley and her friend, Marion Ladd.

“We were giving them basically an outdoor learning adventure and building activity,” Bob Crowley said.

Crowley broke the students, ages 7-16, into groups, or teams, of five each. In one exercise, he placed five objects around the property and gave them maps for “orienteering,” as Crowley put it. The students built team skills following the maps.

In another challenge, Crowley had the kids walking in lockstep. He handed them balls balanced on a piece of pipe, and the students tried to pass the objects to another without touching the ball.

“It’s basically a challenge to get five students to work as a group,” Crowley said. “It’s a challenge that’s been around for a while.”

Crowley said that his years as a teacher served him and the children well. He also drew from his experience setting up the Durham Warriors Survival Challenge.

“I was a teacher for 25 years,” he said. “We were trying to get home-schoolers who they may or may not know to work with a each other.”

Crowley also taught the students the ecology of his forest, where he harvests wood.

“I’m basically showing them the forest as if it will be a garden. It’s going to be an attempt to show them how forests grow, and how I take care of it. It’s basically an educational activity.”

Morris said she came to know the Crowleys, and asked them some time ago if there might be such an opportunity.

“A lot of us (at the resource center) are big fans of ‘Survivor,’” she said. “I love Bob and Peggy. I love their vision.”

Morris said that the kids had a “fantastic day.” Most came with their families, she said.

The students went on 30-minute walks, learned about the natural landscape and learned to work as teams, she said.

“We were lucky to have this warm, beautiful day,” she said. “They worked together in teams, and did ‘Survivor’ games, like on the show. If you work together, things can kind of go your way. Everything turned out perfectly. People were asking when we could come back again.”

Rose Howard, 7, of Pownal, hands the ball to Irish Pope, 9, of Whitefield, in the Survival Activity Day, held on Nov. 25 at Maine Forest Yurts in Durham.