The eight knot contest can be an individual or patrol contest, it’s one of my favorite inter-patrol competitions. To hold the eight knot contest you’ll need four ropes of equal diameter, three six foot long, one twelve feet long. A two foot long log about six inches in diameter, and two trees 12-16 feet apart. The contest begins with all the ropes and the log laid out, untied , on the ground, and ends when the knots are all tied and the log is suspended off the ground....
What do you think? In this week’s podcast I’ll answer email questions about young Scoutmasters, modifying advancement requirements for Scouts with disabilities, the Alligator River game, Webelos going to Scout events, and a full-year troop program. LINKS Cub Scout Outdoor Program Guidelines Guide to AdvancementAlligator River InfographicSo Far So Good, a New Scoutmaster’s Story MUSIC I Love Camping The Not Its Sponsored By ScoutmasterCG.com Backers Podcast: Play in new window | Download...
Mölkky (pronounced mulkey) is a Finnish game reminiscent of kyykkä, a centuries-old form of skittles. Mölkky is easy to learn, and can be played indoors or out. The pins and throwing stick for mölkky can be made from tree limbs or sticks approximately 2 1/2″ in diameter. Players throw a stick (also called “mölkky”) at pins marked with numbers from 1 to 12. The pins are placed in a tight 3–4 yards from the throwing line....
My Scout video picks for this week include a great game from Spain and birch bark canoes. Ninja Slap – Jugeo Scout This sophisticated game of tag shown in this video of Spanish Scouts was very popular with my Scouts for a year or two. The game begins in a tight circle, shoulder-to-shoulder, with hands in the middle. On the count of three players shout “Ninja” and jump back into a “Ninja” pose....
Is it possible to have a snowball battle without hitting anyone with a snowball? We tried this game out a short time ago; it was loads of fun and nobody was hit with a snowball. In this game the target is not other people, but a snow shovel, and the last snow shovel standing wins! Play this game in a big snow-covered field. Each patrol needs a snow shovel. There must be at least one referee (a whistle helps!...
This is probably my all-time favorite Scouting game! The heaving bar is a race to throw rope over the bar, secure it to a peg driven into the ground with a clove hitch, tie a log to the other end of the rope with a timber hitch and then lift the log off the ground by taking up the slack in the rope with a sheepshank. The heaving bar is an event in the biennial Paul Bunyan Field Day at our summer camp (Camp Horseshoe)....
Scouting is a game, not a science. – Baden-Powell Games suffer from a bad reputation. Why have Scouts play games? What about some serious learning? Aren’t games just fillers? Are they a waste of time? Fun has a bad reputation too; many adults think that learning is a rigorous, difficult, serious endeavor. After all we want our Scouts to take things seriously. Lighten up! Look at what happens when our Scouts play:...
Here’s a guest post featuring four great rediscovered games for Scouts from Enoch Heise. Enoch’s blog Scouting Rediscovered should be on your reading list. Enoch has loads of enthusiasm and practical information on getting to the heart of Scouting from the perspective of a young (18 years old) Eagle Scout. Listen to a discussion with Enoch on Podcast 136. Like you I am always looking for something new to add to the program but the best new ideas almost always turn out to be old ideas!...
Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe is a perfect game for a rainy day under the tarp, or an evening lazing around camp. All you need is a clear patch of dirt and a stick, or a paper and pencil. As you may have discovered yourself, tic-tac-toe is terminally dull. There’s no room for creativity or insight. Good players always tie. But here’s a more sophisticated version with nine games in a tic-tac-toe grid....
This ranks pretty high on my list of Scout games. On a recent trip we retreated to a cabin for a few hours when it started raining. The Scouts played this game too many time to count! The scenario presented to them is that A highly radioactive isotope has been discovered and it must be contained before it contaminates the area(!) Each participant has a square of cardboard from a cereal box....
Give this pioneering-themed game a try. An alligator infested river, a few Scout staves and some ropes, one Scout must get across the river without feeding the alligators! You can get this infographic along with OVER 50 other infographics and helpful PDF documents here If you’d like to print this infographic download the PDF file below BEFORE YOU CLICK THE DOWNLOAD BUTTON Consider joining all the other great folks who have become Backers!...
Here’s another idea to put in your file of Scout Games – we’ve had great fun with this one by creating a maze of chairs and tables for the ship to navigate, or as an inter-patrol competition. It’s a foggy night at sea, a ship full of passengers must reach a safe harbor. The captain is steering the ship through the fog by communicating his directions to the engineer below decks in the engine room....
The Thurman Throw, named after Scouting’s own John Thurman, is a great game recommended by Walter Underwood Equipment: For each patrol, a Scout stave or broomstick handle. Procedure: The patrols line up in relay formation, with the patrol leader of each holding the stave about 5 feet in front of them. On signal, he tosses the stave to the first Scout in line, who tosses it back to him and ducks down....
Here’s a game to help Scouts with requirements that have a number of things to remember or identify For example First Class rank requirement 6: Identify or show evidence of at least ten kinds of native plants found in your community. For this particular requirement you’ll need to know how to identify ten native plants. Not a very daunting task with the internet at your disposal. Try Googling ‘native plants’ and your state and county....
Here’s a great idea from The Trainers Corner blog: A Scout games backpack is filled with games and various items for quick game ideas. As you can see from the picture, which has some of the contents of my backpack, there’s a lot of things that can be turned into games. Among the contents are balls, balloons, note cards, spoons, sticks, ropes, game tokens, dice, and a really old cell phone (which I love – and it always gets a laugh)....
Kim’s Game is a game of observation and memory. In Rudyard Kipling’s 1901 novel Kim the hero, Kim, plays the game as a part of his training as a spy. Kim spends a month in Simla, India at the home of Mr. Lurgan, who runs a jewel shopas a cover for his real work as a secret agent for the British against the Russians. Lurgan tosses a handful of jewels brings out a copper tray and says:...
Whether an athletic competition, ritual practice, or casual the tug-of-war tradition is many centuries old. The United States Tug of War Association web page features an interesting history of the sport, an official event in early Olympic Games. We are fortunate to own a 30 foot length of nylon rope that was once used on a tug boat that is three or four inches in diameter. Using anything weaker would increase the danger of the rope breaking....