SOURCE: /mnt/d/GoogleDrive/Cercetasi/carti-camp-jocuri/1000 Fantastic Scout Games! - John Hemming-Clark.pdf CONVERTED: 2025-01-11 ================================================== --- PAGE 2 --- 1,000 FANTASTIC SCOUT GAMES John Hemming-Clark --- PAGE 3 --- © Searchline Publishing 2016 First printed 2016 ISBN: 978 1 897864 29 6 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data available Published by Searchline Publishing Searchline House Holbrook Lane Chislehurst Kent BR7 6PE UK Tel & Fax: 020 8295 0739 www.inyougo.webeden.co.uk All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the permission of Searchline Publishing. John Hemming-Clark is a Scout Leader in Chislehurst, Kent. He is also the author of the best-selling “In You Go! A year or two in the life of a scout leader”. Printed in England by Catford Print Centre 020 8695 0101 --- PAGE 4 --- Introduction I was getting fed up with organising the same old games for my scouts and they were getting fed up with playing them. It was time for a change. I needed loads of games, of all different types, and in one book. I needed some that were quiet, some noisy, some wacky, but most of all I needed games that my scouts would want to play. Sadly that book didn’t exist so I set about writing it. 1000 Fantastic Scout Games is the result. There are in fact, with the variations, well over one thousand. This is to make up for the fact that a few games may be very similar, they just have different names. Most of these games require, if any, minimal amounts of equipment. Nearly all of the games have been tried and tested by my scouts or some of my friends’ scouts. I’ve tried to make the instructions as clear as possible without rambling on too much. Also I’ve listed them alphabetically rather than by type. I did try categorising - but failed. Most games belong in several categories. After all, many indoor games can be played outside and vice-versa, with the exception of wet and wide games. Noisy games can be quiet and quiet games sometimes get very noisy, so rather than attempt to categorise them I’ve just thrown them all in and apologise in advance for the fact that you will have to read through or take pot luck to find what you’re looking for, rather than just --- PAGE 5 --- turn to a particular category. It’s therefore designed to be a book to either read through or dip into to find some gems that your group will love to play rather than a prescriptive, “You want a quiet game - here’s a list”. It is not intended that the deadly games are played. Hugo and his friends have commented on some of the games, and the ones that they really love have been given Top Fifty status, although, somewhat ambiguously, there are over sixty of them. The games are all ones that ten to fourteen year olds particularly love to play, but nearly all of the games can be played by any age, adult or child, and not just scouts and guides but anyone who realises the importance of group play (as opposed to sitting alone and in front of a y-bother box with a jittery finger and the attention span of a goldfish - i.e. ten seconds). I hope that you love 1,000 Fantastic Scout Games - do let me know via www.inyougo.webeden.co.uk or www.facebook.com/1000fantasticscoutgames. John Hemming-Clark Just a few words of explanation... Tagging: Touching, normally tapping on the shoulder. Rugby tackles and thumping are not considered to be tagging. Chalk: Chalk is mentioned quite a bit, mainly for doing nothing more than marking temporary lines on the floor. --- PAGE 6 --- Lead scout: The first scout in a line. Important Introduction by Hugo My daddy’s a seriously good scout leader but we don’t play enough games. He says that it takes him ages to try and find some new games each week and so gives up. Well, it’s alright for him ’cos he doesn’t play them, but I do. I love games. So I got together with some of my scout and guide friends to put together a book of games that we love playing. We’ve done a thousand plus, which should keep most scout groups happy for the next hundred years. Between us we’ve tried all of them (apart from the deadly ones) and they’re all fantastic, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the book. We’ve listed them alphabetically. We’ve included some games that we haven’t tried and these fall into a deadly category ’cos daddy says that if we try any of these games, it could be our last. It’s a good idea that you know that these games are out there – but don’t play them! We then gave the details of all the games to daddy so that he could tidy them up for this book. This involved taking out all our speling mistakes (not that there were many) and making the instructions a bit clearer. He’s also made it sound as though he’s written it but we’ve still managed to keep a few of our own comments in to make the book come alive, which is what all good authors do, according to Miss --- PAGE 7 --- Miles (she’s my English teacher). We’ve also marked a Top Fifty which are games that we’ve all particularly enjoyed. Now I know that there are loads of girls in scouts, and quite a few in guides, but I’ve referred to the players as scouts throughout this book and also as “he”, ’cos putting “scouts or guides”, or “he or she” each time would take up far too much space. In any case, the girls in scouts tend to win everything so that’s enough glory for them. I did mention the (scout) hut loads but as this can refer to any indoor space I changed most of it to “hall”. Out scout hut is, in fact, an old stables but I wasn’t going to write “stable” each time ’cos that would be far too confusing. I’ve also referred a lot to teams instead of patrols and sixes and whatever beavers have etc. ’cos this book is of use to not just beavers, cubs, scouts and explorers and their leaders, but also others who like playing proper games, i.e. any child that isn’t stuck in front of a computer or a y-bother box. These may be the guides or at schools, churches, youth clubs, that sort of thing. In any event, if we play team games in patrols then they’re always uneven as my patrol is always the biggest as mine is the popular patrol and Peter’s is normally just him so he would always lose the relay games ’cos he himself would have to run up and down ten times in each game. The idea of --- PAGE 8 --- having teams is that they all have the same number of participants in them, which makes it all a bit fairer. To put teams of four together daddy often hands out playing cards at random then calls out “All the Aces,” and that’s one team, then “All the Kings,” and that’s another team. When daddy calls, “All the Queens,” Simon always squeals. I’ve no idea why. Peter says Simon’s a bit odd but all I say back is “pots and kettles, Peter, pots and kettles.” Maybe he should be a guide, not that they would have him. That’s all from me. I present you, “1,000 fantastic scout games, plus a few deadly ones!” Hugo, Scorpion Patrol Leader, 3rd Chislehurst Don’t forget, you can read more about me in, “In You Go! A year or two in the life of a scout leader”. --- PAGE 9 --- 10 Metres Equipment: Several buckets, Jaffa cakes For some reason, scouts love Jaffa cakes. Which is why they love this game. From a start line put several upturned buckets about ten metres away. Some can be very close to ten metres, others can be more like five or twenty, so long as one bucket is exactly ten metres away. Put the Jaffa cakes under the ten metre bucket. Scouts then have to go and stand by the bucket that they think is exactly ten metres away (to the middle of the bucket). Once they have all decided, measure the distance and give the scouts standing by the correct bucket all the Jaffa cakes. 1,2,3,4,5 Equipment: None Put the scouts into teams. Teams take it in turns to count to twenty as quickly as possible. There must be no pattern as to which scout says which number. Only one scout can speak at a time. If more than one scout speaks at once then the team has to go back to the start. The team that gets to twenty quickest is the winner. It’s not as easy as it sounds! If they get too good then they have to shut their eyes. 1000 Game Equipment: Frisbee or Aerobie, pen and paper Send the scouts into a large open space and throw the Frisbee, shouting out “one hundred”, “two hundred”, or any other number. The scout who catches the Frisbee scores that number of points. Retrieve the Frisbee and repeat. The first scout to get to or beyond one thousand points is the winner. It’s best to have another leader keeping score. 1000 Game Variations: The first scout to one thousand points becomes the thrower, with all scores reset or accumulating through the rounds. A Good Deed Equipment: None At the end of a troop meeting tell the scouts that they can take part in the competition to do the most good deeds during the coming week. --- PAGE 10 --- They are to go home and each time they do a good deed to write it down on a sheet of paper. Before the following week’s meeting they are to get an adult to sign them off. The scout who turns up at the following week’s meeting with the most good deeds accomplished is the winner. Above and Below Equipment: None Put the scouts in a circle standing up. Call out the name of a fruit or a vegetable. Each time scouts have to stand up if the item grows above ground, or sit down if it grows below. The last scout to sit or stand each time is out. If scouts are standing and you call out another standing fruit or veg (or vice-versa), any scout that starts to move can also be out. The last scout in is the winner. All Aboard Equipment: 2 x 1 metre square platforms, some bricks Raise two square platforms on one layer of bricks each. Put the scouts into two teams. The winning team is the team that gets all its members onto the platform first and remain in place for ten seconds. Scouts must not lie on each other. All Aboard II Equipment: 4 bricks Put the scouts into four teams and give them a brick each. They have five minutes to see how many scouts in their team they can get off the ground using just the brick. The winner is the team that gets the most scouts off the ground. All Aboard Variations: Use hula-hoops instead of bricks / platforms. All I Want for Christmas Equipment: None Put the scouts into one large circle having briefed a few scouts as to what the secret is. Start with one of these scouts, John Smith, who says, “All I want for Christmas is a jumper and a Satsuma”. You then say, “You may have those”. If a scout doesn’t use the initials of his name to want his two items you say, “You may not have those”. This --- PAGE 11 --- continues round and round the circle until everyone realises what the secret is. All Those with... Watch out for those scouts who say things like, “All those with a daddy who stinks,” or “All those with long noses, like you Stephanie” Equipment: Chairs The scouts all sit in a circle with one in the middle who is “It”. It calls out something like, “All those with black hair” whereupon all those who meet the description have to swap places with each other. If there’s an odd number some will have to double-swap. Whilst this is going on It has to try to get into one of the spaces temporarily vacated. The scout left in the middle remains / becomes It. Alligator Attack! Equipment: Chalk Mark two parallel lines on the floor, about fifteen metres apart. Divide the scouts into two teams and number them so that each team has a number one, two, three etc. Teams line up along either line with one scout between the lines. He is “It” or, if you like, the alligator in the river, who will patrol up and down. Call out a number and the two so- numbered scouts have to get to the other side of the river without being tagged. If a scout is tagged he becomes the alligator and the alligator takes the scout’s number. If one scout gets across the river before the other one has started to cross then the one who has yet to start becomes the alligator. Consider having more than one alligator. Alphabet Circle Equipment: None Put the scouts into a circle. The first scout has to say a word beginning with “A”. Go round the circle until a scout hesitates with an “A” word or says a word that has been used before. Continue until there is only one scout left in who is the winner. Alphabet Circle Variations: Use a letter with fewer words, for example, Q or Y. Scouts have to go through the alphabet as they go round. In this latter case, scouts could have to stick to one subject, such as fruit, vegetables, places, countries. --- PAGE 12 --- Alphabet Fruit Equipment: None Put the scouts into teams, each with a leader. On “Go!” a designated scout in each circle says “A”. The next scout, going round clockwise, has to name a fruit beginning with “A”. Subsequent scouts do the same without repeating an “A” fruit that’s already been said. Any scout that cannot name an “A” fruit says, “B”. The next scout has to name a “B” fruit or say “C”. Count each scout as the game progresses. The team that has most fruit names at the end is the winner. Scouts shouldn’t speak too loudly as the other teams may hear – it’s not a race but there must be no hesitation or repetition otherwise the leader can move his team up to the next letter. Alphabet Fruit Variations: Play the game with vegetables, or fruit and vegetables. Alphabet Quiz Equipment: Pen and paper per scout Give each scout a pen and paper with the alphabet vertically down the paper. On “Go!” scouts have to write the name of one fruit or vegetable against each letter, that starts with that letter. After five minutes scouts stop writing and swap papers to mark. The scout with the most fruits or vegetables is the winner. Alphabet Race Equipment: None Put all the scouts against one wall of the hall. You say one of three things, “First name,” “Surname,” or “Both names” followed by a letter. Scouts then take one pace towards the wall opposite per letter in the name. So if you call out, “First name Z,” Zac and Zara move one pace forward, Zozo moves two. Play continues until one scout touches the wall opposite. He is the winner. Make sure that scouts aren’t leaping forward. You may have to draw further lines on the ground to ensure that scouts all move the same distance each time. Alphabet Race Variations: The same game could be played with scouts’ road names in which case you just give a letter each time. You could also play with parents’ names. --- PAGE 13 --- Animal, Bird or Fish Equipment: 1 bean bag Scouts all stand in a circle with you in the middle. Throw the bean bag to a scout whilst saying, “Animal,” “Bird” or “Fish”. The scout who catches the bean bag, or who drops it and then has to pick it up, has to correctly name one animal, bird or fish and within a few seconds or he’s out and has to sit down. No name can be repeated. The last scout standing is the winner. Animal, Bird or Fish Variations: Don’t have you, or anyone else, in the middle. Instead, get the scouts to throw the bag around the circle with the catcher having to give a name before he throws the bean bag on to another. Ankle Shove Equipment: Chalk Draw a three metre diameter circle and stand all of the scouts in it. On “go!” they have to grab hold of their own ankles and try to shove their opponents out of the ring, push them over, or cause them to let go of one or both ankles. The last scout left in the circle is the winner. Ankle Tag Equipment: None One scout is "It" and the other scouts scatter. Once tagged, the tagged scout becomes “It” and the scout that has just tagged cannot be tagged straight back. To avoid being tagged a scout must grab the ankle of another scout. This makes the scout whose ankle has been grabbed extremely vulnerable and so must either get away or grab another scout’s ankle (but not the ankle of the scout that has grabbed his ankle, or any other scout in the same chain that may well be forming). Anteater Equipment: None The scouts all sit round in a circle apart from one. The one leaves the room and the scouts in a circle close their eyes whilst you walk round the outside and tap one on the shoulder. That scout becomes the anteater, the other scouts in the circle are ants. Call the one --- PAGE 14 --- scout back in the room and put him in the middle of the circle. He is the anteater abductor. He must find the anteater before all the ants die. The ants die by looking around at the other ants and if they see the anteater (they’ll know it’s him because he keeps sticking his tongue out) they must fall over and die. The anteater abductor has three guesses to guess who the anteater is otherwise all the ants will die. Then the anteater becomes the anteater abductor and a new round starts. Arm Knockout Wear long sleeves! Equipment: None Pairs of scouts face each other on the ground in the upper press-up position with feet together, arms and bodies straight. They then have to knock each other’s arms out or in so that they collapse. They cannot grab each other’s arms. The scout who stays in position or collapses last is the winner. Arm Wrestling Calm those boys down with an arm wrestle! Equipment: None Arm wrestling can be played lying on the floor but it’s easier sitting at a table. Get two scouts to sit or lie opposite each other. Get their elbows on the table / ground in front of them and get them to grip each other’s hand with their thumb muscles in the other scout’s palm. Move their elbows together so that they’re touching. At “Go!” the scouts have to try to push the back of their opponent’s hand down onto the table / ground for a win. Arrest! Surprisingly, this is one of those games that one of the girls often wins because they’re organised, unlike us. Equipment: None Put the scouts into two teams and line them up either side of a line running down the middle of the hall. On “Go!” scouts have to arrest by pulling the other team over the line to their side. Anyone stepping over the line is deemed to have crossed it. Once crossed, he is out and has to go and sit down. It does not have to be one on one, --- PAGE 15 --- several scouts can gang up on one scout. If any scout moves away from their side of the line by more than fifty centimetres then they are out. This allows for one scout to run round the back of another but not round the back of one already hiding! Art Consequences Equipment: Paper and pens Put the scouts into teams at one end of the hall. At the other end have a sheet of paper and pencil per team. On “Go!” the first scout from each team comes up to the table and draws a human head, then folds the paper so that only the neck is showing. The second player draws the shoulders, the third the torso, the forth the waist and hips, the fifth the legs and the sixth the feet. Leave part of the body showing each time when the paper is folded. When everyone has finished open the folds and have a good giggle. The team with the funniest human is the winner. Auntie Over Equipment: 1 volley ball, 1 long length of rope, 1 large tarpaulin Put the scouts into two teams, either side of the tarp which has been strung up above scout height so that teams can’t see each other. One scout throws the ball over the tarp shouting, “Auntie over!” If a scout catches it cleanly he runs round to the other side and from the edge of the playing area throws it at the other team. If he hits a scout below the waist, the hit scout joins the other team. He then restarts the game by throwing the ball over to his ex-team mates, shouting, “Auntie over!” If the ball is not caught cleanly and it hits the ground then a scout from that team throws it back, shouting, “Auntie over!” Play continues until most or all the scouts are on one side, depending on time constraints. Awkward Address Equipment: 1 blindfold, 1 pen and paper per scout Blindfold the scouts and give them each a sheet of paper and a pen. They then have three minutes to write their postal address. The neatest complete address wins. B.E.A.V.E.R.S --- PAGE 16 --- This two-part game can be played by any section, but the Beavers love it! Equipment: 1 bean bag Scouts form a circle and sit down. Put the bean bag in the middle of the circle. Go round the circle giving the scouts a letter as you go – S-C-O-U-T-S S-C-O etc. Then call out a letter, bearing in mind that “S” becomes quite chaotic! The scouts with that letter have to get up, run round the circle once (or twice) and sit back down in their space. The first one to sit down is the winner. Once you have called out all the letters you should have five winners (six for Beavers). These winners can now enter the grand final. On “Scouts!” the five have to get up, run round the circle back to their space, go through their space and grab the bean bag. The first scout to grab the bean bag is the ultimate winner. B.E.A.V.E.R.S Variations: The scouts need to grab the bean bag in the early rounds, making it easier to judge who was first. Back Balloon Burst Equipment: 1 balloon per pair of scouts Put scouts into pairs back to back in a line. Put an inflated balloon between the backs of each pair. On “Go!” scouts have to push together to try to burst the balloon. The first pair to burst the balloon wins. Any pair that drops its balloon is out. Back Balloon Burst Variations: If you have loads of balloons you can play with the last pair to burst their balloon going out in each round, until you are left with just one pair which will be the winners. Back Lift Equipment: None Pairs of scouts stand back to back with their arms interlocked. On “Go!” scouts try to lift each other off the ground. Winners then play other winners which continues until you have an overall winner. Balance Equipment: None Scouts stand up, stand on one leg and shut their eyes. They must not put their foot down for a minute otherwise they’re out. --- PAGE 17 --- Balance Variations: Make it five minutes and go and make a cup of tea. Introduce a “no moving at all” rule as you may find some almost hopping around. Balance Relay Game Equipment: 1 carrier bag containing ten items and 1 table per team , chalk Put the scouts into teams and line them up at one end of the hall. At the other end put up the tables. On “Go!” the first scout in each team has to take an item out of the bag, give the bag to the next scout, balance the item on the back of his hand and walk / run and deposit the item on the table before returning back to his team and tagging the second scout. If the item is dropped at any time the scout either has to go back to the start or simply restart from where the item was dropped. The winning team is the first one to transport th e carrier bag’s contents to the table. Suggested items - pen, pencil, ruler, woggle, plastic cup (with / without water), sharpener, chalk, pine cone, pebble / stone, rubber, sheet of paper (which they can scrunch up), book, egg, coin, potato, carrot, marble, balloon, cotton wool ball. Balance Relay Game Variations: Give each team a ruler and any scout that transports his item on the ruler can have ten seconds knocked off his team’s total time. Balance the Board Equipment: Broom stick about 60 cms long, small plank of wood, rope Mark a start line with a length of rope. Each scout in turn must stand behind the rope holding the broom stick horizontally out in front of him or tucked by one side whilst you balance the plank across the stick. As soon as he is ready he attempts to take the plank as far as he can up the course before it falls off the stick. The scout who travels the furthest is the winner. Ball Round the Circle Equipment: 1 ball Scouts form a circle and one holds the ball. As soon as that scout passes the ball to his neighbour on one side of him he has to run round the outside of the circle and back to his place before the ball --- PAGE 18 --- has been passed all the way round to his place. If he gets round before the ball does he stays in and passes the ball to his neighbour for them to play the next round. If the ball gets round before the scout then the scout is out. Play continues until you have three scouts left and they are the winners. Balloon Attack Equipment: Several balloons, 1 stopwatch Divide the scouts into two teams, attackers and defenders. Throw the balloon into the playing area. The defenders try to keep it from the attackers by patting it into the air, the attackers try to destroy it by grabbing it and jumping on it, squashing it or scratching / poking it. As soon as it pops throw in another one, then another, then another. In all throw in five and once the fifth has popped record how long it took for all five to be popped. Repeat with teams swapping roles. At the end the team that defended for longer is the winner. Balloon Baseball A great game for the summer which is basically just about getting really wet, but is also tension-filled. Equipment: 1 baseball bat, loads of water bombs Fill loads of small balloons with water. Each scout takes a turn to be the batter and bowler. The bowler throws a water bomb to the batter who must hit it with the bat and burst it. If, for whatever reason, the water bomb doesn’t burst (either the batter misses, hits it but it doesn’t burst or someone catches it etc), then the batter has to suffer the ignominy of having the water bomb burst over his head. Balloon Bases Equipment: 1 large balloon, chalk Put the scouts into teams and draw that number of large squares / circles on the floor. Assign one square to each team as their base. Throw the balloon into the air. Scouts have to pat the balloon into a base to score a point. The balloon doesn’t have to touch the ground, it just has to enter a base’s airspace to count. The team with the most points (or the first to ten points) after a set time is the winner. Balloon Bat Equipment: 1 balloon per team --- PAGE 19 --- Put the scouts into teams with one metre between each scout. The lead scouts are given a balloon each. On “Go!” they have to pat it to the scout next to them and so on so that the balloon goes down the line and back again. The first team to get their balloon back to their lead scout is the winner. Scouts can turn on the spot but otherwise cannot move their feet. If they do, or the balloon falls to the floor, the balloon goes back to the lead scout to start again. Balloon Batting Equipment: Chalk, 1 balloon per pair of scouts Pair up the scouts and put them at one end of the hall. Mark a start and finish line. Pairs link inner arms at the elbow, one right to one left. Give each pair a balloon. On “Go!” each pair has to pat the balloon, one to the other and back again in turn as they go down the course. The first pair to finish is the winner. Scouts cannot hold the balloon. If they do, or drop the balloon to the ground, they must go back to the start. Balloon Bounce Equipment: One balloon and 1 marker cone per team, chalk Put the scouts into teams behind a line and give each lead scout a balloon. On “Go!” the lead scouts have to bounce the balloon with their hands, round the marker cone and back, followed one at a time by the rest of their team members. The first team to complete the task is the winner. There are various techniques for bouncing a balloon (such as small bounces or just whacking it each time) which can all be used so long as the balloon hits the ground every time. Balloon Box Equipment: 1 box, 1 balloon per scout Put the scouts into teams and give each scout a balloon in his team’s colour or with his team name written on it. Put the scouts at one end of the hall. At the other end, or in the middle, put a box that is large enough to hold several balloons but not all of them. On “Go!” scouts have to pat (not hold or scoop) their balloon into the box. Once the box is full up the game stops. The team with the most balloons in the box is the winner. Balloon Burst --- PAGE 20 --- Equipment: 1 small balloon per scout Give each scout one uninflated balloon each. On “Go!” they have to have a race to see whose balloon is the first to burst by blowing it up. The first scout to burst his balloon is the winner (unless they’ve used a pin). Balloon Burst II Equipment: As many balloons as you can blow up, pen and paper Put the balloons on the ground in the hall and on “Go!” each scout has to burst as many as possible by sitting on them. Each time a balloon is burst the scout must bring you the remains which you take and mark a point for that scout. Once all the balloons are burst the scout with the most points is the winner. Balloon Catch Equipment: 1 balloon Put the scouts in a large circle and number them. Number one goes into the middle of the circle and is “It”. It holds the balloon as high as he can. As he lets go he calls out a number. That number scout has to catch the balloon before it hits the ground. If he succeeds he goes back to the circle. If he fails he becomes It and It returns to the circle. Balloon Catch Variations: Call out two numbers and the last to get the balloon becomes It. Balloon Darts Equipment: Loads of balloons, darts, string There are several ways of playing this game. Blow up the balloons and attach lengths of string around the neck. The balloons can then either be stuck to a wall in front of a notice board (best to remove the notices first) or hung from a beam. Scouts then have to throw the darts, either individually or in teams, in an attempt to burst the balloons with the scout / team bursting the most or the first to burst a set number of balloons in a period of time the winner. Position the scouts well back from the balloons as darts can sometimes bounce back. Balloon Football Equipment: Balloons --- PAGE 21 --- Put the scouts into two teams, sitting down opposite each other in a line, with their feet touching a member of the opposing team. Throw a balloon into the playing area. Scouts have to pat the balloon over the heads of the scouts opposite. If the balloon lands on the ground behind the scouts then a goal is scored. The first team to a certain number of goals, or the team with the most goals after a set amount of time, is the winner. If the balloon comes out at the end, simply throw it back in. Scouts may lean back to try to prevent the balloon from touching the ground behind them but they must not put their hands on the ground behind them otherwise it’s a goal to the other side. Balloon Football Variations: Introduce more balloons. Let each team have a goalie who is able to walk up and down behind his team to assist (hands only, but still cannot hold onto the balloons). Balloon Handball Equipment: 1 balloon, chalk Scouts form two teams and then sit down at random inside an imaginary square. Mark square lines around the scouts once they’re sitting down and designate one line as one team’s target and the line opposite as the other team’s target. Throw the ball into the scouts who have to pat it over their opponent’s line and land on the floor to score one point. Anyone who puts their hand on the floor outside any of the lines at any time scores one point for the other team. Swap the lines over and also use the other two lines so that at different times during the game each team will be aiming for one of four targets. Balloon Handball II Equipment: Chalk, balloon Divide the scouts into two teams and put them in two halves of the playing area. Mark on the floor two goals areas. Throw the balloon into the playing area. Scouts have to pat the ball with their hands above their heads and into the space above their opponent’s goal - the balloon doesn’t have to hit the ground - in order to score a goal. Scouts must not hold onto the balloon. If it falls to the floor it needs to be scooped up again into the air. The team with most goals scored after a set amount of time is the winner, or the first to ten goals. --- PAGE 22 --- Balloon Handball II Variations: If, at any time, the balloon does touch the ground other than when it’s above a goal area, then the team member to touch it last gets a minus point for his team. Have two coloured balloons in the game. Teams can only score with their team’s balloon. The scout that bursts a balloon gets a minus point for his team. Have a square playing area and play with four teams with two more goals in the spare sides. Balloon Jump This can be played as a relay but is great fun on camp with scouts all playing individually. Equipment: 4 marker cones, 1 balloon per scout Put the scouts in a long line between two marker cones, each with a balloon between their knees. On “Go!” they have to jump to the finish line without dropping the balloon. Balloons that burst can be replaced or can mean that the offending scout is out. A dropped balloon can simply be picked up or mean “out”. In either case, if a scout remains in, he could be told to go back a certain distance or the start line. The first scout to reach the finishing line is the winner. Balloon Passes Equipment: 1 balloon per team, chalk Put the scouts into teams and line each team up between a start and finish line. Don’t have them too far apart. Give the lead scouts a balloon each. On “Go!” they have to pat the balloon to the next scout in their lines, and so on until the balloon goes over the finish line. The team with their balloon over the finish line first is the winner. Scouts must not move out of their line unless they need to retrieve their ball. If this has to be done, they must get back in line with the balloon before continuing the game. Balloon Passing Equipment: 1 balloon per team Put the scouts into teams in lines and give each lead scout a balloon. The sausage-shaped balloons are best. The lead scouts have to put their balloon under their chin so that it stays in place. On “Go!” the balloon has to pass down the line, chin to chin, with no hands. The first team to get their balloon to the end of their line is the --- PAGE 23 --- winner. Dropped balloons can be picked up and put back under the chin. If scouts are close together they do not have to move, other than rotate. Balloon Pop Equipment: 1 balloon per scout Give each scout a balloon. On “Go!” they have to blow their balloon up, tie it up and sit on it to pop it. The first scout to pop his balloon is the winner. Given that some scouts will try to only blow up their balloon a little bit, use sausage shaped balloons and tell the scouts that it needs to be inflated all the way along. Balloon Pop Variations: This game can also be played as a relay. Balloon Relay Equipment: 1 balloon per team, chalk Put the scouts into teams and line them up at one end of the room. Give the lead scout in each team a balloon. On “Go!” scouts have to pat the balloon to the other end of the hut, touch the wall, and pat it back. The next scout then repeats the process. The first team to complete the relay is the winner. Have some spare balloons on standby in case any burst. Balloon Relay Variations: Scouts can kick the balloons as well as pat (although kicking usually results in more burst balloons). Balloon Throw Equipment: 1 balloon and 1 x 2 metre length of string per scout, 2 marker cones, water Give each scout a balloon and piece of string. Allow them to put in as much water in it as they like, then tie it at the neck and tie the string onto it. Scouts then have to throw the balloon as far as possible. The furthest throw is the winner. The best way is to put a small amount of water into the balloon (think how far you can throw a cricket ball compared to a football) and swing the balloon around your head before letting go. Balloon Volley Ball Equipment: Volleyball net or rope, balloons, water --- PAGE 24 --- Put the scouts into teams and put one team either side of the net or raised rope. Mark out a playing area. Teams take it in turns to throw a balloon containing some water over the net, the aim being to get the balloon to burst within the playing area, whereupon a point is awarded. Any balloon that doesn’t burst can be thrown back. Play continues with one balloon until it bursts. Balloons can be caught. The team with the most points after a period of time or the first to a fixed amount of points is the winner, or you can have a knockout tournament. Balloon Volley Ball Variations: Try different shapes and sizes of balloon and throwing techniques (underarm, overarm, lobbing). Instead of balloons use eggs (chicken, not ostrich). Balloon Whack I Equipment: 1 balloon Put the scouts into two teams at either side of the hall. On “Go!” throw the balloon into the centre of the hall and scouts have to whack it with the palms of their hands so that it hits the wall at the opposite end of the hall for one point. The first team to a certain number of points, or the team with the most points after a set amount of time, is the winner. Balloon Whack II Equipment: Several balloons, 2 chairs, 2 pins Put the scouts into two teams at either side of the hall. Stand one scout from each team on a chair at either end of the hall with a pin in his hand. On “Go!” throw the balloon into the centre of the hall and scouts have to whack it with the palms of their hands so that their scout can burst it with a pin for one point. The first team to a certain number of points, or the team with the most points after a set amount of time, is the winner. Bank Robbers Equipment: Twelve silver bars (silver foil wrapped round a cigarette pack. Ask around, one of your scouts will have a few packs. Alternatively you could just shape some scrunched up foil into a rectangle). Paper in two different colours (“lives”) cut into strips of 2 x 20 centimetres. Safety pins. Rope --- PAGE 25 --- Split the scouts into two teams. Each team will have one of the two colours. Pin the team colour strip onto each scout’s shoulder. Divide the playing area into two with either team to defend one half. In each half deposit six bars on the floor and mark out a jail with rope on the ground. The jail needs to be at least three x three metres. The scouts need to get into the opposing team’s area and steal their bars without being captured by having their life torn from their shoulder. Only one bar can be held at a time. If their life is torn (which can only be done in the opposing team’s area) the defender will take the attacker to the defender’s jail. If the attacker is carrying a bar it must be surrendered to the defender and put back on the ground. When in jail, the attacker can be given a new life, but can only get out of jail if he is tagged by someone from his team who has to get into the jail with his life intact. The winning team is the one that gets all bars into their own bank or the team with more bars after a certain period of time. Ensure bars are carried in the hand and not stuffed down trousers. For this reason bars may need to be made fairly big, such as from kitchen towel tubes rather than cigarette packets. Bank Robbers Variations: Outdoors the jails can be marked using rope tied to trees. They may be different shapes, just start with two equal lengths of rope. As it may be harder to mark off a playing area outside, the whole playing area may be considered “live”, i.e. anyone can lose a life wherever they are, unless they’re in jail, in which case the defender cannot have his life taken whilst accompanying an attacker to jail. Basket Balloon Equipment: A quantity of balloons with a different colour for each team, a large box Put the scouts into teams at one end of the room. Give each scout a balloon of the same colour per team. Put the box at the other end of the room. On “Go!” scouts have to pat their balloon with one hand to the box and then allow it to drop in. If a scout touches his balloon with his other hand, holds it or it drops to the floor, he must return to the start. The first team to get all their balloons into the box is the winner. --- PAGE 26 --- Basket Balloon Variations: Play as a relay. Scouts can do more than one balloon with a time / number of balloons limit. Basketball Tag Equipment: Large sponge ball The scouts form a circle facing in with "It" on the outside. Scouts in the circle pass the ball round in either direction, preventing It from tagging the ball. If the ball is tagged, the last scout to touch the ball is It and swaps places. The ball has to keep moving; if any scout holds onto the ball for more than five seconds then he becomes It. Bats and Moths A Top Fifty game. When scouts are bats they can be at their most effective working as a team to catch the moths. Equipment: 1 scarf per scout Put the scouts into four teams. One team is the bats and they are blindfolded with their scarves, the other three teams are moths and they have their legs tied together with their scarves so that they have to jump everywhere. The bats have to find the moths and when they touch one the moth is out and leaves the play area. Give the bats five minutes to catch as many moths as they can or time how long it takes them to catch all of them. Then change round three times so that every team has a turn at being the bats. At the end the winning team is the one that caught most bats in the time allowed or that caught all of them in the quickest time. You could also keep individual tallies so that the bat that caught the most moths in any one game, or overall, is also a winner. Battle Ball Equipment: Heavy medicine ball The scouts form two teams and line up opposite each other, about two metres apart. Starting at one end, scouts throw the ball backwards and forwards to the other team. The ball must be thrown at catching height. Anyone who doesn’t catch the ball is out. The team to still have (a) scout(s) in, when all the scouts on the other team are out, is the winner. The ball does not have to be thrown at one scout, it can be thrown between two scouts. This often results in --- PAGE 27 --- a failed catch, in which case both scouts, i.e. those either side of the ball, are out. Bean and Spoon Race Equipment: 1 spoon and 2 cups per team, 5 beans per scout, chalk, 2 tables Put the scouts into teams, lined up behind a line with a table behind them with one cup per team on it. On a table at the far end of the hall put one cup per team with the beans in. The lead scouts have a spoon each. On “Go!” the lead scouts have to run up to their cup, shovel up to five beans onto their spoon, run to the cup at the back of their team and deposit the beans in it. They then give their spoon to the next scout in their team who does the same. Play continues until all the beans are in the empty cup. The team that gets all their beans into the empty cup first is the winner. Any scout that spills any of his beans has to take all of those on his spoon (and the ones he has dropped), back to the cup and start again. Keep an eye on the cup being filled up as that is often a place where beans are spilled. Bean and Spoon Race Variations: Instead of up to five beans, scouts can only transfer one bean at a time. Use a drinking straw instead of a spoon and transport one bean at a time whilst sucking. Bean Bag Grab We love this game. Definitely a Top Fifty. Equipment: 1 bean bag Scouts form two circles, one inside the other and pair off. Put the bean bag in the middle. The inside circle stays still and the outside circle rotates. Once the circle has rotated a couple of times and the scouts are the other side to their partners in the inner circle, shout “Bean bag!” Scouts then have to run round the outside of the inner circle to their partner, crawl through his legs and grab the bean bag. The first to grab it is the winner. Have several rounds then a play-off with just the earlier winners, everyone else stands still in their circle. Finally swap circles and repeat. Bean Bag Grab Variations: Outer circle scouts have to leap-frog their partner. --- PAGE 28 --- Bean Bag Head Equipment: 1 bean bag and 1 marker cone per team, chalk Scouts form teams behind a line with a marker cone each at the other end of the hall. On “Go!” each lead scout puts the bean bag on his head and walks up and round his cone and back to the next scout in his team. Successive scouts put the bean bags on their heads but have to run, then hop, then skip, then jump etc. The first team to complete the relay is the winner. If the bean bag falls off a scout’s head he has to go back to the start. Bean Bag Relay Equipment: 1 bean bag per team, chalk Put the scouts into teams and divide the teams in half with one half behind a line at one end of the hall and the other half behind a line at the other end of the hall. On “Go!” the lead scout in each team throws the bean bag to a teammate on the other side of the hall. If he catches it cleanly the lead scout runs down the hall, tags his team mate and goes to the back of the line. Now the teammate with the bean bag repeats the actions of the lead scout. The first team to completely change places is the winner. If a bean bag is dropped the thrower has to retrieve it and start again. Bean Bag Throw Equipment: 1 bean bag per team, chalk Put the scouts in teams behind a line, each with a circle drawn or hoop three metres in front of them. On “Go!” the lead scouts have to throw their bean bags into the circle, retrieving them each time they miss and trying again until they succeed. When they’re successful they give the bag to the next scout in their team. The first team to get their bean bag in the circle from all their team members is the winner. Bean Relay Equipment: 1 bean, 2 matchsticks and 1 jar per team, 2 tables, chalk Put the scouts into teams behind a line. At the other end of the hall have a table with the empty jars on it. Behind the scouts have a table with a pile if beans on it. Give each lead scout two matchsticks. On --- PAGE 29 --- “Go” they have to gather up a bean between the two matchsticks and take it up to the jar and deposit it. The beans should not have to be touched unless they are dropped, in which case the scout has to pick them up and go back to the start table. After five minutes, the team that has deposited most beans is the winner. Bean Relay Variations: Balance the beans on a knife. Scouts can carry up to three beans at a time, but if one is dropped all the beans being carried go back to the beginning. Bean Throw Equipment: 10 billy cans, washing up bowls or similar, 10 dried beans per scout, chalk Mark a line that the scouts have to stand behind with their 10 beans. Put a billy can one metre away on the other side of the line, with the other cans behind each other in a line further and further away. The first scout to go has to throw a bean into the nearest billy. Once successful he tries for the billy behind it. He continues until he has used up all of his beans. Each scout has a go, one after the other. The winner is the scout who gets furthest up the line of billys. Bear Grylls Chase Equipment: None One scout is chosen to be “It”. The other scouts stand or sit cross- legged in a circle. It walks round the outside of the circle, patting each one on the head or shoulder and saying, “Bear” to each one. When he says, “Bear Grylls” that scout has to chase It round the outside of the circle. If It gets to Bear’s space in the circle before being tagged, then “Bear Grylls” becomes It. If It fails, It continues. Bear Grylls Chase Variations: It and Bear Grylls have to run twice round the circle before going into Bear’s space. Beast Tag Equipment: None Pick three scouts to be “It”. They are called the Beast. They hold hands; the hand at either end can tag scouts. Tagged scouts join the Beast by holding hands with one end. Tagging continues until there are at least six scouts in the Beast. At this stage Beast can break --- PAGE 30 --- into two Beasts which gives four hands for tagging. With another three scouts tagged you could have three Beasts. Beasts can join up and split up at will in order to catch the remaining scouts so long as there are always at least three scouts making up a Beast. The last three scouts to be tagged are the winners and start off as It in the next game. Beating the Square Equipment: 4 chairs, buckets or oil drums, 2 wooden tent pegs Put the scouts into two teams, either side of a large square formed with 4 chairs in each corner. On “Go!” the lead scouts have to run round the square, whacking each chair or other item with a tent peg as they go. Once round they pass the peg to the next scout in their team who repeats the circuit. If a scout misses any of the chairs he has to go back to the beginning and start again. One team goes round clockwise, the other anti-clockwise. The first team to complete the circuits is the winner. This game can also be played with four teams. Benchball Equipment: 2 benches, 1 volleyball Put the scouts into two teams who start on either side of the playing area. Choose a goalkeeper who goes to the far end, behind the opposition, and stands on the bench. Throw the ball into the middle and on “Go!” scouts have to throw the ball to each other, their aim being to get their goalkeeper to catch it, whereupon a goal is scored. There is no running with the ball, no physical contact, and no defending or attacking within one or two metres of the “goal”. Benchball Variations: If the ball touches the ground possession passes to the other side to the thrower. Use two balls. Best House Equipment: 1 table, sheet of paper and pen per team, chalk Put the scouts into teams behind a line and at the other end of the hall put down a sheet of paper and pen, one for each team. On “Go!” the lead scouts have to go to their sheet of paper and start drawing a house, but they can only draw one line at a time. They return and the --- PAGE 31 --- second scout goes, and so on until five minutes is up. After five minutes the team with the best drawn house is the winner. Bicycle Drop Equipment: 1 bicycle and 5 empty baked bean cans or similar per team, 5 marbles per scout, chalk The scouts form teams and line up behind each other, the lead scouts sitting on a bicycle. In front of them, two metres apart in a straight line, put five cans per team, opened end up. On “Go!” scouts must take it in turns to cycle alongside the cans, dropping a marble in each can either on the way out or back. Score one point per marble in a tin and lose one point per foot down or touched can (by bicycle or foot). The team with most points is the winner. Big and Little Equipment: 1 big and 1 little ball Put the scouts into a circle. Scouts pass the small ball around from scout to scout. You’re in the middle with the big ball throwing it at random to the scouts. Any scout who drops either ball, hesitates in his actions or passes the small ball incorrectly, is out. Continue until there is only one scout left who is the winner. The game gets harder as there become fewer scouts left as there is running to do. Bigarm Equipment: Chalk or tape-measure Put the scouts into teams lined up behind a line. Scouts stretch their arms out sideways so that fingertips are just touching. The team with the longest line is the winner and can receive the honorary title of “Bigarm”. Bigfoot Equipment: Chalk or tape-measure Put the scouts into teams lined up behind a line. Scouts put one foot in front of the other so that they’re touching toe to heel and up against the scout in front. The team with the longest line is the winner and can receive the honorary title of “Bigfoot”. Bizz, Bozz, Buzz Equipment: None --- PAGE 32 --- Scouts form a circle with one in the middle. The middle scout points to any of the other scouts and says, “Bizz,” which means the scout pointed to has five seconds to name aloud the Christian name of the scout on his left, “Bozz,” which means the scout pointed to has five seconds to name aloud the Christian name of the scout on his right, or, “Bizz, Bozz, Buzz,” which means the scout pointed to has five seconds to name the Christian names of both scouts. If he gets any name wrong or is too slow, he swaps places with the scout in the middle. Black and White Tag Equipment: A short length of square ended wood - 2”x2” or similar - painted black on two sides and white on the other two (or write BLACK and WHITE), two lengths of rope Scouts form two teams (name them “Black” and “White”) and gather round the length of wood which is in the middle of two rope lines which are laid opposite each other and about thirty metres apart. Spin the wood up in the air. If it lands white up, team white has to tag team black before black gets back behind its line, and vice-versa if the wood lands black up. Anyone tagged has to stand still and no one must stand still until tagged. After scouts have all either made it back behind their line or have been tagged, the tagged scouts join the other side and the wood is spun up in the air again. The game continues until scouts are all one colour or for a certain amount of time or number of wood spins, after which the colour with more members is the winner. Blind Birds Equipment: 1 whistle for each team, chalk, 1 blindfold per scout Divide the scouts into teams and give each team a similar whistle. Tell them that they have two minutes to agree a particular whistle sound. Then put one scout per team at one end of the hall with the whistle and all the other scouts at the other end are blindfolded. Then swap the places over of the whistlers. On “Go!” the whistling will start and blindfolded scouts have to find the correct whistler and sit down behind him. The first team to gather all its members together behind its whistler is the winner. --- PAGE 33 --- Blind British Bulldog Equipment: 1 blindfold, 1 pillow Blindfold one scout and arm him with a pillow. The other scouts all stand at one end of the hall and on “Go!” have to get from one end of the hall to the other without being hit by the pillow, otherwise they’re out. Play continues until there is only scout left that hasn’t been hit whereupon he becomes the bulldog. Blind British Bulldog Variations: If your hall is too wide then mark some lines that the scouts have to stay between. Make the scouts hop (putting a foot down constitutes an “out”), crawl or walk backwards. Blind Circle Tag A Top Fifty game that can get extremely noisy! Equipment: Two blindfolds, stopwatch, pen and paper The scouts form a large circle with two blindfolded scouts inside, on either side of the circle. On “Go!” one scout tries to find the other scout and tag him, with the help of the scouts forming the circle, who can give directions. Once he’s been tagged the two scouts swap roles, after which they swap with two other scouts. The game continues until everyone has had a chance to be tagged and tagger in the circle. There are two winners, the tagger who tags his opponent the quickest and the tagged who escapes being tagged for the longest. Blind Clubbing Equipment: 2 newspapers, tape, 2 blindfolds Scouts are put into two teams and sit or kneel down in a large circle. One scout from either team is chosen and blindfolded and put inside the circle at the edge, kneeling, and facing his opponent. They are each given a rolled-up and taped up newspaper. On “Go!” the two scouts have to shuffle towards each other and attempt to tag (not whack) each other with the newspaper. The first one to do so wins a point for his team. Once everyone has had a go, the team with more points is the winner. Scouts not blindfolded can shout instructions and directions to their scout. This normally makes the exercise even more confusing for the taggers. --- PAGE 34 --- Blind Ref Equipment: 1 large sponge ball, chalk, 1 whistle Divide the scouts into two teams and put them on either side of a centre line. Scouts have to keep the ball out of their half by kicking only. The one leader (who has his eyes shut) blows his whistle at random times and the side that has the ball in its half gets a point. The first team to get to ten points is the loser or, after ten minutes, the team with fewer points is the winner. Blind Square Equipment: 1 long rope per team, scarves Put the scouts into teams of - ideally - four, eight or twelve and get each team to hold the outside of a long length of rope that has been tied at the end. Blindfold all of them and then ask them to make a square with the rope whilst holding onto it and remain holding onto it. When they think they’ve finished get them to remain holding the rope with one hand and, with the other, remove their blindfolds so that they can admire their handiwork. The squarest team wins. Blind Square Variations: Have a time limit. Have a no talking rule, although it’s better if one team member can talk in order to give instructions. Blind Victim Equipment: Bunch of keys Sit the scouts cross-legged in a circle with one blindfolded scout seated in the middle. Put a bunch of keys in front of him. Pat a scout on the head who is the thief and who has to stand up, walk once around the outside of the circle, go into the circle where he was sitting, get the keys and return to his place without being pointed at by the victim in the middle. A correct point means the victim can stay on. Get it wrong and the scout that was pointed at becomes the victim and you can choose another thief. Blind Victim Variations: Put the keys in a metal cup to make it harder. Arm the victim with a small water pistol to use instead of his finger. Have two thieves. Blind Volleyball --- PAGE 35 --- Equipment: 1 volleyball, 1 volleyball net or length of rope, and large tarpaulin Put the scouts into two or more teams and mark out a playing area with the net in the middle. Play starts with one scout hitting the ball over the net. To get a point the ball must touch the ground inside the other team’s area or an opposing team member hits the ball twice or more in a row, or the ball is hit more than three times before it comes back over the net, or the ball doesn’t go over the net, or the ball is hit out of the playing area. Play continues until a certain amount of points are reached or within a time limit. Being scouts there is a twist. The tarpaulin is placed over the net or a rope is tied between two trees above scout height with the tarpaulin placed over so that the receiving team cannot see the ball until it is on its way over the net. This keeps the scouts on their toes! Blindman's Circle Peter said that he knew of a leader that loved playing this game himself, but one day he just disappeared and hasn’t been seen since. Equipment: Blindfold Put all the scouts in a circle and one scout goes in the middle blindfolded. The scouts walk round the circle until the blindfolded scout calls, “Stop!” He then moves to the circle and attempts to identify the scout in front of him by feel. If he gets it correct the felt scout becomes the blindfolded one; if he gets it wrong the scout that he incorrectly chose is blindfolded. Have a leader on hand to ensure that sensitive body areas are avoided. Blindman’s Tag Equipment: Blindfold Best played indoors. One scout is blindfolded while the rest of the scouts stand spread out in the hall. Once the game starts they mustn’t move. The blindfolded scout moves around the hall slowly. Everyone that he comes into contact with is out and goes and sits down. The last scout to be tagged is the winner and takes the blindfolded scout’s place for a new game. Blow Balloon --- PAGE 36 --- Equipment: 1 balloon Put the scouts into two teams and number them. Put them at either side of the hall. Call out a number and the two scouts come to the centre. Throw the balloon in the air and the scouts have to blow it onto the opposite wall for one team point. If they are still playing after one minute, award the point to the scout’s team in whose half the balloon isn’t. Likewise, if the balloon falls to the floor. Repeat with the other numbers. At the end the team with more points is the winner. Blow Balloon Variations: Play with all team members on the playing area. Play with more than one balloon. Blow Football Equipment: Table, books, ping-pong ball, drinking straws Set the table up with books all around the edge, with two gaps for the goals. Put the scouts into teams and position two teams around the table with a straw each. Throw the ball into the middle of the table and you’re off with scouts attempting to score by blowing the ball through their straws. The winning team is the one that scores the most goals. Blow Football Variations: Play with more teams and have a knockout. If your tables aren’t particularly big, considering buying a piece of 4’ x 8’ chipboard and supporting it on a couple of tables. Try without the straws. Blow Ping Pong Equipment: 1 ping pong ball, 1 straw per scout, 1 wide table (or sheet of 8’ x 4’ hardboard) on a table, chairs Put the scouts into two teams and put them sitting down either side of the table. Put the ball in the middle and the scouts have to attempt to blow the ball over the other team’s edge. The team that loses is out and the winning team splits in half and another round is played. Eventually you will have a winner. Blow Ping Pong Variations: Play with a straw each in the mouth to slow things down a bit. Body Tag --- PAGE 37 --- Equipment: None One scout is “It” and has to tag another scout. When tagged, that scout is It and has to put one hand on the part of his body where he was tagged and pursue the scouts with his other hand. If he fails to tag someone within twenty seconds he is out and goes and sits down whilst It passes back to the previous It. The last scout to remain in is the winner. Bomb Baloo My favourite game in cubs, bombing our mascot! Equipment: 2 chairs, 2 large sponge balls, 1 soft toy, skittle or large plastic bottle Put the scouts into two teams at either end of the hall with a chair in front of them. In the middle of the hall put the cub mascot or something else to knock over. Put a large sponge ball on each of the chairs. Number the scouts so that you have a 1, a 2, a 3 etc in each team. Call out a number and that number from each team has to be the first to grab the ball, stand on their chair and throw the ball at Baloo or who / whatever to knock him / it over. The successful thrower gets one team point. If both throwers miss then they need to jump off their chairs and retrieve their ball before having another go. The team with the most points after a fixed amount of time, or first to ten, wins. Bomb the Mug Equipment: 1 mug per team and 1 or 2 clothes pegs per scout Put the scouts into teams and put one mug on the floor for each team. Scouts then have to stand over their mug, bring the clothes peg up to eye height and drop the peg into the mug. Once all the scouts have had a go, count the number of pegs in each team’s mug. The team with most pegs in their mug is the winner. Bombard! This is such fun and is in our Top Fifty. Scouts must aim for the football. Aiming for the other team to “take them out” first is not very sporting, is it Peter? Equipment: 1 football, a bucketful of tennis balls, chalk --- PAGE 38 --- Put the scouts into two teams and put them at different ends of the hall behind two lines that are 5 metres apart. Put the football in the middle and give each team half the tennis balls. On “Go!” scouts throw the balls at the football to try to get the ball over the other team’s line. The first team to do so is the winner. Scouts can reuse any tennis balls that come back over their line. Scouts that cross their line or try to interfere with the ball are instantly out or lose the game for their team. You could have one runner for each team that is allowed to retrieve balls for his team, but from his half of the playing area only. Bombard! Variations: Score one point per “goal”. The winning team is the one that gets to ten goals or the more goals within a fixed period of time. Bonkers Ball Equipment: 1 chair, 1 empty tin can, 1 large sponge ball per team, chalk Put the scouts into teams, lined up behind the start line with a chair each at the other end of the hall. Put a tin can on each chair with the open end on the top. Give the first two scouts in each team a sponge ball. On “Go!” each pair “carry” the ball and place it on the tin can from either side of the chair. Once you have agreed that that has been done correctly, one of the pair stands behind the chair whilst the other runs back with the ball to repeat the exercise with the third scout on so on. This way, all but the first and last scouts have two goes. The winner is the team to get all its members behind the chair. Sounds fairly straightforward? The fun part of this game is the manner in which the ball is carried, which is also the position from which the ball has to be placed on the tin can. You may have to write the list on a whiteboard, or just tell each scout what they will be doing depending on their place in the line, before the game starts. Examples (and they can be repeated within a game) include: Ball between foreheads, noses, palms, backs of palms, side of knees (walk), side of knees (hop), backs (almost impossible unless the chair is very skinny), bottoms or noses. --- PAGE 39 --- Bonkers Ball Variations: Put the tin cans in the middle of long benches. Bonkers Dodge Ball Dodge ball is usually played by trying to get scouts out by hitting them below the knee with a ball. We love this game because it makes dodge ball look tame! This game makes it all a bit more manic. Best played with loads of space. Equipment: 3 sponge balls As with the usual dodge ball, the last scout in is the winner. There are, however, several ways of getting out. Start the game by getting the scouts to run around, then throw the three balls into the game. If a scout picks up a ball, throws it and hit a scout below the waist then the hit scout has to sit down. If a ball touches a scout below the waist, however it came about, that scout has to sit down. If a scout tags another scout, the tagged scout has to sit down. If a scout catches a thrown ball before it’s touched the ground then the thrower has to sit down. If two scouts tag a scout together, the tagged scout is out and has to leave the playing area. Scouts that are sitting down cannot move from their position and cannot be out. They can however still tag scouts, throw a ball at a scout below the waist or catch a thrown ball before it’s touched the ground. In any of these three incidents the other scout is out and has to leave the playing area. For this reason, sitting scouts are quite dangerous. However, if you’re left with just sitting scouts then the last scout that was standing is the winner. Bottle Ball Equipment: 1 large sponge ball, 2 large plastic bottles, chalk Put the scouts into two teams. Instead of a goal, at each end of the hall mark a one square metre box and in the middle place the bottle. Each team has to try to knock the bottle over by throwing the ball. After a “bottle” the bottle is reset and the ball is passed to the other team for them to continue the game. Scouts cannot run with the ball, go into the box and no physical contact is allowed otherwise a foul is called and the other team takes free shot (i.e. with no obstruction) on bottle. The winning team is the first to ten or the one that has scored the most bottles in a certain period of time. --- PAGE 40 --- Bowler-free Cricket Equipment: 1 cricket bat, 1 ball, stumps In this cricket game, instead of having a bowler, the batsman starts by balancing the ball on a horizontal bat and flicking it up in the air before hitting it. Various rules can be introduced such as the batsman has to run if he hits the ball or after so many flicks. He may be stumped by anyone, or caught, or if the bat or ball hits the batman’s wicket when he is attempting to hit the ball. Brains, Brawn, Brake Equipment: None Put the scouts into two teams, either side of a line across the middle. Name one team Brains, the other Brawn. When you shout “Brains” team members have to get to the wall behind the Brawns without being tagged, otherwise the tagged Brains then have to join Brawns. Shout “Brawn” and it’s all the other way round. Shout “Brake” and anyone who moves even a smidgen has to change sides. The game ends when all the scouts are Brains or Brawn. Have fun with saying the B-word quickly or Bra...............ke! Brains, Brawn, Brake Variations: You will need space so that scouts have a chance of not being tagged, so is also suitable for outdoors. Scouts can only tag once during each round. Break Out Equipment: Rope Two scouts are designated cops, two are jailors and the rest are robbers. Set up a jail in the woods by tying a long length of rope round some trees to form a pen. On “Go!” the robbers go and hide. A minute later set the cops off to find them. From thereon in the game should look after itself. Every time a robber is tagged by a cop, the robber must go with the cop to the jail where he will be left. The cop then has to go and find more robbers. Jailors can also tag and put robbers in jail. If a robber manages to get into the jail without being tagged that robber shouts “break out!” and all the robbers can escape from the jail and cannot be tagged for one minute. After twenty minutes the robbers that are free are the winners. Play again with new cops and jailors. --- PAGE 41 --- Break Out Variations: Have more cops and jailors. Instead of tagging you could have the cops and jailors identifying a robber correctly by name or flashing a torch at him. Breakout Equipment: 2 different coloured labels – 1 per scout, torches Scouts form two teams and have a coloured sticker on their back for team identification. Members of the same team have the same colour. One team goes to one end, the other team to the other end, of the playing area. You and your fellow leaders patrol the centre area. Turn out the lights. On “Go!” scouts try to get into the other team’s area without you or your fellow leaders shining a torch on them whilst they are within a four metres deep centre area. Scouts that are caught have to return to their end of the field. After a fixed amount of time scouts go to the nearest end of the play area to them. The team that got more scouts to breakout to the other side is the winner. British Bulldog Game This is the game that daddy used to play at cubs and which led to him leaving! You have been warned. Not only a physical challenge but occasionally a mental one also. “Oliver, stop cuddling me!” “I’m not Jenny, I’m trying to lift you off the ground.” “You calling me fat?” “Well, yes.” Equipment: None: Scouts all gather at one end of the hall, with one chosen to be British Bulldog. When this scout shouts British Bulldog! all the others must run to the other end of the hall. If British Bulldog manages to catch a scout, lift him up in the air and shout, “British Bulldog, one, two, three” whilst the captive is still being held in the air, then the captured scout becomes a bulldog too. Play continues until the last scout is caught, whereupon he becomes the bulldog for the next round, which may have to be held in A & E. Broken Bears Equipment: None Scouts all get into the bear position. This is on hands and feet facing down. On “Go!” scouts push each other to try to get others to put an --- PAGE 42 --- elbow or knee on the floor. Any scout whose elbow or knee touches the floor is out. The last scout to put down an elbow or knee is the winner. Even if there isn’t much pushing, this game is often over quite quickly because it’s not particularly easy to remain in the bear position for any length of time. Broken Bears Variations: Play in teams so that scouts can work together. Bronco Tag Equipment: None Divide the scouts into two teams and then put them into two circles, one outside the other so that each scout in the outer circle has a scout in front of him, all facing the centre. Outside scout puts his arms around the waist of the scout in front. Take one pair and make one scout “It” who has to chase the other scout, who is an escaping scout, and tag him. If the escaping scout manages to get his arms round the waist of an outside scout, then the inside scout becomes the escaping scout and off he goes. Play continues until the escaping scout is successfully tagged at which point the escaping scout becomes It and It becomes the escaping scout. Bucket Ball I Equipment: 1 bucket, 1 small ball per team, paper and pen Put the scouts into teams and then randomly in a circle. Put the bucket in the middle. Scouts take it in turns to attempt to throw the ball in the bucket. In (and stays in) scores one point, in but bounces out is minus one, and missing completely is minus two. Keep a running total, which is why teams having a different colour ball each is a good idea. After a set number of rounds the team with the highest score, or the least minus score, is the winner. Bucket Ball I Variations: Instead of a bucket, use a dustbin. Make the circle bigger. Scouts have to bounce the ball in (i.e. throw - one bounce - in and stay in, which scores two points). Bucket Ball II Equipment: 1 large ball, 2 chairs, 2 buckets or hoops --- PAGE 43 --- Put the scouts into two teams. Put a chair at either end for one of each team to stand on with a bucket. Have a one or two metre exclusion zone. Teams start play from the half of the hall that is further from their team member and their bucket. Throw the ball in and play starts. Scouts have to try to get their ball into the bucket (and stay in) or through a hoop. Bucket holders can move the bucket about to assist the thrower. Each “bucket” scores one point. After a “bucket” the ball is passed to the other team for them to continue the game. Players cannot run with the ball and no physical contact is allowed otherwise a foul is called and the other team takes a free shot (i.e. with no obstruction) on goal. The winning team is the first to ten or the one that has scored the most goals in a certain period of time. Bucket Ball II Variations: Don’t stop after each goal - just keep playing. Bucket Line Equipment: 2 buckets and a few plastic cups per team Put the scouts into teams and line them up between a full bucket of water at the front, and an empty bucket at the back. Give the lead scout a plastic cup and at “Go!” he has to dunk the cup in the bucket of water and pass it backwards over his head to the next team player and so on down the line. The last scout in the line has to tip the water (if there’s any left) into the empty bucket to start filling it up. The team with the most water successfully transferred is the winner. You may need a dip stick or scales to measure the volume of water in each bucket. Bucket Line Variations: You can use just one cup or have several in circulation with the lead scout in each team having to retrieve the cups from the back of the line. Alternatively the cups can be passed back up the line, over the heads again. You could also play with cups going down the line in the left hand and up the line in the right. Put a time limit on the game. Bucketball Equipment: 2 buckets, 1 basketball, pen and paper --- PAGE 44 --- Put the scouts into four teams, two on the court, two off and on either side. Put the buckets at either end on the floor. Play as per normal basketball except when one side scores by getting the ball in the bucket then that team moves off the court and the team that has been off the court longer comes back on. There is no break in the game and as soon as a basket is scored the defeated team can start straight away. Keep a note of each team’s score. The team with the highest score after a set amount of time, or the first team to ten points, is the winner. Bugs and Ants A very silly game but one which we enjoy playing. When Peter was tagged, he decided to die on an ant hill which rather confused us all for a bit. Equipment: 4 small tarpaulins, benches or hoops Put the tarpaulins into the play area, these are the ant hills. Divide the scouts into two teams of ants. Two ants from each team are bugs. On “Go!” the bugs have to tag ants from the other team. When tagged ants have to lie on their backs with their hands and feet in the air. They stay in that position until rescued by two of their team members who carry them by hands and feet to an ant hill. Once on an ant hill an ant can get back up and resume playing. Ants cannot be tagged whilst on ant hills so can only remain on ant hills for a maximum of ten seconds. A team has lost when all its ants are lying on their backs. After a set amount of time the winning team is the one with more ants still standing, so to speak. Reduce / increase the number of bugs and / or ant hills to make the game easier / harder. Buried Treasure Equipment: 1 paddling pool, 100 x 1p coins, 50 x 2p coins, 4 plastic cups, 4 washing-up bowls, mud Put the scouts into four teams lined up at one end of the playing area. Behind each team have a washing-up bowl. At the other end of the playing area have a paddling pool filled with mud. Into the mud scatter the one hundred 1p coins. Give each lead scout a plastic cup. On “Go!” the lead scouts run to the pool, put their hands into the mud and pull out one coin. They put it in their cups, shout, “Buried Treasure!”, run to their washing-up bowl, deposit it in the bowl and --- PAGE 45 --- give the cup to the next scout who repeats the process. The team with the most amount of value in coins after a fixed amount of time, or the first to twenty pence is the winner. Buried Treasure Variations: This game can get extremely messy, especially when scouts start climbing into the mud, so consider something not quite so bad, like baked beans, jelly or even consider hiring a foam machine. Add fifty 2p coins which count for twice as much. Buzz Equipment: None The scouts get into a circle and one player starts by counting, starting at “one”, then the scout to his right says “two” and so on. When the counting gets to “three” the scout has to say “buzz” instead. “Buzz” is repeated for every multiple of three. If a scout hesitates or forgets to “buzz” he goes out and play starts back at “one”. Buzz Variations: Introduce “fizz” for five and multiples of five. Of course, some numbers will attract a “buzz, fizz”. Make it a league system. Put yourself in the circle and every time a scout gets it wrong he comes and sits immediately to your left. The winner is then the one who is immediately to your right when you decide to finish. Caged Tiger Equipment: None Scouts stand in a large circle with one inside (who has to stay inside). Brave or foolish scouts will venture into the circle to torment the tiger inside. If the tiger manages to tag a tormentor whilst inside the circle then the tormentor becomes the tiger and the tiger goes into the circle of scouts. Call that Hiding? Equipment: Torch Find a suitable path through some undergrowth or woodland - preferably when it’s dark - and send the scouts down it. Tell them they have three minutes to hide themselves, no more than five metres from the path. After five minutes (which gives them time to --- PAGE 46 --- get restless!) walk quietly down the path without leaving the path - looking and listening for signs of scout. When you see (normally a torch) or hear (normally chatting because only the clever ones hide on their own!) shine or flash your torch in the direction of the scout and declare, “Call that hiding?” Any scout that is “hiding” in that immediate area will have to come out of hiding and can then help you find the others. After you’ve walked up and down the path twice, call the rest of the scouts from out of their hiding places. The winners are the scouts who don’t get found. A talk about how to camouflage oneself well can be a follow-up, with the winning scouts contributing. Camels This is best played as a time trial, unless you have loads of space. Equipment: 1 marker cone, chalk, stopwatch Put the scouts into teams of three. One stands up and is the head, the second puts his head down and holds onto the waist of the “head” and is the body, and the third scout sits on the “body” and is the rider. The camel then races, from the start line, round the marker cone and back over the line. The team that completes the circuit quickest is the winner. If the camel comes apart then the team either has to go back to the start line and regroup or restart from where the disintegration occurred. Camels Variations: Blindfold the head with the rider steering with his hands on the head’s shoulders. Can Stack Relay Equipment: 10 baked bean (or similar) cans per team, chalk Put the scouts into teams and line up the teams behind a line at one end of the hall. Mark another line at the other end of the hall. Give each team ten (full or empty) cans. (Full cans are more stable but hurt if they fall on your foot). On “Go!” the lead scouts have to take one can and put it on the line at the other end of the hall, and run back. Then it’s the turn of the second scouts. The cans have to be stacked up, one at a time, with no more than four cans on the floor. Once all ten have been successfully stacked up the relay continues with the cans being returned, one at a time, to the start line, and stacked again. The first team to complete the return stack is the --- PAGE 47 --- winner. If at any time any part of the stack falls, then the whole team can help rebuild it. Candle Relay Equipment: 1 candle and 1 box of matches per team, chalk The scouts form into teams behind a line at one end of the hall. Give each lead scout a candle and a box of matches. On “Go!” scouts have to light a match and then the candle, run to the other end of the hall with the candle and matches and back again for the next scout to repeat the exercise. The first team to complete the exercise is the winner. If, at any time, the candle goes out, the scout holding it has to stop and relight it before he can continue. Cannons Equipment: 1 large sponge ball, chalk or benches The scouts form two teams and stand at either end of the hall with a line or benches across the middle. Throw the ball in. Team members have to throw the ball into the other half to hit one or more of the other team’s scouts. Scouts that are hit are out straightaway and must retire from the game. The first team to lose all its members loses the game. The ball can be passed around a team but scouts cannot move if they are holding the ball. The ball can be caught or picked up cleanly without penalty. Scouts who stray across the middle line are out. Cannons Variations: The ball is only live during each throw until it hits the ground. Play with two balls (but you may need a few referees!). Capture the Flag Equipment: 2 flags, 2 long lengths of rope, 4 lamps Put the scouts into two teams. Both teams have a base and jail in their half of the playing area. Their flag is placed in their half as is their jail which is a roped off area. (You may or may not decide whether scouts should be shown before the game starts where their opponent’s flag and jail is located). Scouts start in their own half. On “Go!” scouts go into their opponents half to capture their flag. Whilst in their opponents’ half, if they are tagged they will be escorted to the opponents’ jail. There they will stay until a team member releases --- PAGE 48 --- them by tagging them (at danger to himself). No one can be tagged whilst inside the jail. Released scouts are allowed to get away from the jail without being retagged. If a flag is captured it has to be brought to the capturing team’s half of the playing area before they can win the game. If they are tagged carrying the flag they either have to leave the flag where they were tagged or it is taken back to where it was being held originally. Defending scouts are not allowed within five metres of their own flag. Capture the Flag Variations: In a very large area, a lamp can be used to show where the flags and jails are located. Instead of a jail, have an exchange area where the two sides can meet to swap prisoners. Capture the Fort A Top Fifty game. This is simple to play but can get quite tactical, drawing the defenders over to one side, then getting the ball in round the back. Equipment: 1 x 12 metre and 1 x 25 metre lengths of rope, 1 football, 1 stopwatch Put the scouts into two teams. Make two circles with the rope, one inside the other. The defending team stands anywhere between the two circles with one scout inside the inner circle. The attacking team have to stay outside the outer circle. Give the attacking team the football and on “Go!” they have to get the ball into the inner circle, either by throwing it through the defenders or by throwing or kicking it over their heads. If the scout in the middle stops the ball from touching the ground, by catching it or volleying it, then play continues with the ball being thrown out. Once the ball touches the ground inside the inner circle the fort is captured and teams swap places. Once teams have played as both attackers and defenders the winning team is the one that defended for longer. Captured Message Equipment: Named scarves, pen, paper and envelope Put the scouts into four teams. Put a secret message in an envelope and give one to one scout in each team, who is not to read it. From your base send the teams out into four parts of the area, all a similar --- PAGE 49 --- distance away. Each scout should then tuck his scarf into the back of his trousers. Blow a whistle to signify the start. The scouts with the envelopes then read the message and tell no one. They then try to get their message to you back at base without being captured (by having their scarf removed). If their scarf is removed they have to give their message to their captor, they’re out of the game and go back to base. The other scouts are attempting to capture the other scouts by removing their scarves. Any captured scout is out of the game and goes back to base. Once all the messages have been delivered to you, blow the whistle to signify the end of the game. Delivered messages (that weren’t captured), score ten points each. Delivered messages (that were captured), score seven points each, and each captured scout scores four points - all for the relevant team. The team with most points is the winner. Captured Message Variations: Give the secret message to more than one team member. Car Race Equipment: None Put the scouts into teams and number them individually so that each team has a number 1, 2, 3 etc. Call out a car and a number, e.g. “Mini 6” and the number sixes have to get from one end of the hall to the other by the method they have been previously told. The first one to the end of the hall gets a team point. Repeat. Don’t write the methods down, anyone starting with the wrong method is disqualified. The team with the most points win. Caravan-Join hands with a scout next to you and run, Convoy-Whole team joins hands and goes together running, Ford-Skip, Honda-Backwards, Mini- Tiptoe, Skoda-Crawl, Toyota-Sideways, Vauxhall-Hop, VW- Backwards. Card War Equipment: Pack of playing cards Put the scouts into two teams facing each other down the line, and give each scout a playing card which they must keep to themselves. The first opposite pair show their cards. The scout with the higher card takes the scout with the lower card to the end of the higher --- PAGE 50 --- card’s line. If it’s a draw then both scouts go to the end of the respective line. The winning team is the one that ends up with all the scouts on its side or more scouts (more likely) after a set amount of time. Cartwheel Equipment: 1 tennis ball per team, 1 chair Put the scouts into teams, lined up behind their lead scout who has his left hand on the chair in the middle and the tennis ball in his right. On “Go!” the lead scouts run clockwise round the outside of the lines of scouts. When he gets back to his team, he gives the one at the back the tennis ball who passes it up the line to the new lead scout who should have his left hand on the chair. Once he has the ball in his hand he repeats the action of the first scout. This continues, finishing with the last scout who sends the ball up the line for the lead scout to put it on the chair. The first team to put their ball on the chair is the winner. Cartwheel Variations: On camp, play the game round a tree, just omit the putting the ball on the chair bit at the end, maybe giving the tree a pat instead. Castles This is a fun game. Sometimes we need to have a plan to attack the castle with the balls all at the same time otherwise some defenders will be too quick at rebuilding. Equipment: Up to 5 foam or tennis balls, up to 5 tin cans, chalk, pen and paper Mark a seven metre diameter circle on the floor. One scout is the defender and goes into the circle and builds a castle with the tin cans. This can be any shape he likes. Give the balls to some of the scouts outside the circle. On “Go!” scouts have to knock the castle over whilst the defender frantically rebuilds it. He cannot obstruct balls. Once all the cans are all over at the same time the game ends and the scout’s time recorded. Repeat with another defender. The winner is the scout that defends his castle for the longest. Scouts must not enter the circle. You need to be on hand to eject stationery balls in the circle.