Scouting Games

Bomb the Bridges
• 2-4 tennis balls

The players stand scattered around the hall with their legs around 2 feet apart. Each player's legs form a 'bridge' which may be bombed. To bomb a bridge, a tennis ball must be thrown between the player's legs (hitting a player's legs is not enough). Once bombed the player is out and must sit down. However, they may still take part by continuing to throw the tennis balls to bomb other players. The last player standing is the winner.
To prevent being bombed a player may protect himself using his hands to catch or deflect the tennis ball. Players may not move their feet or crouch to prevent being 'hit'.
Balls which are out of reach may be retrieved quickly by the nearest players so that play can continue. The greater the number of balls the harder and faster the game becomes.

Crab Football
• 1 ball
• 4 chairs

This is a version of football which can be played indoors using chairs as goal posts. The rules are much the same as normal football with the exception that players must be in the crab position. That is on hands and feet with back towards the ground.
You may like to make additional rules to prevent the goal keeper throwing the ball too far across the hall. For example, the ball must bounce at least once on their side of the hall.

Dodge Ball
• 1 ball

Divide boys into two teams. One team makes a circle and the other team stands inside it. The boys forming the circle throw a large ball at the boys inside the circle, who are running around trying not to be hit. The inside boys may not catch the ball. A ball hitting a boy on the head does not count. Only boys in the outside circle may catch and throw the ball. Boys who are hit below the knee join the outside circle and try to hit the inside boys.

Refinement:
Enter a six or patrol into the centre of the circle and time how long a team can stay in for. Passing the ball across the circle will help catch out the more agile players!

Hide & Seek

We turn all the lights off in the entire church (including those intended to be left on permanently). One scout stays in the meeting room and counts to twenty, the rest of the scouts hide anywhere (except for pre-set off limits areas) in the building. "It" begins looking for the scouts. Once a scout is found, he joins "it" in the hunt. The last scout found is the winner. The scouts especially enjoy jumping out of a dark corner and scaring their scoutmaster.

Wink Murder (Kojak, Who Dunnit, Killer)

This is a nice quiet game. All the players sit in a circle except one, the detective, who must leave the room to allow a 'murderer' to be nominated. The detective must find and reveal the correct identity of the murderer. The murderer can kill by winking at any of the other players in the circle who must then collapse - hopefully not making too much sound. He may 'win' the game by murdering all the other players or by the detective incorrectly guessing the identity of the murderer. Once a round has been played the murderer becomes the detective and a new murderer is nominated.

Variation:
Everyone closes their eyes, and the leader picks one or more boys to be killers. When everyone opens their eyes, the killers try to kill the other boys by winking at them. The non-killers try to expose the killers before everyone is dead. If a non-killer announces that someone is a killer, then 1) if they are right, the killer is "dead", or 2) if they are wrong, the guesser is "dead". Killers can kill other killers. Keep going until all the killers are dead (or until only one killer is left, but this is pretty rare).

Balloon Baseball
• Balloons
• Markers for bases

Players are divided into two teams. Each team designates a pitcher who pitches to his own team. Each batter gets two pitches to hit a balloon with his fist. If the balloon is hit, the fielding team tries to blow the balloon to the ground before the batter runs around the bases. If they do not, a run is scored. Play continues until everyone on the batting team has been 'up to bat'. Then the inning is over and teams switch places. The game continues for a specified number of innings.

French Cricket
• 1 Cricket bat or baseball bat
• 1 Tennis ball

All players form a circle and the batsman stands in the centre of the circle facing the player who has the ball first. The player with the ball can bowl under arm at the batsmans legs or pass the ball to another player around the circle to bowl. The object of the game is to hit the batsmans legs. The batsman must stay facing the man who first had the ball, but he is allowed to move the bat around him to protect his legs. When the batsmans legs are hit, he swaps places with the player who bowled the ball.

Battleship Kim's Game
        • A table per team
        • A piece of chalk per team
        • Ten items per team

Each patrol gets a table set up on it's side in their corner as a barrier, so that the other patrols can't see behind it. On the floor they draw a 7x7 grid, and mark horizontal axis A to G and vertical axis 1 to 7. They then take ten items and place them at random on their grid. The patrols are now given five minutes to look at each others grids and try and memorize the locations of as many items as they can. After five minutes they each retire behind their barricades. Each patrol in turn fires three shots. For a shot they must say the name of the patrol they are firing at, the grid reference and what item is at that grid reference. If they are correct then they capture that item. Each patrol only gets 3 shots per round. After a set number of rounds, the patrol that has captured the most items are the winners. Please note that this is a memory game, no pencils and paper allowed.

Water Balloon Volley Ball
• A volleyball net or a rope over which the balloons can be tossed
• An endless supply of balloons a quarter filled with water

This is a very messy game and is therefore ideal for hot days at camp. Your net or rope is stretched between two poles or trees just above head height. You have two teams and one balloon a quarter filled with water. If you put too much water into the balloons then they tend to burst too easily. The object of the game is to lob the balloon over the net and try and soak the opposing team. There is a lot of strategy in this game on such things as catching the balloon without bursting it and ways of lobbing the balloon to make it difficult to catch. When the balloon bursts on one side then a point is awarded to the other side, and a new balloon is brought into play.

Double Your Money
• Set of monopoly/trading post money

This is a game similar to 'Mixed Up Names' and 'Merchants'. Each player is given a $1 note at the start of the game. The players must then find the very generous leader with the $5 note who will swap a $1 for $5. The players can then go on to find and swap their currency with other generous leaders going from $5 to $10, $50, $100. $500 up to about $1000. You can award points to the first players with a $1000 note, or total the money held by a team after a certain time limit.
It is easier to have one leader give one type of note but it is workable to have a leader give out 2 different notes as long as there is a few steps between them eg. $5 and $100, or $50 and $1000. It requires much agility from the leaders who need to deal with several handfuls of notes coming and going but it is well worth while. The cubs who have played this game really love it. The idea of being handed large sums of cash for nothing really got them running around, even when the money wasn't real. A few cubs asked 'Why don't you use real money?' - obvious really, you wouldn't see the leaders for dust.

Haggis Hunt
• 200 Small coloured cards or similar
• 1 Big ball of aluminium foil

A few days ago the queen haggis came into season as she does every 5 years. Last night the queen haggis laid her first brood of eggs (the coloured cards) which are a delicacy akin to truffles and caviare. The teams must collect as many eggs from around the wide game area as possible before the wee haggis hatch (despite the better environmental instincts of cubs) for points! A special reward is made for the team who catches the queen haggis who looks uncannily like some scrumpled aluminium foil!

Mixed Up Names
• 1 Name card for each activity base leader and an activity for them to look after at that base

Each of the leaders or the people manning the bases is given a card similar to the ones described below:

1.You are 'Thunder Fist'. Tell them they must find 'The Kraken'.

2.You are 'The Kraken'. Tell them they must find 'Thorin'.

3.You are 'Thorin'. Tell them they must find 'The Hulk'.

4.You are 'The Hulk'. Tell them they must find 'Robin Hood'.

5.You are 'Robin Hood'. Tell them they must find 'Thunder Fist'.

You can of course vary the number of bases that you have. Each person manning a base is also given an activity that the cubs or scouts have to complete at that base. The base men are sent out and hide within a given area. The patrols are then sent out, each having been given a different 'NAME' to find. When a baseman is found, the scouts or cubs have to ask him if he is the name they are looking for. If he is not then they have to keep looking. If he is then he asks them to complete a simple scouting exercise such as tying a bowline. He then gives them the name of the next person they have to find. A point is given for completion of an exercise to the satisfaction of the baseman. The winning patrol is the one that finds all the basemen and completes the most tasks.

Trader
• 4 Counters per person (red, blue green and yellow one of each colour.)

When the game starts the boys are given a set time 5 to 10 minutes in which they are allowed to trade. They trade in the following manner. A boy approaches another boy with a counter in his left fist, he does not show the other boy what colour he is holding. If they agree to trade then they give each other a counter taking care that they do not show the colour they are swapping (All trades are final). Any boys who do not wish to trade simply cross their arms, this indicates that they are not open for trading. After the trading period is ended you show the lads the stockmarket chart shown below and get the lads to add up their scores.

Stock Market Chart - Trading Chip Values
    4 Red counters          100 points
    4 Blue counters          80 points
    4 Green counters         60 points
    4 Yellow counters        50 points
    3 of any colour          40 points
    2 of any colour          15 points
    Single Red                1 point
    Single Blue               2 points
    Single Green              4 points
    Single yellow             5 points

After they have added up their scores and you have found out which scouts have the highest scores, collect the counters in and hand out one of each colour again to the scouts. Now play it again with the scouts knowing the values and see the difference in tactics. From time to time you could introduce jokers these are White counters. You place some of these on the table and the boys are told they can take them if they wish. The value of these is unknown until they add up the scores. You then tell them that they either get 10 extra points for each White counter they have or minus 10 for each White counter they hold, much like Bulls and Bears in the stock market.
You can decide if it is going to be a plus or a minus by either tossing a coin or rolling a dice.

Netball

2 chairs, Football

One boy from each team stands on a chair placed at opposite ends of the hall. The ball is thrown into play. Each team has to try and get their goal keeper to catch the ball for a goal. No running with the ball, or knocking it out of anyone's hands.

Halt The Ball

1 football, Lots of other balls

Draw two lines down the hall, about 1.5m from opposite walls. Put the football in the middle. Dish out the rest of the balls. Each team has to throw balls at the football to try and get it to cross the other teams line.

Frogs and Flies (Wink Murder)

More participants the better.A detective is chosen.She stands in the center of a circle of children, all who are sitting down, indian style.Everyone closes eyes tightly while the adult goes around the outside of the circle of children and secretly taps one of them.This person is the frog.Adult informs everyone to open their eyes. Now, the frog's job is to eat the flies; the flies being the other children in the circle. The dectective's job is to try to gues which one of the children in the circle is the frog.The frog tries to "eat" as many flies by making eye contact with other children in the circle and sticking out his tongue at them without the dectective seeing him. Once he has stuck his tongue out at someone, they extend their legs straight forward, or they can lie down, indicating that they have been "eaten".The detective watches for the frog, while the frog tries to "eat" as many flies as he can before being discovered.The dectective gets 3 chances to guess who the frog is.Then, the frog turns into the dectective, and the adult choses a new frog.

Head or Catch

Football

Boys stand in a circle. The leader in the middle throws a ball to each in turn and calls Head or Catch the boy must do which ever is called. If the boy fails he is out.

Keys Game

Keys, Torch

All boys sit around edge of room. On boys sits in middle blinded folded. He has keys in front of him. Boys are pointed to try and steel the keys. If the torch is shone on them they must stay where they are. Keep going until someone manages to steel the keys.

Dodgeball

Footballs

Draw 2 lines, down the each side of the hall, about 1m from the wall. All the boys go to one end of the hall between the two lines. On go the run to the other end. Leaders throw balls at them from the side, to try and hit them below the knee. They may defend with their right fist. If they are hit they join in with the throwing.

Kim's Game

20 items, tray

Put all the items on a tray. Call out one boy from each team. They have 1 minute to look at the tray. One boy looks away while the other takes an item, he runs around the room, touching all 4 walls, and attempts to get back before the other boy guesses what he took.

North-South-East-West

The four walls in the hall are named, North, South, East & West. Boys run to which ever wall is called out. The last boy to arrive is eliminated.

Other calls are Sharks : get off the floor. Captain aboard : Salute. Bombs : Lie on the floor. Man the life boat in : get into groups of this number.

Collecting Letters

Give the group a letter of the alphabet. Each team has to find as many objects as they can beginning with that letter.