GAMES

Fire Building Time Test
York Adams Area Council

Note:  This activity must be carefully overseen.  Follow all appropriate review with the boys and follow all fire safety precautions.

Setup: Locate an appropriate place for a fire circle.  (Remember that most parks do not allow the building of fires except in fire rings.  Position two poles on both sides of the fire circle.  Tie a piece of thin cotton string across the poles and about 12 inches off the ground.  (When the boys build their fires, they’ll be timed on how long it takes before the fire burns through the string.  So for each fire built, make sure you tie the string at the same height.) 

Either already have the necessary materials or have the boys gather the materials they need to build their fires.  They will need dry kindling and some starter wood (a little larger than the kindling).  Depending on the situation, you might need to give each fire building team a sheet of newspaper to help start the fire—that’s your call.  Finally, use wooden kitchen matches that the boys can best handle without burning themselves.  (If the boys are not “ready” to be lighting matches themselves, you can hand them the lit match.)

The game is fairly simple.  Divide the den into teams or, if you have the time and materials, each boy can try himself.  The clock starts when the first match is struck.  The clock stops when the fire burns through the string.

Critter Obstacle Course
York Adams Area Council

Set up an obstacle course—use stakes in the ground, or lay out bright colored engineer tape in a serpentine pattern on the grass.  Prepare cue cards for the racers with names of different “rug rat-type” animals—aardvark, possum, crab, anteater, raccoon, etc—you’ll need a different one for each pair of racers.  Divide the den into two teams and line them up at the start/finish line.  Pair up the racers and assign them their “critters” so they can decide how those critters walk/crawl.  On go, the race begins.  Each pair of racers has to navigate the course crawling as their moving would.

Earth, Water, Air and Fire
York Adams Area Council

Equipment: 1 bean bag

Formation: circle

The Pack sit in a circle with one Cub in the center holding the bean bag.  He throws the bag at someone and shouts 'Earth!', 'Water!', 'Air!' or 'Fire!'.

If it is 'Earth', the chosen Cub must reply with the name of the animal, before the center Cub counts to ten.  If it is 'Water!', he must think of a fish, if 'Air!' - a bird and if 'Fire' - whistle for the Fire Engine.

Note: Once a creature has been named, it may not be called again.  If the Cub cannot reply in time, he changes places with the thrower.

Turkey Feather Relay
York Adams Area Council

2 long turkey feathers of different colors

Divide group into teams, relay style, First player on each team holds a long turkey feather.  Each team uses a different color feather. At a signal, he throws his feather, javelin style, toward the finish line. As soon as it comes to earth, he picks it up and throws it again. When it finally crosses the finish line, he picks it up, runs back, and hands the feather to his next teammate. First team to finish flaps their arms and gobbles like triumphant turkeys.

Guess The Critter Game
Trapper Trails Council

Boys are seated in a circle. One is selected to be "it".  He selects, in his mind, a critter of nature such as a cricket, mouse, praying mantis, rabbit, raccoon, chipmunk, etc. Then he whispers the selected critter to the game leader so that his answers may be checked.  The person that guesses his critter is "it".

Stalking The Deer
Trapper Trails Council

The Critter Catcher and the deer are both blindfolded.  They stand at opposite ends of a long table. The Critter Catcher attempts to catch the deer, and the deer tries to avoid being caught, as they both move around the table.  The den or pack should remain quiet so that the Critter Catcher can stalk the deer through any movements he makes.  The game is exciting and full of suspense for the spectators as well as for the players.  Sometimes, to add to the fun, the Critter Catcher is allowed to make a occasional noise by rapping on the table. This gives the deer more chance to get away. The variation is amusing for often the Critter Catcher decides to rap just when, without knowing it, he has practically caught the deer.  Can divide a big group and get more than one table, if you have a larger area.

Critter Farm
Trapper Trails Council

Game Leader whispers to each player the name of an critter the leader has already written down, such as dog, bat, chipmunk, bee, etc. On the word "Go" each player makes the appropriate noise of that critter.   Set a time limit of say two minutes, and at the end let each player write down the different critters that were made. The person with the most correct names wins.

The Great Insect Hunt
Trapper Trails Council

Have the Cub Scouts stand in a circle on a grassy area, facing outward. Scatter assorted colored insects (toothpicks) in the center of the circle. On signal, the Cub Scouts turn around and gather as many insects they can find.  Depending on how green the grass, certain colors will be found more easily than others, showing how color serves as protection from predators.

Bat And Moth
Trapper Trails Council

Have the Cub Scout form a circle 10-15 feet across.  Choose one to be the "Bat" and have him come to the center of the circle to be blindfolded.  Choose several other boys to be "Moths" and have them come into the circle. Each time the bat calls out "Bat!", the moths reply by calling out "Moth!" using only the direction of the sounds, the bat tries to catch the moths.  When the bat calls out, he is sending his radar signals.  When the moths reply, the signals are bouncing back.  This is how bats, who see poorly, find insects to eat. (It must be a very effective method, because a bat eats 3-4 times his weight in insects each night.)

Critter Sound Test
Trapper Trails Council

Record critter sounds real or human imitations before pack meeting with a tape recorder then play it back for those present so they can try to identify the sounds. Some possibilities are dog, cat, pig, cow, duck, horse, squirrel, chipmunk, cricket, robin, chickadee, crow, katydids, locus, bee, wasp, etc.

Cub Scout Uniform Game
Trapper Trails Council

Cub Scout Uniform Game: When preparing for a uniform inspection, have the Denner or Den Chief slip in with his uniform rearranged in the following manner and let the Cub Scouts tell what is wrong:

1. Cap on backwards.

2. Campaign button on cap.

3. Wearing den chief or denner cord.

4. Service star on neckercheif.

5. Neckerchief twisted into a roll.

6. Belt buckle worn on one side.

7. Neckerchief tied around the neck.

8. Sleeve rolled up.

9. Buttoned up shirt incorrectly

10. Pocket turned inside out.

11. Denner cord on wrong arm.

12. Wearing more than one temporary patch

Wiggle Bug
Trapper Trails Council

Players stand in a circle. A small object is passed around the circle from hand to hand as music plays. The leader starts the object by saying, "This is a wiggle bug.  If you get  caught with it, it bites--and it gives you the wiggles.  When the music stops, the person caught with the wiggle bug must choose some kind of motion, and must, doing that motion for the duration of the game.  If he is caught another time, he chooses a new motion and adds it to the first one. Continue for as long as you want.

Duck Tag
Trapper Trails Council

Play in waist deep water or squat down and play in a yard. Play as regular tag except that a player is safe if he ducks completely under water or on the ground when "it" is near.  Then "it" has to go after someone else. Note: a player does not have to stay underwater or on for more than 1 or 2 seconds.

Copycat Critter Tag
Trapper Trails Council

This game can be played with a roped circle or you will need a sprinkler that puts out water in a circle.  In this game "it" is not the tagger. Rather he is the “tagee.”  He runs off while the other players count slowly to three.  Then they chase him but they must imitate everything he does while trying to escape. If he crawls like a worm, they must crawl. If he hops like a grasshopper, they must hop. If he stops they must stop, etc., the first to tag him becomes "it". Oh, yes they must stay the circle of water or rope. Have fun !

Frog Bump
National Area Capital Council

Mark a 6-foot circle on the ground. Two players go into the circle and grasp their ankles. They then try to bump or shoulder their opponent outside the circle.

Square Foot Claim
National Area Capital Council

Each Scout stakes a “claim” on a square foot of land. The area should be away from where others usually play. Each Cub Scout stakes his own claim and studies it carefully to see what nature things it contains - grass, weeds, larvae, adult insects, feathers, seeds, etc. Decide on a time limit. The longest list wins.

Mini Scavenger Hunt
National Area Capital Council

Give each boy a film canister with a cap.  Take the boys on a hike and have them put anything into the canister, like small shells, dead leaves, and teeny tiny pinecones.  The rules are that it must fit into the container while closed.  The items must not be live specimens of plants or animals. The most items wins. You could also make up different categories of winners.

Water Life at Night
National Area Capital Council

To see below the surface of a pond or stream at night, put a lighted flashlight in a watertight jar. (A large instant-coffee jar is good.) You might need to add a stone or two in the jar to make it sink. Screw the top on tightly and tie a cord around the neck of the jar. Lower it into the water.

Observation
National Area Capital Council

Players sit in a circle.  Each takes his turn telling something he can see, hear, feel or smell from where he sits.  No repetition is allowed and if a player repeats what another says, or cannot think of something, he is out.  The game continues until only one is left.

Animammal Conference
National Area Capital Council

Equipment: Construction paper, scissors

Each person is given a cutout piece of construction paper with the name of an animal (e.g. mouse: long tail).  The group is then put into pairs so that, for example, a rooster and a giraffe are together.  Each pair tries to figure out a name of the animammal (e.g. Giroosteraffe).  Pairs can then set out to try an guess the names of the other aminmammals in the group.

Take a sock hike
National Area Capital Council

Have the scouts put old socks on over your shoes. After your hike, stop and look at the things stuck to your socks. Where did those items come from? Did you see them on your hike? Why did they stick to your socks?

Circle of Life
National Area Capital Council

The more people for the circle the better and more fun! Have the scouts get into a circle with their right hand into the center.  Now the object of this game is to squish together so that everyone can sit on the knees of the person in back of them.  You can use this game to show how nature depends on each other and a break in the ecological chain can be devastating to the rest.

Spiders Web
Crossroads of America

Equipment: Enough pieces of string for every participant.

Objective: Have every participant walk on hands and knees to a place where a web will be built and tie the string to make a web.

Have each person crawl or walk on hands and feet to tie their string onto the “web.” The first team to finish wins. You may want to give a prize for the best looking web!