GAMES

News Headlines

Circle Ten Council

Pack meetings are not “just for Kids!”  How about a game for  the Den Parents? The object of this game is to see which den can field the most news/history savvy “team” to answer a set of questions.  Sort of like Jeopardy, it goes like this –

Before hand, someone from the pack has to do some research.  Using the Internet go to newspaper archive sites or go to your local library and pick out some good famous headlines.

Have the parents within each den sit together – don’t need to move all the parents to one place, just get each den’s parents together – and give them paper and pencils.  Using the collection of news items/headlines, begin asking questions or reading off headlines with key words or phrases missing.  Ask enough questions to get a fairly good spread in the scores.  And let the Cub Scouts/families help as much as they want.  At the end of the questions, run through the answers and see which den gets the most correct answers.  This is the winning den.  Award them with the “headlines award” – go to an old car junk yard and ask for a piece of an old car headliner that you can make into a ribbon or something as suitable.

I love this award idea.  CD

Snowfight

Baltimore Area Council

This one creates quite a mess, but it’s worth it.  Divide into two teams and put a divider down the center of the room (like a couple of rows of chairs, back-to-back).  The two teams are on opposite sides of the divider.  Give each team a large stack of old newspapers, then give them five to ten minutes to prepare their “snow” by wadding the paper into balls-the more, the better.

When the signal to begin is given, players start tossing their snow at the opposing team, which really does look like a snowstorm. 

When the whistle blows, everyone must stop throwing.  Judges determine the winner by deciding which team has the least amount of snow on its side of the divider.

With larger groups, watch out for players who lose their eyeglasses or other personal belongings in the snow, which get pretty deep.  After the game is over, provide plastic garbage bags and have a race to see which side can stuff the snow into the bags first.

Newspaper

Baltimore Area Council

This is a guessing game. Any number can play. 

A player leaves the room while the others think of an activity (dancing, swimming, cooking, reading, or something similar). The chosen activity is called “Newspaper.”

When the absent player comes back, he tries to guess what “Newspapering” is by asking each player a question like “Do you “Newspaper” in the dark?” or “Can cows “Newspaper”?” until he guesses what “Newspaper” means. All questions must be answered with a “yes” or “no”.

When the questioner thinks he knows what “Newspaper” means, he may ask if his guess is correct, and if it is, the player who answered his last question goes out of the room and a new activity is chosen as “Newspaper”. But, if the questioner guesses wrong 3 times, he is out of the game.

“Nose for News”

Baltimore Area Council

This is an outdoor game for a Caller and 2 teams with equal numbers of players. One team is called “news” and the other “nose”. One person is chosen to be the “caller”.

Teams draw goal lines about 50 meters apart. The caller stands in the middle of the field, between the goal lines.

When he yells “Start walking!!!”, both teams walk slowly towards him. When they are quite close to him, he calls out “N-n-n-ews!” or “N-n-nose!” and whichever team he calls starts to run back to its goal line. The other team chases them and tries to tag as many players as possible before they are safe behind their own goal line. The tagged players join the opposite team. Both teams return to their goal lines, and the caller calls again.

The game is won by the team that tags the most players.  The caller tries to keep the teams guessing which team he will call by dragging out the “N-n-n” as long as possible.

“Hearsay”

Baltimore Area Council

This game can be really fun! The more players you have, the better. You need at least 3 people. The players sit in a circle. The first player thinks of a word or phrase and whispers it to second player. Then, the second player whispers the message to the third player, and so on, until the message goes all the way around the circle. Finally, the last person to get the message says it out loud, and the person who started the message tells them if they are right!

Here’s a couple of tips;

ü       Hearsay can get really crazy if you use more than one word in your message. For example, a message like “Brown cats like purple bananas.” can get REALLY mixed up along the way!

ü       DON’T repeat the message! If the person didn’t hear it, let them say what they THINK they heard. The results can be hilarious!

Newspaper Boy

Baltimore Area Council

This is played with at least eight players and folded newspaper. One player is designated “It” and gets the newspaper. The other players form a circle holding hands. “It” walks slowly around the outside of the circle, chanting: “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!”

While chanting, “18’ drops the newspaper behind a player in the circle. That player then picks up the paper as quickly as possible and chases “It” around the circle. “It” tries to get back to the empty spot in the circle left by the chaser before being tagged. If “It” succeeds, the chasing player then becomes “It.”

The Newspaper Olympics

Baltimore Area Council

Here are some ideas for Olympic type events using newspapers in different ways:

ü       Javelin- Lay 1 sheet of newspaper fiat, then lay another down so that they overlap. Roll both up together. Tape in middle. See who can throw it the furthest.

ü       Shot-put-Crumple a page of a newspaper up into a small ball. See who can throw it the furthest.

ü       Newsboy archery-Take a sheet of newspaper and roll it tightly. Have boys throw it through a hula hoop.

ü       Relay Race-Take a rolled up newspaper and use it as the baton.

ü       100 Yard Dash- Have boys put each foot on a sheet of newspaper and shuffle to finish line.

ü       Hammer throw-Take a piece of string and tie a stick to one end. Put other end of string through the middle of sheet of newspaper and tie stick to other end. crumple paper around string and keep adding paper till you have a ball about the size of a dodgeball. Put tape around it. Have boys swing around head and see who can throw furthest/most accurate.

Advertisement Hunt

Baltimore Area Council

Give each Scout seated at a table a popular magazine, containing a large number of advertisements. Have in mind several products that are advertised in these magazines such as toothpaste, cars, soap, etc. Start the game by calling out the name of the product. The Scout who is first to find the product and tears it out of the magazine and hold it up wins. If it is the right one, have him sit on it, and continue the game by calling for another item. After about a dozen or so calls, find out who is sitting on the most ads.

Paper Boy Relay

Baltimore Area Council

Materials: 2 or more trash cans,  Lots of newspaper

Divide boys into teams. Divide the room into equal sections. Have teams fold up newspapers like they would on a newspaper route and line up as if they are going to do a free throw.

In turn each boy tries to make a basket by throwing paper at their trash can. Winner is the team with the most newspapers in there trash can.

Circle Ten Council

Materials:  Rolled up newspaper

Directions:

Subscribers are in many cities and towns.  Make up a list of towns or cities in your area.  Use a map for more names.  You will need 1 name for each cub, even the newsboy. 

Everyone sits in a circle.  Read off a city to each person, that will represent him as a subscriber from that area.  They will need to remember it. 

Choose one person to stand in the middle.  He is the newsboy with the rolled-up newspaper.  He will call out one city.  That subscriber must stand and call out another city before the newsboy tags them with the rolled-up newspaper. 

Then the subscriber that was called must stand and call out another city.  This continues until the newsboy catches a subscriber before he calls out another city.  Then that subscriber becomes the newsboy in the middle.

Story Game

Baltimore Area Council

Give each boy a set of 10 completely unrelated words. Have each boy write a story using each of the ten words that they have to read and/or act out at the next Pack meeting.

Newspaper Tapper

Baltimore Area Council

Equipment: Rolled newspaper to use as a swatter.

One person is selected to the center man. He takes his place in the center of a small compact circle formed by the other players standing shoulder to shoulder around him.

The players put their hands behind them and the leader secretly places a swatter in the hands of one of them. The player who receives the swatter either slyly passes it on or swats the center man, if his back is turned.

When hit, the center man turns and tries to point out, not the player who hit him, but the player who is then holding the swatter. The player who did the striking will have instantly passed the swatter either right or left.

When the center man points out a person who is holding, touching, or passing the swatter, they change places.

Ring the Antenna

Southern NJ Council

I love ring toss games.  They can be adapted to any theme – for December’s Food theme you could have rings made to look like doughnuts.  For Holidays – Wreaths. For water – Life Buoys.) Just use your imagination.  CD

Cut out the shape of a radio or TV antenna, indoor or outdoor  (or if no one remembers what a house antenna looks like – a tower as seen at the station or any shape consistent with theme (or any theme, for that matter) that the boys want to use) from cardboard or wood.  Paint and decorate the cut-out.  Hammer nails into the shape at different places.  This is the target.  Place it about 8 to 10 feet away.  Have each player throw rubber rings at the antenna.  The winner is determined by the number of rings that catch on the target.  If you wish, you can mark each nail worth a certain number of points.

Sausages

Southern NJ Council

One player is chosen to be the questioner.  He may ask any other of the other players whatever personal questions he might choose, such as - "What do you think your legs look like?", "What are your shoes made of?". "To what do you attribute your handsome looks and charm?" etc.  Whatever the question, the player being asked must reply "sausages!"  The first player who smiles or laughs or giggles or smirks or grins or guffaws or shows any other emotion other than deadly seriousness is out, and he becomes the questioner.

Capture the Fort

Southern NJ Council

Divide players into two sides: Attackers and Defenders.

Defenders form a circle, holding hands and facing outward, with their captain in the center.

Attackers surround the fort at about eight or ten paces distant.  They try to kick a soccer ball into the fort; it may go through the legs of the defenders or over their heads.  If it goes over their heads, the captain may catch it and throw it out.  But if it touches the ground inside the circle, the fort is captured and the players change sides.

Line up the Lines

Southern NJ Council

This game easily be adapted for Webelos by doing the same thing for the Scout Oath and Law.  CD

Take the Promise (or the Law of the Pack) and write it out on strips of paper in large letters. If you want, you can cut the lines up into chunks or half-lines. Then have a team challenge for the whole group. Mix up the strips on the floor or in a box. One by one, a Cub hops to the box, grabs a strip, and brings it back to the group. The next Cub hops up and gets another strip and brings it back to the group. Hopping is done to give the group time to arrange the strips in order. The group has to agree on how to arrange the strips. When done, they recite the Promise together.

Gossip Game

National Capital Area Council

Have everyone sit in a large circle. The host partner whispers a phrase or short sentence to the person on his left. That person whispers what he heard to the next player to the left, and so on. The last player to receive the message should repeat what the message is. The leader then repeats the original message which is often very different from the last person's message.

Hear, Bear Game

Southern NJ Council

This is a game of identifying sounds.  The den chief produces the sounds below from behind a screen or in another room and the Cubs listen.  As each sound is produced, the boys write down what they think it is. 

Sample sounds are:

ü       Sandpaper rubbed on glass, 

ü       Pack of cards dropped on a table,

ü       Egg beater whipping cream, 

ü       Golf ball or ping-pong ball  bouncing on a bare floor, 

ü       Piece of metal being filed, 

ü       Slicing bread, 

ü       Cutting glass with a glass cutter, 

ü       Bursting a paper bag.

Mysterious Message

Southern NJ Council

Mysteries sometimes include coded messages. Let your Cubs create a code, write coded messages and then decode each other's messages.  Leaders if you have access to a computer and printer you can use wing dings (font) or let the Cubs develop their own secret code using the alphabet.

Materials: Paper and pencils

Sample Code –

Write the alphabet across a chalkboard.

Below the letters write the numbers 1-26, with "1" below "A," "2" below "B," etc.

Then write a simple, short sentence on the board and write the number equivalent of the first word. 

Ask your Cubs to write the number equivalents of the remaining words.

Challenge each den group to make up a code based on a growing number pattern (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 7, 11 . . .).

On a sheet of paper, have Cubs write the alphabet and the number that will stand for each letter, just as you did

Now have the Cubs write a secret message (a short sentence) and encode the message on another sheet of paper.

Moriarty

Sam Houston Area Council

One Cub is secretly chosen to be Moriarty, the rest are English detectives.  Everyone walks around shaking hands, introducing themselves and making small talk.  A victim is killed when Moriarty tickles his palm during the handshake.  The victim must wait at least 5 seconds before dying in as dramatic manner as possible; he may even have time to shake another hand in the interval.  The object of the game is to discover Moriarty and publicly accuse him before being killed.  If the accuser is discovered, he picks the next Moriarty and participates in the next game by shaking hands, etc.  He cannot make an accusation but acts as referee since he knows who Moriarty is.