MIND GAMES

Floor Maze

Gregor, Cubmaster, Plano, TX

To Baloo via Philmont Training Center 2009
Thank you.  CD

See grid directions on last page

Set Up -

ü  Numbers are shown so that I can give you the solution (amswer).  You can put numbers in your grid or not.

ü  Squares should be about 3 feet by 3 feet

ü   

Indoors -

ü  Construct the grid on the floor using electrical tape or duct tape

ü  Use Red, Back and Yellow.  Or three colors of your choice!  Original grid that Gregor saw at the Circle Ten Scout Show used white not yellow. 

ü  Use a different (4^th) color for the boundary if you wish

Outdoors

ü  Get a roll of yellow plastic caution tape (ribbon??) (It does not have any stickum on it)

ü  Construct out the grid on the ground in your back yard ahead of time!!!

ü  Squares are still 3' by 3'.

ü  Put red and black duct tape on the appropriate lines.  Use third color if you wish for yellow sides or just leave as is.

ü  Use cut up coat hangers to stake grid to the ground.  (Use bent ends to make little "Vees" and push them into the ground over the caution tape.

See bigger picture on last page

The Play

ü  Boys enter at the RED line on the outer border.

ü  They proceed through the maze going RED - YELLOW-BLACK, RED-YELLOW-BLACK, …

ü  They must get to the BLACK line on the outer border to exit.

Answer

ü  RED entry to 21, 22, 23, 19, 15, 14, 10, 9. 5, 6, 7, 8, 4, 3, 7, 11, 12, 16, 15, 19, 20, 24, 23, 22, 18, 14, 15, 16, 20, 19, 23, 24, out over BLACK

Fun Maze

Catalina Council

An Even Exchange

Sam Houston Area Council

Can you move two dimes to empty squares so that each of the eight rows and columns and the two diagonals contain an even number of coins?

Tesseract's Mazes
Hand Drawn by Isaac M. Thayer

http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/mazedthings/mazedthings.html

For the most truly awesome mazes on the planet go to
http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/mazedthings/mazedthings.html

DO NOT USE THIS COPY -
download a clean full size one!

There are several dozen hand drawn mazes there similar in style to the George Washington above.  You have to go from the G to the W (or vice versa)  These mazes are truly fantastic to figure out.  Bookmark this website.  If you lose it - searchon "mazed things" and "Isaac M Thayer"  Searching on Tesseract Mazes will get you some but not the whole(?) collection!!

Sly Sliding

Sam Houston Area Council

Object: To switch the pennies on circles 1 and 2 with the dimes on circles 9 and 10.

Play:

ü  You may move the coins one at a time, and in any order you like – any distance along the lines (but stopping only on circles).

ü  The only restriction is that at the end of any move, a penny and a dime may never lie on the same straight line.

Checkerboard Puzzle

Sam Houston Area Council

1)         Cut out the 8 pieces

2)         Assemble to form an 8X8 checkerboard

Stop Sign Maze

www.Billsgames.com/mazegenerator

Bills Games offers lots of free, award-winning web-based games for the whole family.  Like this one -

Of course, you don’t want to see any stop signs for your Pinewood Derby Racer – but see if you can make your way from the top right to the bottom left of this Stop Sign Maze!

from the Maze Generator at
www.Billsgames.com/mazegenerator

Don’t just copy this one, go there and check them all out!!!

Turn any maze into a theme related maze -

For Pinewood Derby -
Put a car at the in and a flag at the out.

Car can start at the bottom right opening and go all around the maze, reaching the finish line at the right side just above the bottom.  Have them look for different ways to do it!!

You can get mazes at www.Billsgames.com/mazegenerator

Or other places on the web.  Just google mazes!!

More Ideas -

Outdoors - Acorn at the in, oak tree at the out

Cubs - Bobcat badge at the in, Arrow of Light at the out

Snow - Snowflake at the in, Snowman at the out

Cubstruction - nail at the in, house at the out

Camp - Tent at the in, Dining Hall at the out

Swimming - Boy at the in, pool at the out

Hope you get the idea -

anything can be made theme-related!!!

Note from Alice -  Make multiple copies so boys can try different paths.  You could also enlarge this, laminate the maze itself, and let each boy have a small laminated prop sized to fit the maze to actually “run” the maze.

Marble Maze

Sam Houston Area Council

Assembly:

ü  Base, use a large cardboard box lid (computer paper box lid).

ü  Turn the lid over and glue S shaped pieces of foam packing material (packaging peanuts) at different spots, making a maze for the marbles.  Above picture is a sample, use your imagination!

Play:

«  Place the marble at one end. This will be the START.

«  Each Scout tries to move the marble to the FINISH line by tilting the box back and forth and side to side.

«  The Scout who gets his marble through the maze is the winner (hopefully all the Scouts can be winners!)

GAMES

Card Toss

Sam Houston Area Council

Place a small decorated box on the floor about six feet away from a chair. (You could have two or three stations set up, or one for each rank, and have a relay.)

Have the Scout sit in the chair and try to toss 10 cards from a deck of cards into the box. Younger Scouts might appreciate a small laundry basket instead of a box, or, if you are in lines by rank, the Tigers could be closer to the box than the Webelos Scouts.

Frogs, Insects, & Flowers

Capital Area Council

Divide the Scouts into three circles, one inside the next.

·         The Scouts in the outer circle are flowers and stand still.

·         The Scouts in the innermost circle are insects and begin the game with one knee on the ground.

·         The Scouts in the middle circle are frogs and begin the game standing.

When the whistle sounds,

·         The insects have 10 seconds to run and tag a flower. They may avoid capture (being tagged by a frog) by “flying” (touching one knee to the ground).

·         Frogs chase the insects and can “follow” an insect by turning 360 degrees during which the insect can fly away.

After each round,

·         Successful frogs or insects remain as that creature for the next game.

·         A captured insect becomes a frog.

·         An insect that is not captured but does not touch a flower becomes a flower.

Each round creates changes in relationships. A balanced game can go on indefinitely, but if frogs are too successful, the insects are wiped out, which causes the frogs ultimately to “die.” If the frogs are not successful, they may be wiped out and large uncontrolled numbers of insects may result.

Tabletop Golf

Wendy, Chief Seattle Council

Directions:

ü  Draw Golf course on paper, 4 holes on one side, and 5 holes on the other. 

ü  Vary the size and shape of the putting greens.  (Some with a 90 degree curve, some wiggly like a snake, some pear shaped, etc.) 

ü  Add water and sand hazards.

ü  Trace around a nickel to make the holes. 

ü  Color the golf course, and slide papers into a protective plastic sleeve.

Rules:

ü  Using a pencil (or golf club made from a craft stick), hit the golf ball (dime) into each hole using as few strokes as possible.  (Players can color their dime with washable marker so they can tell the dimes apart.) 

ü  The dime is out of bounds or in the hole if more than half the dime is over the line. 

ü  Add penalty strokes for the following: Water: 2 strokes.  Sand: 3 strokes.  Another hole/off the green: 4 strokes. 

ü  The player with the fewest strokes wins. 

(Variation on a dollar store game.)

Really Mini Miniature Golf

Wendy, Chief Seattle Council

Golf Club:

·         Using pruning shears, cut 1” off the end of a craft stick. 

·         Sand both ends smooth. 

·         Tacky glue the small piece to the cut end of big piece at slightly more than 90 degrees to make a golf club. 

Holes: 

·         Cut a strip of paper about 1" wide by 4 " long. 

·         Overlap the ends, and tape, creating a circle.

·         Pinch the loop in two places, creating a flat side about 1 inch in length.

·         Place the hoop on the flat side so it stands up. 

·         Make 9 of these hoops, and number them. 

Set Up and Play:

·         Place the nine holes on the floor. 

·         Create obstacles using cups and toilet paper tubes. 

·         Make ramps from cardboard. 

·         Bounce marbles off books.

·         Players hit marbles through the hoops with their craft stick golf clubs, trying to hit the ball into the hole with the fewest strokes. 

·         The player with the lowest score wins. 

Tabletop Shuffleboard

Wendy, Chief Seattle Council

Draw shuffleboard court on paper, and slide into a plastic protective sleeve. 

Color 4 dimes one color with washable markers, and leave the other 4 dimes plain. 

Players push the dimes toward the shuffleboard court with a pencil. 

Score points only if the dime is completely within the scoring compartment. 

Player with the highest score wins. 

(Variation on a dollar store game)

Group Juggling

Sam Houston Area Council

P Scouts stand in a circle with their hands in the air.

P The den leader or Cubmaster tosses a beach ball to a Scout on the opposite side of the circle.

P That Scout throws the ball to a second Scout and so on.

P Once a Scout has caught the ball and tossed to someone else, he puts his arms down.

P The last Scout to catch the ball tosses it back to the den leader to start again.

P For more fun, add a second or third ball.

Pinewood Maze Board Game

Alice, Golden Empire Council

Enlarge the maze you drew for the Advancement Ceremonies and draw lines across the white pathways every inch or so, to make “spaces.” 

Each boy gets either a cardboard racer or even a toy car for his game piece. 

Dice are rolled to determine how many spaces can be moved each turn – but of course, there’s still the factor of finding a pathway without a dead end! 

Or to make it even more challenging, add in some “special” squares every so often. 

Some examples: 

P “Out of gas – skip a turn”

P “Extra traction – move ahead two spaces”

P “Pit Stop – go back 6 spaces”

P “New engine additive – take an extra turn”

Get the idea!

Doctor Who and the Daleks

Catalina Council

Equipment:          None

Formation:          Scatter

¡  Three 'Daleks' and three 'Doctor Who's' are suitable for a Pack of 24 boys.

¡  The 'Doctor Who's' turn their caps back to front for identification and the 'Daleks' wear their scarves back to front.

¡  At the word 'GO' from the leader, the 'Daleks' chase the rest of the Pack.

¡  If the 'Daleks' touch anyone, that Cub must freeze, until he is released by the touch of a 'Doctor Who'.

¡  No one is out and no one ever really seems to be caught when the time is up, but it is a splendidly exhausting game!

¡  The game should be played for roughly two minutes before the 'Doctor Who's' and the 'Daleks' are changed.

Fill the Basket

Catalina Council

Equipment:

A pail or a large basket

As many balls as possible.

Formation:          Scatter

«  The leader has the basket and endeavors to keep it empty,

«  The leader throws the balls as far away as possible.

«  The Cubs do their best to fill the basket.

«  See who wins at the end of five minutes!

The Mystery Number

Catalina Council

Equipment:          A whistle

Formation:          Circle

The Pack forms a circle with the Sixers (Webelos?)in the middle. The Sixers choose a mystery number known only to themselves.

The Cubs march round in a circle chanting the number of each step they take.

When they reach the secret number, the Sixers chase them.

After ten seconds, the leader blows the whistle and the chase ends. Any Cubs who have been caught go into the center and help the Sixers.

The next number is decided upon and the game goes on until time is up and the Cubs who remain free are acclaimed as winners.

Note: As the chasers become more numerous, they must hold hands until the mystery number is reached. Set a limit to the mystery number. Anything over ten becomes tedious.

I'm a Great Big Whale

Catalina Council

Equipment:          Wool or some sort of flag to put into the back pocket.

Formation:          Scatter

The Sixers (Webelos?) stand in the middle of the room. They are the 'whales'. The rest of the Pack with a flag in their back pocket (sticking out), line up at either end of the room. They are little 'fishies'.

The 'whales' then chant, in deep whale-like voices, 'I'm a Great Big Whale at the bottom of the sea.'

The 'fishies' reply in high-pitched fish voices, 'And I'm a little fish and you can't catch me!'

The 'fishes' then race to the far end of the room and the 'whales' try to catch them by pulling the flag out of their pocket.

Any who are caught become 'whales' and help to catch the rest of the 'fishes'.

The game continues until one little 'fish' remains as the winner.

Clear the Deck

Catalina Council

Equipment:          None

Formation:          Group

ü  The four sides of the room are given names, i.e., 'Clear the deck!'; 'Man the boat!'; 'Shore leave!'; 'In the galley!'.

ü  When the leader calls out any of those commands, the Cubs rush to that side of the room.

ü  There are extra commands as well: 'Boom coming over!', 'Lie flat on the floor', 'Admiral coming!', and 'All stand and salute.'

ü  No one is ever out but the last Cub to obey the order loses a life and rolls down a sock or rolls up a sleeve.

Note: In the original version of the game the four sides of the room are Port, Starboard, Bow and Stern,
although this is merely a matter of choice.

Ball Pass

Catalina Council

Equipment:          1 ball

Formation:          a Circle

¡  The Pack forms a circle and one Cub has the ball.

¡  He passes it to the neighbor on his left and immediately starts to run round the circle.

¡  His aim being to be back in his place to receive the ball when it has been passed right round the circle.

C.U.B.S.

Catalina Council

Equipment:          1 beanbag

Formation:          a circle

¡  The Cubs sit in a circle with the beanbag in the center and the leader gives them a letter in the order C.U.B.S. all the way round the circle.

¡  The leader calls out one of the letters and all the Cubs with that letter run clockwise (right) round the outside of the circle and back through their places into the center - where they try to snatch the beanbag.

¡  The Cub who get the bag is the winner.

Gravity Works

Sam Houston Area Council

«  Place a narrow-mouthed jar upright on the floor.

«  Give each Cub Scout 10 clothespins

«  When his turn arrives and have him stand over the bottle.

«  Holding the clothespin at eye level, each Scout tries to drop them one at a time into the bottle.

«  The winner is the Scout who drops the most pins in the jar/bottle.

The Marble Bandana Cup Game

Sam Houston Area Council

Materials – (for each team) bandana, cup, marble

Set Up -

·         Divide Scouts into teams of 4 or 6.

·         Give each team a bandana, and ask them to hold the corners or edges so the bandana looks like a tabletop.

·         Everyone must use both hands to hold the bandana and it must be kept tight and flat.

Play:

¡  Place a cup upside down on top of the bandana and place a marble on top of the overturned cup.

¡  Teams must transport the marble-bandana-cup from the starting line to a finish line a distance away.

¡  If the marble falls, the Scouts must start again.

¡  The team that crosses the finish line first wins. (For Webelos, consider an obstacle course that they must navigate between the start and the finish lines.)

Marbles

Catalina Council

What you need:

Baking or self hardening clay in several colors

An adult helper if using baking clay

What you do:

1.       Take a small piece of clay and roll it into a ball, if you want multicolored marbles, use 2 or 3 colors.

2.       Make about 10 small marbles, and 1 larger one, for rolling. You can make them all different.

3.       Bake or dry the marbles according to the directions on the package of clay.

How to play a game of marbles:

ü  Get together with a friend who has their own marbles or share your marbles.

ü  Draw a circle outside on the sidewalk (or any other hard outdoor surface) with chalk.

ü  Place the marbles in the circle and give the big marble to your friend.

ü  Have your friend try to roll your marbles out of the centre, she will claim the marbles she knocks out, but, if she rolls one of her marbles out of the circle you get that marble!

ü  Take turns until all the marbles are gone.

ü  The person with the most marbles wins!

Note: you should make your marbles different colors, so you can tell who rolled who's marble out of the circle.

Cap On Peg Slide

Catalina Council

Note: This is a reverse version of the cup in a ball game.

Materials:

·         Wooden spool

·         Wooden peg or dowel to fit center of spool, about 1 1/2 inch long

·         5 inches cording or heavy thread

·         Plastic cap to fit over the top of the doweling or peg

·         Paint, color of your choice

·         3/4 inch PVC slide ring

Equipment:

·         Hot glue

·         Paint brushes

·         Punch awl or small drill

Directions:

ü  Hot glue the wooden peg into the spool.

ü  If desired, paint both pieces and allow to dry.

ü  Punch a small hole in the center of the plastic cap.

ü  Glue one end of the cording to bottom of the wooden spool.

ü  Slip the other end of coring through the hole in the plastic cap, make a knot and glue in place

ü  Mount the slide ring to back of the spool using hot glue.

Bowling Game

Recycle plastic soda bottles and
make an easy game out of them.

Catalina Council

What you need:

Ten Plastic Bottles (2 liter or 20 oz.), clean and dry

Stickers

Shredded Tissue Paper

Shiny Cloth or Easter Grass

Lightweight Rubber Ball

What you do:

P Decorate bottles with stickers, or fill them with tissue paper (bunched or shredded), shiny cloth, or Easter grass.

P Setup the pins and bowl them down with a rubber playground ball

Ladder Balance

Sam Houston Area Council

ü  Divide the Scouts into teams and make pairs within the teams.

ü  Scouts should sit down the length of the room facing their partners, with their feet touching those of their partners.

ü  At a signal, the first Scouts jump up and run down the room over the legs of their team members (who may not move their legs).

ü  When they reach the end of the “ladder,” they take their place sitting next to the end players on their team.

ü  The next team members do the same as the first team members.

ü  The first team to travel all the way across the room wins. The game can be made more interesting for older Scouts by providing simple obstacles for the “ladders” to avoid, like chairs, boxes, or benches to go around.

Burst the Balloon

Catalina Council

Equipment:

30-40 balloons;

pencil and paper for the scorekeeper

Formation:          Scatter

¡  The balloons are blown up and scattered on the floor. Players stand in scatter formation.

¡  On 'GO', the object is to break as many balloons as possible, by sitting on them! When a person breaks a balloon, he shouts 'I SCORE!' and must put his hand in the air.

¡  The scorekeeper then runs up to the person whose hand is in the air, marks a point down on his tally sheet. The player then tries to break another balloon and earn more points.

¡  When all balloons are broken, scores are added up and a winner is declared.

Variation:

ü  Break the balloons by putting them between the knees and squeezing them until they break.

ü  Burst the balloons by jumping on them with both feet.

ü  Burst the balloons by squeezing them between two people.

The Huron Hop

Catalina Council

Formation:          teams

Equipment:

10 black headbands with one feather

10 white headbands with one feather

50 inflated balloons with pieces of string attached to each

Tape or rope to mark circle on the ground.

Directions:

¡  Divide the group into two teams; give each team headbands.

¡  Draw a large circle on the floor and have 5-10 players from each team enter the circle. A balloon is tied to each player's left ankle.

¡  The object of the game is to break your opponent's balloon while trying to avoid having your own broken. Once your balloon breaks, you leave the circle to join the audience.

¡  The game is played for five minutes and the team with the largest number of braves and maidens still in the circle wins. Play the game several times with new braves and maidens each time.

¡  While the game is going on, the audience shouts war whoops!

Whale Ahoy!

Catalina Council

Equipment:          1 paper or sock ball or beanbag

Formation:          Scatter

·         One boy is selected to be the 'whale', he may run freely about the room.

·         The rest of the Cubs each choose a position and since they are 'rocks in the sea', they may not move.

·         The aim is to 'harpoon' the 'whale' by hitting him with the ball.

·         Whoever hits him takes his place as the next 'whale'.

·         The skill of the game lies in passing the 'harpoon' from 'rock to rock' in an endeavor to corner the 'whale', rather than the Cubs taking random shots.

·         This is good training in playing for the game rather than for the individual.

Tail Tally

Catalina Council

Equipment:

1 rope per Cub, color coded for each Six

1 whistle

Formation:          Scatter

·         One Cub from each den is a 'catcher'.

·         All the other Cubs have a 'tail', a length of rope which they tuck into their back pockets.

·         The 'catchers' try to snatch as many tails as possible in a given time.

·         A Cub who loses his tail goes to a 'pen' from which he may be released if the 'catcher' from his Six gives him a tail.

·         When the leader blows the whistle, the dens return to their corners and count their tails, including those that their 'catcher' has snatched.

Cat & Mouse:

Wendy, Chief Seattle Council

Directions:

Mouse:

Cut egg cups out of an egg carton. 

Paint if desired. 

Trace mouse ear and eye patterns onto paper. 

Color. 

Cut out, and tacky glue to egg cup. 

(Optional: glue on googly eyes.) 

Draw nose and whiskers on egg cup. 

Tie a knot in a 2 ½ inch piece of yarn. 

Pierce hole in the back of the egg cup, and thread the yarn through for a tail, knot inside the cup. 

Glue or tape the tail for added security.

Cheese:

Cut 10 cheese triangles out of yellow craft foam. 

Using a paper punch, punch out holes for a swiss cheese effect.

Cat:

Cover a small box with orange paper.  (I cut down a cracker/small cereal box.)

Trace cat patterns onto another sheet of orange paper. 

Cut out, and glue to the box.

Game Board:

Cut mouse holes in the corners of the poster board/file folder. 

Fold up the corners. 

Draw a circle in the center that is big enough for the cat. 

Draw a spiral out from the center, with the lines far enough apart for the mice to fit in. 

Draw 12 lines radiating out from the center. 

Draw arrows on the board, some pointing clockwise, some pointing counter clockwise.  (I drew my arrows on sticky notes so I could change the board as desired.)

Rules: 

Cooperative version:

Scatter cheese on the board.

Put the cat in the middle of the board.  

Mice start at the mouse holes. 

Players roll a 6 sided die. 

Player chooses any mouse and moves toward the center of the board. 

If a mouse gets to the center, it returns to its hole and starts again.

If a mouse lands on a cheese, it captures it, and must now take it back to its mouse hole. 

When it reaches the hole, it starts again. 

If the mouse lands on an arrow, the cat is turned one space in the direction of the arrow. 

Any mice (and cheese) that are on that column of spaces radiating out from the front of the cat are eaten, and are out of the game. 

Players try to collect all the cheese with out being eaten.

Competitive version:

Play as above, except players just move their own mouse.

 If they land on another mouse, they can steal that mouse’s cheese, and take it back to their hole. 

Optional rule: when a mouse is eaten by the cat, it starts again at its hole rather than being out of the game.  If it is carrying cheese, it must drop the cheese where it was caught by the cat.

Fish version:

Fish/sharks:

Paint egg cups if desired. 

Cut out fins and tail, and

Tacky glue to the egg cups. 

Play:

Instead of cheese, cut small fish out of foam (or use goldfish crackers). 

Using the patterns, decorate a small box to look like a fish, rather that a cat. 

Play the game as above. 

Floor Maze

Gregor, Cubmaster, Plano, TX

To Baloo via Philmont Training Center 2009

Thank you

See directions under Mind Games