GAMES

State Nickname Charades

Jim Jones, Great Salt Lake Council

P   Put a few of State Nicknames from you area, or some of the easier to act out in a container and have someone draw them out and try to act them out as the audience tries to guess what the Nickname is and what State it is from. 

P   Pick the States you use carefully as some State Nicknames will be more difficult to do than others. See List in Theme Ideas

ABC Memory Game

Catalina Council

This is a good one for parents and siblings, too.

Materials: None Directions:

A:      One person starts the game by saying: “As I was traveling through the woods, I placed an apple in my bag. (or anything that begins with the letter A).

B:      The next player names the A item and adds something starting with B - For example - “As I was traveling through the woods, I placed an apple and a balloon in my bag.”

C:      Each additional player must repeat what was named and add to it something from the next letter of the alphabet.

Mistakes make it funny!

ABC Name Game

Catalina Council

Another good one for parents and siblings, too.

Materials: None Directions:

A:      One person starts the game by saying a name for him (or her, if a sibling or Mom), a spouse's name, a place and a product that begin with A.  For example: “My name is Alex.  My spouse's name is Anna.  We come from Austin and we sell apples." 

B:      The next player gives B names, places and things.  For example - “My name is Barbara.  My spouse's name is Brian.  We come from Boston and we sell beans." 

C:      One more - “My name is Christopher.  My spouse's name is Christine.  We come from Christmas Valley (Oregon) and we sell Christmas Trees." 

D:      Proceed through the group, the next player just makes up names, place, and item for next letter.

This game does not build.  Not a memory challenge!

Travelers

Sam Houston Area Council

P   The leader tells the Cub Scouts that they are going on an imaginary trip.

P   Each Scout can go anywhere he wants in the United States, but he must only use words that start with the first letter of the name of the place he is going to describe what he is going to do there.

For Example -

The leader asks the first Scout – “Where are you going?”

He might answer “San Diego.”

The leader asks him – “What are you going to do there?”

He could reply, “Sing songs” or “slurp sundaes.”

Answers can be very general.

·   Going to the “country” to “chase cars” for example.

·   Or, going to the “beach” to “bake biscuits.”

Geography

Catalina Council

Divide into teams.

One team picks out a place on a U.S. map, calls out the name and challenges the other team to find it in four minutes.

If the other team gets it in the time limit, they get one point.

If they do not, the other team get the point.

The game ends when one team has earned 5 points.

Texas Rodeo!

Sam Houston Area Council

As each Scout arrives at the pack meeting, give him a sign with his number on it.  Assign numbers at random as boys arrive. Signs could be made from cake cardboard or cut up cardboard boxes or poster board.

Set up booths around the “arena” for the Scouts to visit and earn points.

·   Activities could include

Lassoing,

Horse shoe throws,

Balloon pop, etc…

(See How-To Book for more ideas)

·   Scouts could bring horses made from broom handles and paper mache, or an all wood design.

·   Have barrel races with 5-gallon buckets as barrels.

·   Scouts with the greatest number of points could compete in a rooster crowing contest (or all Scouts could “crow” as part of a chorus.)

Minuteman Run

Catalina Council

·         The players form a circle and hold hands.

·         A person who is chosen ‘It’ stands inside the circle.

·         He walks around the circle, tapping each player’s hands as he says each word of the rhyme, “Red, white, blue, out goes you!”

·         The two persons he taps on the word, You”, run around the circle in opposite directions.

·         ‘It’ steps into one of the empty places.

·         The last one to get back to the empty place becomes ‘It’.

Ring the Liberty Bell

Catalina Council

Equipment: Bell, Wire coat hanger, Heavy cord or rope,

Small rubber ball.

Directions:

·         Bend the coat hanger into a hoop, with the hook at the top.

·         Hang the bell in the middle of the hoop with the rope, and then tie the hoop from a low tree branch.

·         This game may be played by individuals or teams.

·         The players take turns trying to throw the ball through the hoop.

·         Have a person stand on the other side of the hoop to catch the ball.

·         Keep score as points are made.

¡  Each time the bell is rung, the player scores three points.

¡  If the ball goes through the hoop but doesn’t touch the bell , he scores two points.

¡  If the ball hits the outside of the coat hanger, the player scores one point.

·         Each player throws the ball only once per turn, and gets five turns.

·         After everyone is finished, add up the number of points scored by individuals or teams.

We Fought Hard For Those 50 Stars

Catalina Council

·         Divide the group into equal teams, lined up a few feet away from the table.

·         Place a bowl on the table for each team.

·         Lay 50 cutout paper stars (approx. 2 inches in diameter) out on the table besides each bowl.

·         Give each player his own straw.

·         On the signal, the first player on each team, runs forward and picks up one or more stars, with one breath, by sucking on the straw.

·         He carries the star to the bowl and drops it in.
NO HANDS.

·         He then tags the next person in line who does the same thing and the first person goes to the end of the line.

·         The first team to have all 50 stars in the bowl is the winner. (Game can be varied to use 13 stars for a smaller group).

A National Tour

Sam Houston Area Council

ü   Scouts sit in a circle with one Scout outside the circle. He is the tour leader.

ü   Each of the Scouts in the circle is given the name of a city in the United States (Austin, Baton Rouge, Carlsbad, Destin, Trenton, etc…).

ü   The tour leader walks around the circle and announces the next stop on the national tour.

ü   When a city is called (in any order), the Scout associated with that city gets up and starts following the tour leader.

ü   The tour leader may call as many cities, or as few, as he wants.

ü   When he calls ‘BUS STOP AHEAD,’ all the Scouts/cities rush back to the circle and sit down.

ü   The tour leader also tries to find a spot in the circle.

ü   The Scout left standing is the next tour leader.

Map Reading Relay

Sam Houston Area Council

«  Divide the den into two teams.

«  On tables across the room/space, place maps of the United States (or your state) and a marker/pencil.

«  Give each Scout on the team a city to find on the map (same cities for each team).

«  On signal, the first Scout from each team runs to his team’s map and circles his city.

«  When he returns (leaving the marker/pencil at the map), he tags the next Scout who runs to the map and circles his city,

«  The relay continues until each Scout on the team has found a spot on the map and returned to the starting point.

«  The team who finishes the relay first wins.

Drawing Columbus’ Ship

Sam Houston Area Council

·         A pencil or marker and a piece of paper is all that is needed.

·         The first player draws a line.

·         He passes the pen to the next player, but keeps the pen on the paper at all times.

·         Everyone has a turn, each trying to add the lines to drawing Columbus’ ship.

·         Having a picture available of Columbus’ ship might help.

Variation: Draw the Statue of Liberty or something famous near you.

Heave, Ho, Throw! Relay

Catalina Council

You should shorten these distances for Cub Scouts  CD

·         Divide the group into two teams.

·         Take one boy from each team about 20 feet from the rest of the group and have him sit in a designated spot.

·         During the game, he may lean forward slightly and reach, but he cannot move from the spot.

·         Give the first Scout in each line coil a rope about 25 feet in length.

·         Each boy makes one throw, holding onto the end.

·         The sitting Cub Scout tries to reach the rope being thrown without moving from his spot.

·         Each boy in the relay line will throw the rope once, and then go to the end of the line.

·         Teams score whenever the sitting boy can reach the rope thrown to him.

·         One point is given for each throw that the sitting boy catches.

·         The team with the most points is the winner.

Eskimo Relay

Catalina Council

Object:  The team which is able to take the longest time to get the ice cube to the end of the line.

Material:

2 teams of 5 or 6 players,

3 adult judges and

2 to 4 ice cubes

How to Play:

ü  Place each team in line with the players standing behind each other about 3 feet apart.

ü  Give the 1st player in each line a large ice cube.

ü  At the signal, the 1st player turns and places the ice cube on the neck of the next player, who must stoop over.

ü  The 2nd player tries to balance the ice cube as long as he can.

ü  As soon as it slips he must either catch it or pick it up, then turn immediately and place it on the neck of the next person.

ü  This continues until the ice cube has gone all the way to the end of the line.

ü  The judges are on hand to ensure that no one dawdles.

ü  The use of hands is strictly forbidden except to move the ice cube from one person to the next.

Here in America

Sam Houston Area Council

ü   Scouts sit in a large circle.

ü   The first Scout gives the name of an American city, state, town, body of water, mountain or island.

ü   The next Scout must use the last letter of the word given by the previous Scout as the first letter of his American location.

For example, if the first Scout says “Houston,”
 the second Scout could say “Nebraska,” and
the third Scout could say “Appalachian Mountains,” etc…

ü   This continues until a Scout repeats another Scout’s word or cannot give a location in 15 seconds.

ü   The game continues with the next Scout.

ü   The last Scout to remain is the winner.

Potato Wheel-barrow Race

Baltimore Area Council

ü  Organize a wheel-barrow race with a team of two children--one on the floor walking on hands and the other holding up his/her feet

ü  Put a potato on the back of each 'wheel barrow'.

ü  Listen to the shrieks of glee!

ü  If the spud falls off, the team must return to the starting line.

American Alphabet Shuffle

Sam Houston Area Council

·         Write each letter of the alphabet on a small index card.

·         Place in the middle of a table and shuffle the cards.

·         Divide the Scouts into 2 or 3 teams, depending on how large the group is.

·         As the leader selects a card and shows it, the Scouts try to be the first on their team to name an American city that begins with the chosen letter (ex. A = Austin, Albuquerque).

·         The first Scout to answer wins a point for his group.

·         The team to reach a designated number of points first wins.

Patriotic Colors

Baltimore Area Council

Equipment: None

Formation: Circle

Directions:

ü  The leader sits in the middle of the circle, points to a player and calls 'red'.

ü  The player has to name an object that is red (e.g. tomato, fire engine) before the leader can count to 10 out loud.

ü  The same object cannot be repeated.

ü  If a player fails to think of an object before the leader has counted to ten, the two switch places.

ü  Use the patriotic colors 'red', 'white' and 'blue'.

Tug Of Peace

Baltimore Area Council

P A group of boys sit in a circle holding onto a rope placed inside the circle in front of their feet.

P The ends of the rope are tied together to make a huge loop.

P If everyone pulls at the same time, the entire group should be able to come to a standing position.

P The Tug of Peace can also be played by stretching the rope out straight and having boys sit on either side of it, facing each other in two lines.

P If both sides pull on the rope evenly, they can help each other up.

Sorry You Missed

Baltimore Area Council

«  Have the boys stand in a small circle while each in turn tries to toss a beanbag into a small container in the center.

«  If he misses he must drop out.

«  Each time around the boys move back a step.

«  Last one left wins the game.

Independence Tag

Catalina Council

‘It’ pursues the rest of the players and tries to touch one of them. When one has been touched, he must keep his hand on the spot where he was touched and pursue the others. His hand can not be freed from this spot until he has tagged someone else. The idea is to tag people in inconvenient places … on the ankle, knee, etc.

Destination Center

Sam Houston Area Council

Materials –

One piece of stretchy elastic (like a BIG rubber band) tied in a circle, and

A bucket for each team.

Directions –

ü   Divide Scouts into teams.

ü   The team must stretch out the elastic circle and release it in such a way that it falls into the bucket.

ü   Each Scout must hold the elastic with two fingers (one from each hand) and the team backs away from a bucket placed at the center of their group.

ü   The Scouts must keep the elastic fully stretched just before the release, and they must let go of the elastic at the same time. (So, one Scout cannot throw the elastic into the bucket…)

American Foods Bingo

Alice, Golden Empire Council

Go to www.print-bingo.com  and print out Bingo cards with food categories such as Appetizer, Meat, Seafood, Fruit, Vegetable, Snack, Dessert, Camping, Potato in the squares.  Each person or family gets a card and they have to fill in an American food that fits the category in each box.  If you want to make it more interesting, start with foods beginning with “A,” then add a food beginning with “B” and finally “C” in each square before they yell “Bingo!”  (The winning card will have three foods in each square, one each beginning with A, B, and C)

Famous American ABC Bingo

Alice, Golden Empire Council

Follow the steps listed above, but either use blank squares that must be filled with famous American names, or use categories such as Author, Patriot, President, Sports Figure, Inventor, Founding Father, Astronaut, etc.