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Troop
Night Fillers
Equipment
Box
Some
of these ideas involve some equipment, so to make life easier for yourself, make
a Troop games box to contain all the odd bits and pieces you will find useful. A
good basic selection of equipment will include the following:
With
these 5 items (and a few chairs), the possibilities are endless, so use your
imagination and come up with some fillers of your own. To get you started here
are a few suggestions. Many of these have been in Scouting for ages but the
Scouts still love them (so our thanks must go to the original people who thought
of them, whoever they were, lost in the mists of Scouting time) Patrol
Challenges
Ballisters
Each
Patrol gets rope, elastic bands and some Scout staves. They are given a time
limit (to suit the programme) to build their ballister. After the time is up the
aim is to see which teams ballister fires over the longest distance, and then
which is the most accurate. Reach for the Sky!
With
Scout staves and ropes, plus a limited amount of time, each Patrol must build a
free standing structure which should be as tall as possible. After the time
limit, the tallest structure wins, provided it stays upright for 3 minutes. Try
adding a flag to be broken from the top, without pulling down the structure! The Long Stretch
Give
each Patrol the same number of elastic bands. In a given time limit they have to
make the longest chain of bands that they can, which should encourage teamwork
and organisation. Measure
the chain without stretching (a break on a 100ft stretched chain can cause
problems). An important second part of the challenge is to find the first Patrol
who can then take the chain apart again! If you have a box of paper-clips handy,
then the same idea can be used. A Knotty Problem
Each
Patrol has the same number of equal length ropes. The Patrol who can join them
all together into the longest joined rope wins. The only complication is that
every rope must be joined to the next rope using a different knot (each knot can
only be used once in the chain), or if the same knot is used again, then that
piece of rope must contain a unique knot or hitch. For
example a rope may have a reef knot at both ends, but only if it contains a
sheep shank or bowline (which shortens the overall length!) Inventions
Show
each Patrol the games box. Then get them to invent a new game using the
equipment that you have, and try the games out. Chair Race
Each
Patrol has a chair for each member, plus one additional chair. They have to get
from one end of the room to the other without touching the floor. Team
Games - Split the Troop into 2 teams
(Note that these games are just fillers
for a Troop Night.) Hockey
Using
Scout staves as hockey sticks and a ball, play hockey. As a change number off
each team and call out the numbers. Then the numbered individuals have a one to
one challenge with the person scoring a goal earning a point for their team. If
you do not have a suitable ball, make a coit out of some old rope. Chair Basketball
No
hoops - No problem ! Simply get a member of each team to stand on a chair at the
other end of the room (the one which that team is attacking). If their team
passes the ball to their member on the chair then a point is scored. Prisoners
Each
team has one half of the room, and a number of balls are used which the teams
throw at each other. If a team member is hit below the knees by a throw of an
opposing team member, then they must stand behind the opposing team on a chair
or bench as a prisoner. They can then be freed to re-join their team if their
team can throw a ball to them so that they catch it. Play until the last man is
captured, or give a time limit after which the team with the most players left
wins. Games
- Individual / Pairs
Law & Promise
Give
every member of the Troop a pencil and paper. Then simply get them to write down
their Law & Promise. The results may surprise you! Paper Aeroplanes
Simply
give each Scout a piece of paper to make a paper aeroplane. Then one at a time
each Scout has 2 throws to get his / her plane the farthest. It sounds simple,
but the debates are endless as everyone thinks they know the best design.
Another option is to get each individual to make a paper cup, then see who can
transport the most water ! Lists
Each
Scout is given a piece of paper and then asked to list an item from a category
for each letter of the alphabet. Try using countries, animals, cars, football
teams etc as the categories. Allow about 3 minutes for each category so that the
Scouts don’t get frustrated. Horseback
A
Scout gives another Scout a piggyback, and then each team jousts to be the last
horse and rider standing. The jousts can be two against two (to even out size
differences), or could even be a ‘free for all’. |
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