Ideas for Wide Games
Wide games are played over a large area. They are great activities to burn off energy, especially for the first night.
Whistle tag wide game
Equipment: one whistle for each ‘hunted’ leader. The group is divided into teams of 6-8 players. The leaders who are to be ‘hunted’ are given a two-minute head start into the playing area (a five acre wooded area is ideal).
Teams have to stay together during the entire game. Each team begins to ‘hunt’ the leaders, who are required to blow their whistles at one-minute intervals (or variations that you may want to work out). Leaders may remain mobile, or seek a hiding place.
Teams try to touch as many Leaders as possible within the time limit of the game. Captured Leaders are immediately freed to run and whistle again.
The team who tags the most wins.
The mystery mission
Split Cubs into teams. Each team’s mission is to enter the woods and find a suitable place to set up a camp, making sure not to get too close to one of the other teams as they may steal ideas or equipment. Cubs will need to choose their sites well as they will have to defend it against attack from other expedition parties. An attack could come after 30 minutes of the game startingteams will need to you need to think about which jobs you do first. Each team should be accompanied by a leader; their job is to make sure everyone is safe, but not to help. Each team has to to build a shelter big enough for all team members to get in so everyone would be out of any wind or rain. Teams should be prepared to treat a casualty in the event of an accident and make them a hot drink.
Give each team a choice of items to take with you into the woods. Teams should choose carefully what to take based on the above information. They may be allowed to trade for additional items but they will have to purchase them, trading the beads they have been given for money.
Missing person
Each team is provided with a photograph of one of the leaders acting as guards. The teams have
to keep away from the guards but at the same time find the one person who is in the photograph. Once they have found who they are looking for, they have to capture them and return them home. Each team has a different guard to capture.
Water transfer
Cubs are based around a tap, stream or other water source. Five buckets are placed in the playing area, which is usually in a wood. Each Cub has a mug. They have to find where the buckets are and then try to fill them by transferring water in their mugs. The area is guarded so that any Cub who is spotted has to turn their mug over. Some Cubs may think to move the buckets, which can be part of the tactics of the game, or you may prefer to make it a rule that the buckets remain static.
Moving Post boxes
Cubs have to deliver a number of letters. They are presented with the letters one at a time, each letter being colour coded to a particular post box. The Cubs have to find the post box, put their letters in and then return to base to get another one. The problem is that the post boxes are leaders dressed up and they can run anywhere within the playing area. See which team posts the most letters.
Dragon tag
You need an area with a lot of space. Form teams of 4-8 people. Make human chains by having team members hold on to each other’s waists or link elbows. Each team of connected people is now a ‘dragon’ with a head and a tail. Place a scarf or bandana hanging in the back pocket of the last person in the chain to act as the tail.
People who are part of the human chain cannot let go or be separated. The goal of the game is to have the head of each dragon (the front of the chain) grab the scarf or bandana off the tail of another team’s dragon while staying linked. If any part of a team’s dragon gets separated, the detached tail end cannot move; only the head and the people attached to the head can move. You cannot go after another team until you have reconnected your body together.
A team can perform defence by curling up into a ball. You can curl up as a whole dragon or just the tail if the head has been detached. When any team loses their tail, that is, when another team grabs their scarf or bandana, they are out. The last remaining team is the winner.
Ninja
The Cubs stand in a tight circle and on the count of three, jump outwards. They must then stay where they land and not move their arms.
Each Cub then tries to tap the hand of the person to the left of them with their hand. The ‘tapper’ has one movement to do this from wherever they landed. The ‘receiver’ has one movement to try and get their hands out of the way so they can’t be tapped. If they do get tapped, they are out and have to sit out. If they don’t get tapped, they must stay where they landed and not move their arms. The ‘receiver’ then becomes the ‘tapper’ and tries to tap a hand of the person to the left of them. The new ‘receiver’ has one movement to get their hands out of the way of the new ‘tapper’.
This carries on round the circle until the Cubs are quite far apart and much more effort is required to get someone out. At this point the Cubs can try and tap either the person to the left or right of them, depending on who is easier to reach. As before the ‘receiver’ has one movement to get their hands out of the way and the ‘tapper’ has one movement to try and tap them.
The game continues with the Cubs using more and more difficult movements to try and get someone out. The winner is the last one in.
Slap it
Form teams of four to six and give each team three buttons or coins. The Cubs line up in relay teams. When the leader calls ‘slap it’, the first player in each team picks up a button or coin, places it on the flat of their hand and slap passes it to the flat outstretched hand of the next person, and so on. They must be passed one at a time along the row and back again. The winning team is the first to get every button or coin.
Pass the parcel
Form teams and give each one an object to wrap, such as a bag of flour or bottle of water, together with brown paper and string. Teams then spread out and throw the parcels to each other up and down the line until given the signal given to stop. The winning team is the one with the most intact parcel, or the one that keeps the parcel in one piece the longest.
Human bowl
The leader puts a small, flat object on the ground approximately 30 metres away. Cubs are blindfolded and one by one have to walk up to where they think the object is. When they remove the blindfold their position is marked on the ground. The Cub closest to target is the winner.
Land, sea and air
Equipment: Large soft sponge ball and sticky name labels. The Cubs stand in a circle. Leader
begins by calling someone’s name, throwing ball in the air and saying ‘land’, ‘sea’ or ‘air’. The Cub whose name was called runs into the circle and tries to catch the ball before it touches the ground, and have to say the name of an animal (land); fish (sea) bird (air). They then throw the
ball and call someone else’s name and ‘land’, ‘sea’ or ‘air’ for them to try to catch it and name something different. NB the leader must choose a different person each time.
Beanbag challenges
How far down the list of challenges can a Cub get? Throw a bean bag in the air and try to catch it. Throw a bean bag in the air, turn round and catch it. Throw the bean bag up and backwards over your head and try to catch it behind your back. Throw the bean bag up in the air, clap your hands once and catch it. Now try clapping twice
Throw the beanbag in the air and clap your hands under your right leg before catching it. Now try with your left leg. Now clap behind your back. Toss the bean bag up, jump and try to catch it. Jump twice. Jump three times
Throw it up, kneel down and try to catch it
Throw and catch it just with your left hand, then just with your right. Cubs try throwing it up and catching it with your eyes closed. Cubs throw it up and catch it on their left foot