Planning a Compass Course

Planning a compass course does not need to be very time consuming or complicated!  The course can be located anywhere: the park, beach, or backyard. It can be as simple or complex as you want, but should be scaled in difficulty to the ages of the players.

1. Standing at the starting point, look around in the distance for a hiding place for the first little treasure and next clue: behind a tree, hanging from a branch, behind the garage … Hold the compass and check to see that it’s level enough for the needle or card to spin freely. Wait till it points steadily in one direction, and turn the compass so “N” lines up with the pointer.

   Now hold the compass in front of your face, and turn it until the needle points to North. Look to the hiding spot, then look down to the compass and read the “degrees” which point to the spot.

   (This method is simple, but not “pinpoint” accurate. Keep the next clue reasonably easy to locate).

2. Walk to the first hiding spot and count your steps along the way. Be sure to take the same size steps as the players would. Write down the number of steps and the course (in degrees) on a small piece of paper. This is the clue you’ll give the players at the start.

   Repeat the process for the next clue: look for a hiding spot, take a compass bearing, count the steps, and write it down. Once you’ve finished plotting this second clue, you have to backtrack to the first clue location and leave the note with compass bearing and # of steps to the spot you just plotted. Don’t forget to leave a few treats to keep the players enticed.

3. Create as many waypoints as you like, but make enough so that each player gets a turn. The final “treasure” can be buried, hidden, or covered, but where all can access it together. (Not up a tree!) It can even lead right into your house where the birthday cake is waiting as the treasure.

Remember to KISS--Keep It Simple Stupid!  The point is to HAVE FUN and GOOD LUCK!

BOOKS AND STUFF

Seriously...there are a TON of helpful books out there that you can use to help with your pack overnighters.  This list is bound to continually grow, but here is a list to get you started.  You should be able to find all of these books at your local Scout Shop, but if you're like me, and you love to order stuff online, try https://www.scoutshop.org/ and they can ship stuff right to your door!

The Scout's Campfire Cookbook for Kids

The Scout's Dutch Oven Book

The Scouts Deck of Outdoor Recipe Cards

Camp Cookery for Small Groups

The Scout's Outdoor Cookbook

Cub Scout Ceremonies for Dens and Packs

Cub Scout Songbook

Cub Scout Magic

Campfire Magic

Hiking Games for Cubs

Hiking games can make almost ANY hike into a fun adventure for a Cub Scout and are a GREAT way to get everyone outside.  Put the "outing" in Scouting and try one of these ideas...

SCAVENGER HUNT HIKE

Make a list of things for your Cubs to look for--not things to pick up and take home with them, but things to experience, ie: smell, sound, sight, or feel.  

For example, for sound you might have your kids listen for a bird chirping, or leaves rustling.  Smells could be dirt or flowers.  Base your list on the area you will be visiting.  If your hike/walk is through your neighborhood, you might have them listen for a car or a police siren.

PENNY FLIP HIKE

Flip a penny to decide what direction you'll take on your hike.  You might say, "Heads, we'll go toward the creek, and tails, we'll walk toward that big tree."  

Flip your penny to do silly stuff like, "Heads, we'll sing Baby Shark, and tails we'll moo like a cow until we reach that rock."

ABC HIKE

In this hike, the Cubs are looking for items that start with each letter of the alphabet--kind of like the alphabet car game.  Pair up the children; when they find an item that starts with the letter 'A' (acorn or ant for example), have them call out the name, and begin searching for the next letter. 

INSECT HIKE

If possible, have each child bring a camera or phone with picture taking capabilities.  If everyone does not have one, pair them up.  Tell the Cubs to take as many pictures of different insects as they can, and see who comes up with the most.

SKETCHING OR DRAWING HIKE

Bring along paper and pencils or crayons.  Hike to a scenic location and have the Cubs draw what they see.

NATURE FRIENDS HIKE

Each Cub picks up an item from the ground to be their "friend" on the hike.  As you hike, have each child explain why they chose their item as their friend.

P.S. Need more ideas for hiking games?  Check out the site where THESE ideas came from, and find even more! https://cubscoutideas.com/2478/more-hiking-games/

Oh, Deer! Group Activity

Learn how nature finds it's balance, through a game called 'Oh, Deer!' The main game (lasts about 5-10 minutes) is played 12-15 times, with some participants playing the Deer and other participant playing the Necessities Of Life (food, shelter, water). Add natural disasters and other predators, once you have the game down. Due to the nature of this game (not based on strength, speed, or agility), even very small children can play with the older player with an assistant.

Divide the participants into two groups, the Deer and the Necessities of Life. There should be twice as many Necessities as Dear. One way to do this is by having them line up and count off 1, 2, 3 ... then announce all the 1's will be the deer.

Have the participants line up in 2 lines, the Deer on one side and the Necessities on the other, facing each other, about 10 feet apart from the other line and about an arms distance away from the neighbor. At the beginning of each round, the participants turn away from each other, with their backs turned away from the other line. The Necessities decide if they wish to be Food (indicated with hands on belly), Water (indicated with hands over mouth), or Shelter (indicated with hands on head). At the same time, the Deer decide which of these 3 things they need, choosing one by placing their hands on either their belly, mouth, or head. When the officiator says "Go" the two groups turn around to face each other. The Deer find a Necessity that matched their need. The Deer then go to the other line, find their match, and bring them to the Deer line, and the Necessity becomes a Deer for the next round. If a Deer cannot find a match, they are "recycled" (die, but call it "recycled" so kids don't mistake dying as losing) and becomes a Necessity. NOTICE and point out the balance of nature. TWIST: You can add one or two natural disasters to the first phase. After they have chosen, they are told to turn around and wait for more instructions. Once they turn around you can explain that there was a terrible fire and there is no shelter available. Or, this has been a year of terrible drought and there is no water. Those Necessities step back and out of this round. EXTENSION: Other Predators If you have quite a large group of 14 or more, the 2nd phase is to add a perpendicular lines with 2 players taking the role of Cougars. The Cougars may choose any Necessity of Life, but if they choose food (hands on belly) they catch a Deer. When either the Cougars numbers or the Deer numbers rose too high, add in 2 Hunters (on a line opposite the Cougars, completing a rectangle game formation). The Hunters hunt Deer or Cougar, indicated by shaping one hand into a C or both hands into a D in front of them. If the Hunters become too many, you could introduce an Environmental Specialists, who (indicating by forming a C or D) stop the hunters from hunting their choice of Cougar or Deer that round. NOTICE that other predators help nature keep its balance. For, if you take away the predators, you may cause an overpopulation of deer, and the vegetation would greatly be reduced by their great consumption. If you take away all the deer to preserve vegetation, there will be an overgrowth of vegetation. The balance of nature is pretty amazing!

Water Cycle Dice Activity

Role-play as a drop of water.

Travel between stations representing animals, clouds, glaciers,
groundwater, and many other. Gather beads as memories of your
life's travels. Compare life (string of beads) to other “drops” of water. Fun game anyone, any age can play!

You will need:
9 designated stations 9 six-sided dice (one for each station) 9 colors of pony beads (one color designated for each station) Teacher Information Sheet (Cut by station then place each section at corresponding station) 9 Station Information Sheets (plus 1 extra sheet to use as an example, if for Pre-Opening) A string or pipe cleaner for each participant to track their journey (by adding beads in the
order that they move from station to station as indicated by their role of the die and
according to the information page) 1 Water Cycle Worksheet (For explaining during Instruction)
You can find the Information Sheets at http://arcticclimatemodeling.org/lessons/acmp/acmp_k4_WaterCycle_WaterCycleGame.pdf  Skip the 1st two (classroom instruction) pages.

Set up stations (and label them) in a way that it is easy to find each station but you have to walk several steps to get to each one. Moving from station to station is part of the activity and, even though you aren't aware of it, part of the fun.

It would be helpful to let participants know that:
*A cycle is a set of events that repeat in the same order.
*In a water cycle, each droplet of water takes its own path through the cycle
*Students will roll the die at the station. If more than one student is at a station, students will need to take turns rolling the die. Students should read the number on the die and match it to the chart on the sheet on the table. (Show and demonstrate an example.) The chart will indicate where to go next.

This is written for a classroom, but I played it (as I indicated above) outside at a cub camp out years ago. Pair with a partner (sibling, friend, parent) - one reads, one rolls the die. This is also good for a Pre-Opening game, since there is no defined beginning or end and is played individually.