Object—Attention, Agility

Teams—Whole Troop Type—Lively

Space—Medium, 1-0

Material—Long rope with soft weight (sandbag) in end.

Troop circle formation, with one boy in center who swings rope around circle below knees of others, who must jump it. If hit by rope or bag, they drop out. Game continues until only one is left.

Poison

Object—Physical Action

Teams—Whole Troop Type—Vigorous

Space—Medium, 1-0

Material—None

Troop circle formation, but with Scouts of the various Patrols alternating. Mark a circle on the ground, five-six feet in diameter. All Scouts join hands and move rapidly around the circle, while each Scout tries to force the opponent next to him on either side to step into the inside circle. Any Scout stepping into circle is "poisoned" and drops out of game. Game is continued until only one is left. The Patrol to which he belongs is the winner.

"Kangaroo Hop Relay." It takes stamina to hop there and back but it is fun. Variations are the Elephant Walk, Crab Crawl, and Waddle.

Fill The Gap

Described in Chat 5. See Index.

Do This—Do That

Object—Attention

Teams—Whole Troop Type—Quiet

Space—Medium, 1-0 Material—None

Horseshoe formation. Leader, in center, perform?

Certain movements, preceding each with "Do this!" or "Do that!" All movements, following the order "Do this!" must immediately be executed by all players, while movements following "Do that!" must be ignored. Players making mistakes drop out. Continue until all are out or a certain length of time.

Whole Troop Against "It". Three Deep

Object—Attention, Physical

Teams—Whole Troop

Action against "It"

Type—Vigorous

Space—Medium, I-O

Material—None

Scouts form a circle, facing center, the boys in pairs with one Scout of each pair standing behind the other.

Outside of circle is a Scout who is "It" and one he is chasing, the runner. The object of the runner is to place himself, before being tagged, in front of any one of the "two-deep" units which form the circle. If he succeeds he is safe and the third (or rear) man of that unit becomes the runner, to be chased by "It."

If the runner is tagged before he reaches safety he becomes "It" and the former "It" becomes the runner.

Black Sheep

Object—Physical Action

Teams—Whole Troop Type—Vigorous against "It"

Space—Medium, 1-0 Material—None

One Scout stands between two lines twenty yards apart. All others line up behind one line and attempt to cross to other line without being tagged when the center calls out "Black Sheep." All those tagged stay and help catch the others on the succeeding rushes. This continues until all are caught. The first caught is the "black sheep" for next time.

"Horse and Rider" or "Jousting" is a good game to teach coordination and team-play. Active boys enjoy strenuous games.

Spud

Object—Physical Action

Teams—Whole Troop Type—Vigorous against "It"

Space—Large, 0 Material—Soft ball

Use an old indoor baseball, somewhat soft from use, basketball or volley ball. All gather around one of the players who drops the ball, at the same time giving one of the names. The person called immediately obtains possession of the ball and throws from where he stands at one of the players (who scatter). If he hits a player, that player strives to hit another and so on until someone misses hitting. One miss counts one spud. The person who misses continues the game in the center. Three misses or spuds make the guilty party liable to penalty.

Swat 'Em

Object—Attention, Physical Teams—Whole Troop

Action against "It"

Type—Lively Space—Medium, 1-0

Material—A wrapped newspaper or cloth sausage.

Troop circle formation, each Scout with his hands held cup-shape behind him. The person who is "It" carries a wrapped newspaper or a cloth sausage to use as a swatter. This he leaves in the hands of some one of the players in the circle, who from that moment on has the privilege of swatting the boy at his right on the back, below the neck, as long as that boy is on the journey around the circle and back to his own place in the circle again. When this chase is completed the new holder of the swatter circles mysteriously about the ring, leaving the swatter in the hands of another boy, and taking a place in the circle again. (Do not use a knotted neckerchief or any other knotted cloth as swatter.)

Tags

Object—Physical Action Teams—Whole Troop Type—Vigorous against "It"

Space—Large, O Material—None

Cross Tag—"It" must continue chasing same Scout until he catches him or another Scout crosses between them, in which case "It" must catch the third Scout.

Ankle Tag—To escape being tagged one must grasp another Scout by the ankle. The Scout whose ankle is grasped, however, is liable to be tagged unless he has hold of someone else's ankle. The playing area must be small enough to make the game feasible.

Hip Tag—Some player throws a stick about a foot long and calls upon some other player who becomes "hip." "Hip" must recover the stick and capture others playing by tagging them with it. Those tagged help him catch the rest by holding them until he can tag them with his stick.

Chain Tag—The first man tagged joins hands with the man who is "It," and later as each man is tagged he is added to the chain. The playing area must be limited so all can be caught finally.

Skunk Tag—Each player holds his nose with one hand, holds up one foot with the other. Player can only be tagged if he lets go with either hand.