Cub-Stuff!

Games

There is a very good chance that many of these games will appear in a book somewhere - it is the nature of the beast (as it were) that games will be passed from person to person over the years, and no-one will know where the game originated. I have not copied from any publications, and where I have known a game appears in a currently available publication, I have refrained from including it here.
Ian G, Akela of Emu Cub Pack, at the College Park Scout Group suggests checking out Scoutbase.org.uk for a set of good games. he says "I discovered them when I first became a leader several yrs ago and needed a source of games to improve teamwork etc. I have tried lots and most work well. It has given me a big enough set to make sure I don’t repeat games in a term."
Smokey also found the ultimate camp resource which is well worth a look through too.
Of course, as time permits, more will be added here - other sections of the site have been done first, I have folders full of notes to be converted to code.
Note - Program Ideas are on a different page

Games:

2-cub reef knots

- A simple task for most cubs - normally, abut this game involves the use of only ONE hand per cub. In pairs, the game involves simply tying a reef knot, with one cub using his left hand and the other using only his right hand. This is an exercise in co-operation!
[Themes - promise/law, working together, cooperation, knotting, understanding cubs with disabilities]

Rope relay

Required items: Rope & "judges".
Split Cubs into sixes & line up. In a relay fashion the cubs run to a pole and tie a knot. (Clove hitch) then run back tagging their next team member in line. Once the Cub has returned and tagged the next in line they sit in line waiting for the team to finish.

Phonetic alphabet

Required Items : notepaper/pens
Teach and run through Phonetic alphabet.
Cubs to write name down on paper and say it using the phonetic alphabet. Play hangman using the phonetic alphabet.

Fall In

Cubs to line up (eg. in height order) in front of the leader.
Once they are still & quiet, the leader relocates to a new spot in the room/yard and claps. On the CLAP, the cubs are all to reform the line in the leader's new position.
A variation is for the leader to call out a new order (eg birthdays) and for the cubs to have to reorganise themselves into a new line at the new spot in the new sequence.
To make some rounds more challenging, the cubs have to arrange themselves without talking at all.

Escaped Prisoner

All cubs form a circle and hold hands tightly - except one, who becomes the prisoner in the centre.
The prisoner has to escape over or under the arms of the rest, but NOT break thru. If the prosoner excapes, all chase until caught - first to catch the prisoner becomes him/her for the next round.

Balloon Volleyball

Required items: A bag of balloons.
Played similar to normal volleyball, although a net is not necessary unless desired/available.
If you have LOTS of cubs playing, the room can be divided into quarters.

Ships & Lighthouses

One cub is blindfolded and becomes the "ship".
One cubs becomes the "lighthouse" at the other end of the hall and beeps (makes a distictive noise) to attract the ship.
The rest of the cubs spread themselves around the hall between the ship & lighthouse, and become "rocks". The lighthouse beeps as the blindfolded ship moves towards it, and if the ship nears a rock, the rock makes the sound of waves (shshshsh, shshshsh etc) so the ship can avoid it.
After a couple of tries, a second ship and lighthouse (with a different noise) can also be in play at the same time.

Scotland Yard

1/3 of cubs are thieves, 1/3 are detective team A, the last 1/3 are detective team B.
Both teams of detectives inspect the hands of ALL the thieves, and then the thieves leave the room. ONE thief reaches into the detectives room (a covering cloth over their arms etc can be used) and the detectives have to deduce whose hands they are. The team gets a point for a correct answer, but the identity of the hands is not revealed until ALL the theives have been checked "through the door".
Teams can rotate being theives for each round.

Tin Can Bowling

Required items: One aluminium soft-drink can per cub, plus about 4 "frisbee" type flying disks.
.Divide the pack into two teams and line up across the hall facing each other (the teams about 6M apart is a good distance). Each cub sits on the floor and places their can standing in front of them. Each team is given 2 discs, which are NEVER to be thrown. They are used by placing your hand on top of the disc and sliding it towards a can belonging to the other team. Cubs cannot stop the disc hitting their can, they can only touch an approaching disc AFTER it has passed or missed their can. Once a can is knocked down, that cub cannot reset their can, and is "out" until a team wins by knocking down all the opposing teams cans. Once you have a winning team, reset and start again.
[NOTE: Cubs need to watch even when they are out, as discs will still be sliding near them. Fingers and knees may get hit by sliding dics, however this will help to teach the cubs to be alert all the time they are playing the game.]

Sharp Ears

With the cubs standing in a circle, and one cubs blindfolded in the centre, the leader points to one cub in the circle who softly says the name of the blindfolded cub. He/she has three guesses to identify the speaker. If this becomes too easy, have the speaker make an animal noise instead.

Creep Mouse

Absolute silence is required for this game. A blindfolded cub in the centre is the Cat.
One mouse (cub) creeps forward to try to reach the cat. if the cat hears the mouse, he/she points where he thinks the mouse is. If correct, the mouse is caught, and sits where caught. Once all have tried, the nearest mouse to the cat wins.

Skunk Tag

All cubs stand on one leg. They then hold their OTHER leg with one hand and their NOSE with the other. In this postition they are "safe". However as soon as they let go of either hand or put the 2nd foot on the ground they are able to be tagged by "it". Once tagged, they become "it".

Sock Wrestling

Required items: 2 clean socks (a fairly loose size for the cubs), and some matting or mattresses (2-3 single beds wide is plenty of area.
All cubs remove shoes and socks. 2 cubs at a time place one of the loose socks on one of their feet and "wrestle" to try and take off the other cubs sock. Most use the extra rule that neither player can hold their own sock or pull it up (by hand) during the match. If the players come off the mats, the match is paused while they get back on.

Ice Hockey

Required items: rolled (and taped) newspapers as bats, and several blocks of ice (a 200ml container size is about right) as pucks.
. Divide the cubs into two teams and line up on either side of the hall. Number the cubs.
When their number is called (eg "5") both "fives" come out, grab a bat and "hockey 1, hockey 2, hockey 3" like a normal hockey game, then try to score by getting the puck under/through a chair at the left end of the hall.

Sticky Toffee

All cubs lie down in the Pack Circle, holding on to each other's wrists and legs. A leader starts to 'pull the toffee' apart, grasping one cubs legs and pulling them out of the circle. This cub then continues to pull other cubs out, and so on, until all have been pulled from the circle. Any cubs not able to be in the 'toffee' can begin the 'pulling' or cheer and advise others where to go next.

Captain's Coming

Nautical terms and fun actions.
All cubs line up in front of the leader who calls terminology for their actions, as follows...
Captains coming - all run back to the centerline and salute to the Leader calling out 'Aye Aye Cap'ain' (Scout salute of course)

Port , Starboard, Bow and Stern - all cubs run to the relevant place relative to the leader, who is at the Bow.
Scrub the deck - onto hands and knees and make scrubbing motion.
Cannon Ball - duck down to avoid the shot.
Submarine - lie on back with one leg up as a periscope.
Stormy waters - wave and sway with the 'effect' of rough seas.
Climb the rigging - make motions of climbing a ladder.
Crows nest - on the lookout, with Telescope or hand over eyebrows.

[Good for Sea Scouts to instantly recognise the points of a vessel. A good running around and noisy group exercise to warm the pack up.]

Compass Points

All cubs within the pack circle, if too many to fit, split the group and have spotters pick out any who get it wrong , aiming for a fast reactions winner.
Leader standing at North, calls points of the compass , all the cubs to run to that point.
To work on listening skills Leader calls a Six Colour and then their compass point, Eg Red Six - North West, Yellow six - South South East etc
Leader calls faster as less Cubs left in the circle. Works as training for the leader to move the groups around and across the circle whilst avoiding group collisions. [Good for older Cubs to be the caller. If you like also point when yuou call out, but not necessarily in the right direction]

Clean Your Room

Required items: a sheet/tarp hanging to divide the room, about cub head height, and a pile of clothing or other soft items.
.Divide the cubs in to two teams, one of either side of the divide. Ramdomly throw half the clothing on either team floor. The aim is to get your "room" clean by throwing items over the wall into the other team's room. Each cub can only pick up and throw ONE item at a time. Winners are the first ot get their room clean.

OK, so there are not enough games here yet - why not send me more to add - email them to i2@nospam.robian.net without the nospam.
Thanks for some of the above sending games go to
Mike S. Parent helper, Taperoo Sea Scouts, Sth Australia