Gail's Girl Scout Resources

Equipment: Two things to hand around. NOT related to witches or watches!! (I use two small pieces of sanded wood - they can't break and if I lose them they are easy to replace!)
Age: 9 and up
Number of participants: 10 and up.

Rules: Everyone sits in a circle. One person leads the game. That person has the two articles, and she starts one side at a time. First, she hands out one article to her left and says to the person who takes it, "This is a witch." That person takes the article and says, "A what?" The leader repeats, "A witch." That person nods, and then hands the article to her left and says, "This is a Witch." The person taking it says, "A what?" and she turns back to the person who gave it to her and repeats, "A what?" and the leader says "A witch!", she turns to the person who has it now, and says, "A witch."

So as the article goes around the words "A what?" goes back to the leader, one person at a time, and the answer, "A witch!" goes back person by person.

But that wouldn't be complicated enough, now would it? As the second or third person to the left is getting the witch, the leader turns to the person on her RIGHT and says, "This is a watch!" and that person says, "A what?" and she says, "A watch!"

Multi-tracking personalities are a help!!! The game usually goes to pieces at the place where the watch and witch cross. I usually stop it by then, everyone is confused and laughing, so they had fun, which is the point of most of the games they like. Oh, and I usually pass the Watch on the side that I where my watch on - that way, at least I don't completely mix myself up.

Jane Maddin

Category: Outdoors
Age: Guides and Up
Equipment: Baggies with information or verses of a poem copied onto cards, string to tie the bags onto bushes, trees and grass, and ribbon or reflective tape.
Number of girls: teams of 4-6

Preparation: Each baggie must be prepared in advance with parts of something that the girls must memorize. Number the parts of the things you want them to memorize. If it is a song or poem, then only put two lines or so per baggie. (If you have a theme, your parts could be related to that theme, for instance , Outdoor cooking #1. To prepare a fire pit for cooking, you must ...) Then, and you need two people to do this easily, you put your first baggie within visual sighting distance of your starting spot, and you mark that spot with a piece of ribbon or tape and tie the baggie down with the string so that it doesn't blow away. Then, one person stays there and the other person takes the baggies and the ribbon to the next spot. Ideally the second spot should not be visible from the starting spot. Work in a large loop (an irregularly shaped loop) so that the girls are near the starting point when they have reached the end.

The teams of girls are sent out at long enough intervals that they can't just follow each other. They are to find the baggies which are numbered from 1 to whatever (usually 10 or 12) and the girls must know in advance how many they are looking for. They are to memorize the contents of the baggies in order as they go, and must leave the baggies and the marking ribbon for the next team. (You will have to go and get the things you put out for next time, if the last team picks it up, they will have an unfair advantage - or you could send someone with the last team to follow and pick up the baggies and ribbons when they have passed.) The teams must find all the baggies, and recite all the instructions to you.

The game that I played, the thing in the baggies, were the instructions for cooking dinner, including how to find all the parts, and things not to forget. It was a blast!!

Jane Maddin

Fill 5 - 6 film canisters with a varying number of small pebbles, beads, etc. Leave one empty.

Blindfold a girl and have her sit on the ground with her legs apart and the film canisters in the V formed by her legs. Give her a water pistol. Send the other girls up one at a time or in groups to pick up a film canister and remove it without being heard by the girl with the water pistol.

The blindfolded girl catches the other girls by squirting them. No arguments here: it's pretty clear when a girl has been caught!

This is almost more fun to watch than to play. The antics of the squirter are hysterical. The girls learn good stalking skills and come to realize that quiet isn't always!

Gwyn

Rules: The players must approach a certain fowl without being seen; the observers are either the opposite team or the leader of the game.

Examples:
The games provide an opportunity of acquiring the following skills:
(1) HIDE: the players are in two groups. The first group is given five minutes in which to hide. After this, the opposite team tries to find the enemy. Points are counted and roles are reversed.
(2) CAMOFLAUGE: The players are in two groups. Each team goes to one end of the field, camouflages themselves without hiding, and then tries to locate the Guides of the other team.
(3) MOVE:

1. CAUTION: The leader of the game is in the thickets. Ties are hanging from branches. The players try to take the ties without being seen. The ones who have been seen may go to s set place and get a new "life".
2. SPEED: The leader of the game is in the midst of the players, who must all put one hand on her. The leader counts to ten aloud. During this time, the players run away and hide. The players who are still in sight after "10" are out. The game starts over again, with the leader counting to 9. Etc.
3. CAUTION AND SPEED: (Game called the "Blind Cow"). The players are lined up approximately 10 yards from the leader, who closes her eyes and counts to ten. During this time the players must get as close as possible to her. At ten the leader opens her eyes: All the players who are caught moving must go back to the starting line.
4. SILENCE: Players from a circle around the Guider, at approximately five yards. The Guider is blindfolded, and the players try to get near her without making any noise. When the Guider hears a noise, she points towards it. The player indicated in this manner must go back to her place.

(4) FREEZE: Who can stay the longest without moving in a given position?

Barb Garber

We also found a relay race game to help with map skills. Each team has a set of 16 cards. On one side of the card is a map symbol (e.g., highway, railroad track, school. . .). On the flip side of the card is a name (i.e., the word written out) of a _different_ symbol. Make the sets of cards different colors to keep them straight. The first girl on each team is given a card. She has to read the word on the flip side, run to where the rest of the cards are displayed symbol side up, and select the proper symbol. She then exchanges the card she had for the new card and runs back. She gives her card to the next girl in line who flips it over to read the word and repeats the process.

Beth J. Katcher

Equipment:

A watch or timer.
Category: Indoor, quiet
Number who may play: any number
Age: guides and up.

Uncover the tray and hold each article up, while naming it so that they whole group sees each thing and hears its name separately. Cover the tray after 2 minutes and allow the group 5 minutes to write the names of as many of the 20 objects as they can remember. Scoring: One point for each correct article in their list.

Jane Maddin

FLYING SAUCER KIM’S GAME

Have a bag instead of a tray, with your 20 objects in it. You need two Guiders for this. One person takes the article out of the bag and tosses it to the other Guider, who holds it up, names it and puts it in their bag (or throws it back to the bag holder, which ever works for you). After all the objects have done their flying saucer act the girls have 5 minutes to record as many of them as they can. Scoring as above.

Jane Maddin

MIME KIM’S GAME

This is a camping game. In the bag have a list, which the girls can not see of 20 camping related articles. Reach into the bag, and one at a time mime the action of taking out and using 20 articles that you would have a camp, i.e. a flashlight, matches, etc. After you have done all 20 actions the children see how many they can remember. Scoring as above.

Jane Maddin

HEARING KIM’S GAME

This version requires some preparation and a tape player. Make a cassette tape of 10 sounds that you would hear. This could be 10 nature sounds, or 10 city sounds, or a mixture of the two. Unlike the above versions, the girls record what they think they are hearing as they hear them. So, you play your first sound, and the girls are given 10 seconds to write down what they think it is, then you play the second sound, etc. Scoring as above.

Jane Maddin

10 baggies with wet sponges that have been soaked in vinegar, maple syrup, coffee, orange pop, water, ketchup, mustard, etc., are lined up and numbered. The girls smell the contents of each bag and immediately mark down their conclusion. The bags need to be covered so that the girls do not get hints by colors, or textures.

This one can also be a tasting game, each girl tastes with a drop of the liquid put on her tongue with a tooth pick. For reasons of health, a tooth pick is only used once and never dipped into a bag a second time. Salted water and sugar water can also be used for the tasting version. Scoring is the same as above.

Jane Maddin

This is done much the same way, with textures being the thing guessed. Cooked spaghetti, a bag of elastics, macaroni noodles, peeled sectioned oranges, sand, raw diced carrots, etc. In between each feeling there may need to be a place to rinse your hands. Or you could use latex gloves for each person. Immediately after feeling something they could record their guess, someone could be taking dictation for this! Scoring as above.

Jane Maddin

Each girl brings a chair or sit-upon into the circle. Divide the circle into the 8 points of the compass. Leave a clearly defined space between each point. When each section is called, for instance, NORTH, they stand up, turn around and then sit down. Each section does the same thing when their compass point is mentioned. When the story teller says WORLD, each player moves (clockwise) over one chair. Each player should note which section they are now occupying.

A big important wedding is being held this year. The daughter of King NORTH is being married to the son of King SOUTH. It is going to be a very grand affair with guests from all parts of the WORLD.

From the land of the rising sun, the Emperor of the EAST and his wife, the Empress, and from the other side of the WORLD, King and Queen WEST with the little Prince NORTHEAST and the Princess SOUTHWEST.

The bridegroom, son of King SOUTH, has invited his cousin SOUTHEAST to be the best man. The bride, daughter of King NORTH, has asked her best friend, NORTHEAST, who is also a cousin of SOUTHEAST, to be Maid of Honor.

The Queen of the NORTH was very busy trying to find places for the visitors from all over the WORLD to stay. The Emperor EAST and his wife the Empress EAST had brought so many servants to wait on them, that the little town was beginning to be very overcrowded. To add to the confusion, King and Queen WEST had brought so much luggage that it took 3 wagons to haul it to the NORTH palace. Queen NORTH looked quite worried; where in the WORLD was she to put it all?

In the last wagon, Prince NORTHWEST and Princess SOUTHWEST had put all their pets which they couldn't bear to leave behind. Four SOUTHWEST cats, four big dogs (which came from the other side of the WORLD), and a cow and a goat from the EAST. The cousins SOUTHEAST and NORTHEAST thought they were very odd things to bring halfway across the WORLD to a wedding.

At last the great day dawned, beautiful and sunny. The procession started to go to the NORTH Cathedral from NORTH Palace, and people from all over the WORLD cheered. After the ceremony in NORTH Cathedral, the procession returned to the NORTH Palace for the wedding breakfast.

First came King NORTH, with Queen SOUTH on his arm. Next came King SOUTH with Queen NORTH. Following then came King and Queen WEST, with Prince NORTHWEST and Princess SOUTHWEST. Looking very grand in their silk robes were the Emperor of the EAST and the Empress of the EAST. The guests from this part of the WORLD came next. Cousins SOUTHEAST and NORTHEAST then appeared. Then came the moment the whole WORLD had been waiting for. The beautiful bride, daughter of king NORTH, and the handsome bridegroom, son of King SOUTH, were standing in the doorway. Guests from all over the WORLD threw confetti and rice as they ran down the steps to the famous NORTH glass coach.

After the wedding breakfast at NORTH Palace, the bride and groom left on their honeymoon around the WORLD. Prince NORTHWEST had tied an old boot on the back of the car, and Princess SOUTHWEST had printed "Just Married" on the front.

The whole WORLD laughed and cheered and waved good-bye and good luck, along with Prince NORTHWEST, Princess SOUTHWEST, Cousins NORTHEAST and SOUTHEAST, Emperor and Empress EAST, King and Queen SOUTH, and finally King and Queen NORTH.

So ends a happy and exhausting day!

Katherine Town

The Time Lord took compass readings of a star constellation during her travels - can you tell what constellation it is?

Your Patrol will need:

• String (80 feet in length)
• 37 wooden pegs
• Mallet

Instructions:
A peg is put into the ground as a starting point, with one end of the string tie a clove hitch round the peg. Stand behind the starting peg. Face North. Now you are ready to follow your list of bearings. Continue to tie a clove hitch round each peg, keeping your string tight.

Note - each unit of measure is the length of your foot.

List of Bearings
1W; 1NW; 1N; 6NE; 4N; 3SW; 1W; 1NW; 1N; 5NE; 1NW; 2N; 1NW; 1N; 1NE; 1E; 1SE; 2E; 1NE; 1E; 1SE; 2E; 1NE; 1E; 1SE; 1S; 1SW; 2S; 1SW; 5SE; 1S; 1SW; 1W; 3NW; 4S; 6SE; 1S; 1SW; 1W; 6NW; 6SW;

6SW should return you to the starting peg. Yes?

What has the Time Lord mapped?

Notes - we used spare wooden tent pegs but metal tent pegs could be used instead. The girls did this activity in groups of six and it took each group approximately 30 minutes.

Jan Bain

Here's another compass game that we play. You take 2x2 pieces of wood about 2 feet in length. You put the directions of the compass on them. N, S, E, W, NW, SE, ESE etc... Until you have the points of the compass marked 16 pieces in all.. You have the kids in teams. Mix the sticks up and turn them so the labels are not showing. Then the kids run up and pick up a stick and place it on the ground where they feel it goes on the position of a compass. We usually give them North as a staring point. Each kid takes a turn until all the sticks are used. When they are done the whole team come up and checks the positions of the "compass rose" they just built. As a group, they can change any position until they are satisfied with the results. The winning team is the first to get it correct. I find this is a great game to teach the younger Cubs the compass points.

Stuart Crosby
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada