hike bases- ideas please

[nele]

In a couple of weeks time I'm planning a 'walk' around a local park (heavily forested and large, so allows for a 5km route) which our scouts will do in teams of max 10 with adult shadows (cos of Belgian rules) .
I also want it to suitable for those families who aren't scouting right now during the Easter break (the Belgian rules ask people to choose ONE out of school activity only)

Walking is great, and navigation skills are needed because there are a lot of similar looking paths, but it isn't very exciting when everyone and his gran is walking during covid.

So I'd like some challenges to do, which would work for a small team or a family.

They can take simple items everyone would have at home and are easy to carry, but we can't have anything waiting for them on site (not enough adults etc) I also don't want to pollute the forest, have things disappear (lots of muggles) or expect people to print lots of stuff out.

We can't light fires there, or do any food related challenge right now.

I can set up QR codes, linked to web instructions or an existing video . I'd hide the codes at appropriate points, or distribute a challenge sheet. I'm hoping they'll take pictures.. but they frequently don't.

We've done various things too recently to repeat (patrol through a postcard, radioactive item to move, carry an egg without breaking it)


What I'm looking for is ideas- for socially distanced outdoor challenges...

[JohnR]

You can't leave things in the woods but can you make use of things which are already there - like twigs. Take a ball of string. First task, use the string and twigs to make a stretcher big enough to carry a teddy bear to safety, and take turns to carry it. Next task, make a bear from natural materials to be carried in the stretcher. Next task - you get the idea.

This week I heard from the father of a Cub who grew up and left years ago, he said that his son still talks about an evening hike, simple route through fields, where the kids were given a single piece of spaghetti (dried, uncooked) to carry with them with a challenge to get it back unbroken.

[Richard T]

Welly wanging - how far can you throw a welly - add in a few targets for variation

If you have an area with paving slabs: invisible mines, scouts have to navigate over the slabs one step at a time, all you need to run it is a map/layout of the slabs and one scout at a tim navigtes, if they step on a bad slab/mine the have to go back

Spiders web: between two trees make a spiders web using string/rope etc each scout has to ass through a different hole in the web

[nele]

Not sure they could build a stretcher while social distancing, but its a great idea for another time. (or for families as they don't need to stay apart)

I may try the spaghetti- I can't see any surviving, but they could surprise me. We have had them carry a (supposedly raw) egg in the past but not for several years.

We actually did invisible mines last night, wasn't planned, we were going to do the 'gridlocked people' activity from scouts.org, but had too few people as a couple were sick. Scouts enjoyed it and we progressively added more mines on each go.

I can't be carrying hula hoops all evening,(as the activity suggested) to mark where to stand, so I took white plastic bottle tops to mark the 'squares'. They show up well in the dark and are easy to carry. (we don't leave any behind)

We've been outdoors in the park whenever F2F has been allowed, as no indoor meetings are allowed here for scout age. The school we normally meet at closed its doors to external activities in Feb 2020 and isn't likely to let us back until September at earliest. its been a lot of fun playing wide games, doing navigation, hare and hounds, etc. Last night the sky was clear and we did impromptu star gazing too.

[Richard T]

We doe something called a Walk quiz every now and again, all you need is a circular route that can be covered in your normal meeting time, with the questions based upon tings in the area - id numbers on lamposts, post boxes, footpath signs anything in the area such as:
At the lamppost by the Scout hut gates, if you take the fist number and add it to the second number you get ____ now walk on that as a compass bearing - what time does the last bus go on a sunday ( on a bus stop near by)
a few more questions takes them down onto a footpath and past a small electricity substation where the question is what is the emergency number? and so on

[JohnR]

We doe something called a Walk quiz every now and again, all you need is a circular route that can be covered in your normal meeting time, with the questions based upon tings in the area - id numbers on lamposts, post boxes, footpath signs anything in the area such as:
At the lamppost by the Scout hut gates, if you take the fist number and add it to the second number you get ____ now walk on that as a compass bearing - what time does the last bus go on a sunday ( on a bus stop near by)
a few more questions takes them down onto a footpath and past a small electricity substation where the question is what is the emergency number? and so on

Years ago, when I ran a Scout Troop in Africa, we did something like that. One of the questions was "who lives at No 1 South Circular Road?" For most of the patrols the big brass sign on the gate saying "Residence of the Ambassador of France" was enough. But not for one patrol - they slipped past the guard on the gate, got up to the house and knocked on the door. The Ambassador himself answered the door, and asked them in for a cold drink and a chat about what they were doing and why. Next week he came to a Cub meeting (I also ran the Cubs) with his son and asked if his son could join.

- - - Updated - - -

Not sure they could build a stretcher while social distancing, but its a great idea for another time. (or for families as they don't need to stay apart)

A stretcher for a teddy bear doesn't have to be very big and can be carried by one person at a time, and they can each do one lashing in turn rather than all working at the same time.

[Yellow Beaver]

Give each person/group a "paint chip card" - the colour card "swatches" that you can take away from the DIY store - in any shade of green. They have to find something natural that's the exact shade that's on the card.

(Sounds simple, but it's far harder than it looks. If you think green will still be scarce, use brown instead/as well).

[nele]

well our hike is off the table for the moment. The local council has banned all out of school activities for the next 2 weeks for under 13's and there are extra national measures coming in because of an upswing /third wave Just glad we had some meetings while it was possible. Some of our sections were waiting for lighter nights and better weather.. and now can't meet at all

back to a virtual camp for next weekend (joining in a UK event)