Forces of Flight Game

The Forces of Flight game would make a fun addition to a pack meeting for the Soaring the Skies Cub Scout theme.  Use this game when the Cub Scouts have been sitting for too long and need to get up and move around. You can also use it to teach a brief lesson in science. This game was featured in one of the older Cub Scout program themes.

Materials  

• none

Instructions 

First, briefly explain the forces involved in flying:

• Thrust : The engines push the airplane forward
• Drag : The resistance of the air which slows the plane down
• Gravity: The weight of the aircraft pulls it toward the ground
• Lift: Air flowing over the wings moves the aircraft upward

Have the Scouts stand in a line facing the leader. The leader shouts out one of the four forces of flight. The Scouts must do the action for the force as follows:

• Thrust: Run forward
• Drag: Run backward
• Gravity: Fall down
• Lift: Jump

Notes

If you want to make this a competitive game, you can have them be “out” if they don’t do the correct action or you can have them try to make progress toward a goal line. The winner is the leader for the next round.