Games promote team building, cooperation, and friendly competition. Active games also promote the BSA aim of personal fitness.
Many Cub Scout requirements involve playing games. And for Scouts BSA, games can make learning skills more fun and interactive.
I’ve included some of the most popular games on the site at the bottom of this post. For more ideas, you can also see:
Do you have a game that you would like to share?
Citizenship Football Game
The purpose of the game is to reinforce the ideas which are discussed in the Webelos Citizen activity badge.
Flip the Bird Tag
Flip the Bird tag is an active game which is a combination of tag and keep away. In it, a players work together to keep their friends from being tagged.
Human Knot Game
This is an icebreaker in which a group must work together to “untie” themselves from a knot. This is a cooperative rather than competitive game.
Shoot The Gap Game
This game is suggested as an interpatrol activity for one of the meeting plans in the Public Service troop program feature. This game would also work as a team building game or ice breaker, since the participants must know the names of the other players. So I think this could also be worked into a Crew program.
Hubbub – A Native American Dice Game
This is a traditional Native American game. The scoring systems seem to vary from one reference to another, so the system below is a simplified system which scouts should be able to follow.
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.
Sleeping Guard Game
Sleeping Guard is a fun game for a den. The object of the game is for the Scouts to be quiet enough to sneak up on a blindfolded guard and steal an object. Perfect for a bunch of noisy Cub Scouts!
Show Me the Truth Game
Let’s be honest. Some of the Cub Scout requirements which are all talking can be tough to do with a group of restless boys. Sometimes when I am looking at a requirement and I see the words Character Connection, my first instinct is to sigh. But then I take a deep breath and remember that playing a game can make it fun.
Use the Force Star Wars Game
The idea of this game is for each player to “use the force” to keep a balloon on a pool noodle light saber.
Capture the Flag
Capture the Flag is a great game for a large group. Our Scouts BSA Troop plays it often as an interpatrol activity during meetings. Cub Scouts can play it also. We had a joint Pack/Troop flag retirement ceremony at a local park in the spring. When the ceremony was over, the Scouts BSA organized a game of capture the flag, putting some Cub Scouts on each team. They used most of the park as their play area. It was legendary. 🙂
PahsahĂ«man – A Native American Field Game
Pahsahëman is similar to football. It has been played by the Lenape of the American Northeast for many generations. These instructions include tips for adapting this game for use with scouts.
My Story Mystery Game
The My Story Mystery Game is a great way to get to know some “history” about a group of individuals. It makes a great icebreaker. It can also serve as an introduction to a discussion about oral history and storytelling.
Red Light Green Light
When working with Cub Scouts, remember KISMIF – Keep It Simple. Make It Fun. Sometimes we come up with elaborite or complicated plans when our young Scouts would really be just as happy with something simple. Red Light Green Light is a great example of this. It is simple and requires no preparation or materials. My Cub Scouts always enjoy these “classic” playground games.
Won’t You Smile Game
Won’t You Smile is a team-building or icebreaker game suitable for Venturers or Scouts BSA.
Hail Storm Game
This game doesn’t take much space, so it can be played indoors. If you think ahead and take the materials to camp with you, you can even play it under a fly on a rainy day.
Caterpillar Race Game
Here is a fun game for Cub Scouts. They will have to work together to match their movements, so it teaches them teamwork and coordination.
Chicken on a Hut Game
This game makes a fun break in a meeting. It is a favorite with our Venturing Crew. Because of the physical contact with the partners, when playing this game with our coed Crew, boys are partners with boys and girls are partners with girls.
Dock Your Flying Saucer Game
The idea of this game is to put the flying saucer (a Frisbee) in its space dock (a box). This is a good game for indoors or out.
Jack Rabbit Posing Game
Our Crew president led this jack rabbit posing game at our last meeting. It is a fun game for teenagers, but would work for other age groups also. The idea of this game is to remember different poses and to strike the correct pose quickly.
Snapper Fishing Game
This is a traditional Scout game which might date back to Baden-Powell himself. It practices Scoutcraft (lashings) as well as cooperation and problem solving.
Hospital Tag
In this game, players pretend they are wounded and go to the hospital to get fixed up.
