Harford District
2015 Cub Scout Day Camp
June 22-26
Secret Codes
Station Volunteer’s Guide
Thank you for being a station volunteer! The stations are the heart of camp and truly provide
our scouts with an opportunity to try out a new skill (or build on one they know) while having a
great time. Our volunteers’ knowledge and enthusiasm is what makes our camp great!
To make running the station easier, please take some time to read through the station guide.
While, what is being covered at the station needs to remain as outlined so that the scouts
earn the correct achievements, how it is covered is only one of many methods.
If you
find a better way to accomplish the requirements or if the method we have outlined doesn’t
seem to be working…please feel free to change it! This is only a guide…do what works best for
you and the scouts coming to your station.
One other thing to keep in mind – some stations will be visited by all ranks. That means you
may have 6 year olds through 11 year olds and may have to simplify or intensify the methods to
meet the skills and knowledge of all the scouts.
Thanks again – we are glad to have you as part of Harford Day Camp!
Station Procedures

The first station begins at 10:15 on Monday and 9:15 other days…so you have some time!
We’ve tried to only schedule 2 dens at a time (max. 24 boys) but, there may be times
when you have 3. Consult your station schedule so you will know who to expect and when.

Greet dens as they arrive. Many will have a den cheer, ask to hear it!

Once all the dens arrive or the start time has come, begin going through the procedures
for the station. It is very important that you start and end on time! Each time slot
lasts 45 minutes. If a den arrives 10 minutes late, they CANNOT stay 10 minutes past
the end of the station…that would make you and them late for the next station. If a den
doesn’t get finished, suggest they come back during a break or take the remaining
activity with them to work on at the den.

Execute the station with energy and enthusiasm! Let the scouts do as much for
themselves as possible. It doesn’t need to be perfect, they just need to Do Their Best!

Don’t forget the beads. Each scout earns a bead at every station for participating.
Beads can be given to the den leader for distribution.

Once the den is finished, begin resetting for the next group.

Close the station at the end of the day by packing/organizing the supplies and cleaning
and disposing of all trash. Let the Program Director responsible for the station (either
Tiger/Wolf/Bear or Webelos) know if supplies are running short!
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Station Overview
Discussion and hands-on activities will complete this station.
Set-up:
1) Open bins and find cipher code materials for 4 different activities.
2) Lay out materials with the following items for each activity: a different type of
cypher/code, several strips of paper and pencils.
3) Familiarize yourself with the steps to performing the cipher activities.
Break-Down
1) Return all materials to the bins.
2) Please assure that all bins are closed tightly and place under the tent for the night.
3) In the event that rainy weather is expected, please take the bins into the Crouse building
for the night.
Station Objectives:
Each scout will have fun pretending to be a rookie secret agent by learning to code and decode
messages just like a secret agent in the field.
Begin by introducing yourself and the purpose of these activities: “If you were a secret agent
in the field you would use secret codes and decryption tools to send and receive message from
other agents in the field. The CIA and National Security Agency (NSA) uses much more
sophisticated methods to communicate with agents in the field, send messages and intercept
coded messages, but this is the beginning of learning such methods.” Explain the four types of
cipher tools we’ll use here.
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Activity 1: Caesar Wheel
Hand each scout a Caesar Wheel paper, two strips of paper and a brad. Have the kids cut out
the Caesar Wheel parts (the two circles). Explain to them how to create the wheel. Tigers will
write the alphabet on each wheel – one letter for each block. Wolf and Bears will write the
alphabet on the large wheel – one letter for each block and then 1-26 on the smaller circle – one
number for each block. Have them use a different color pencil for each wheel. Once they have
written their numbers/letters then they will place the smaller wheel on top of the bigger wheel
lining up the circles in the middle. Place the brad through the middle circles. To make the
cypher work they will need to pick a letter/number on the smaller circle and line it up with the
letter A. The cypher then stays in this position the entire time they are writing their secret
message. On their strip of paper have them first write A= and then the number/letter they
lined up on the smaller wheel. Then they can write their message in secret code. They find each
letter on the bigger wheel and write the letter/number on the smaller wheel. Have them pair up
and write a secret code for their friend to decode.
Activity 2: Pig Pen Cypher
Give each child pig pen cypher paper and a couple strips of paper. Explain to the scouts how to
use this cypher. They need to write one letter of the alphabet in each open space. To write
their secret code they will then use the symbol of each block instead of the letter. See
Background section for more information. Have them pair up and create a secret message for
their friend to decipher.
Variations for older scouts: Instead of only placing one letter in a box the kids could use one
tic-tac-toe like board and one X and place two letters in the space. The second letter in the
space would then get a dot placed in the symbol.
Activity 3: Block Cypher
Hand each scout a couple strips of paper and the example of a block cypher. Explain to the
scouts how to create the cypher by thinking of a phrase and then writing the words in block
format of 5 letters across. Have them decode the cypher on the example page. Then have the
scouts make up their own cypher and exchange with a friend for them to decode.
Activity 4: Morse Code
Hand each scout a couple strips of paper and the morse code paper. Explain a little about how
morse code was used and about Samuel Morse. Have them decode the secret code on the sample
paper. Then have them make up their own phrase and exchange with a friend for them to
decode.
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Background that may be helpful….
Ceasar Cypher
The Roman ruler Julius Caesar (100 B.C. – 44 B.C.) used a very simple
cipher for secret communication. He substituted each letter of the
alphabet with a letter three positions further along. Later, any cipher
that used this “displacement” concept for the creation of a cipher
alphabet, was referred to as a Caesar cipher. Of all the substitution
type ciphers, this Caesar cipher is the simplest to solve, since there
are only 25 possible combinations.
Pig Pen Cypher
Substitution ciphers do not just use letters or numbers. Some, such as the pigpen cipher, use symbols. Here is our
message I AM A CODEBREAKER written using the pigpen cipher:
Although the pigpen cipher looks unintelligible, it is actually a fairly basic form of the substitution cipher. The letters
of the alphabet are written out on 4 grids.
To write your code, take the portion of the grid in which the letter you require is written. This then becomes your
code!
The exact origin of the cipher is uncertain, but records of this system have been found which go back to at least the
18th century. Variations of this cipher were used by both the Rosicrucian brotherhood and the Freemasons, though
the latter used it so often that the system is frequently called the Freemason's cipher. They began using it in the
early 18th century to keep their records of history and rites private, and for correspondence between lodge leaders.
Tombstones of Freemasons can also be found which use the system as part of the engravings. One of the earliest
stones in Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City, which opened in 1697, contains a cipher of this type which
deciphers to "Remember death:”. George Washington's army had documentation about the system, with a much
more randomized form of the alphabet. And during the American Civil War, the system was used by Union prisoners
in Confederate prisons.
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Block Cyper
To encode the message THIS IS VERY EASY!, write it in a block like this :
THISI
SVERY
EASY!
The coded message is read by looking at the columns (the spaces show how many letters in a column), and writing them
out like this: TSE HVA IES SRY IY!
To decode it, just write all the code words in a block again, as columns, and then read the message across the rows.
Here's a few codes for you to solve (on next page):
LKU OHR OIT KGH WHE IER DRA ELF ROI LOE OKL OFD
Answer: LOOK WIDER LOOK HIGHER LOOK FURTHER AFIELD
SIG CNR OGE UIA TST
Answer: SCOUTING IS GREAT
DRAS OBL YEW OSA UTY S
Answer: DO YOUR BEST ALWAYS
Morse Code
Morse Code is just a simple substitution code, like all the others!
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(table from Scouting for Boys)
Morse Code is sometimes written with a slash (/) between letters, to stop you from getting the letters
confused. A double slash (//) means a break between words.
Example:
SOS = .../---/...
Here's a code for you to solve
-.-./..-/-…//…/-.-./---/..-/-//-.-./.-/--/.--.//.-./---/-.-./-.-/...//
Answer: CUB SCOUT CAMP ROCKS
..//-./././-..//.-//--/.-/.--.//---/..-.//-/...././/.-/.-././.-//../--/--/./-../../.-//./.-../-.--//
Answer: I NEED A MAP OF THE AREA IMMEDIATELY
Samuel Morse:
Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872) was an American inventor and painter.
After a successful career painting in oils (first painting historical scenes and then
portraits), Morse built the first American telegraph around 1835 (the telegraph
was also being developed independently in Europe).
A telegraph sends electrical signals over a long distance, through wires. In 1830,
Joseph Henry (1797-1878) made the first long-distance telegraphic device - he
sent an electric current for over a mile on wire that activated an electromagnet, causing a bell to
ring.
Morse patented a working telegraph machine in 1837, with help from his business partners
Leonard Gale and Alfred Vail. Morse used a dots-and-spaces code for the letters of the alphabet
and the numbers (Morse Code was later improved to use dots, dashes and spaces: for example E
is dot, T is dash, A is dot-dash, N is dash-dot, O is dash-dash-dash, I is dot-dot, S is dot-dot-dot,
etc.). By 1838, Morse could send 10 words per minute. Congress provided funds for building a
telegraph line between Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland, in 1843. Morse sent the first
telegraphic message (from Washington D.C. to Baltimore) on May 24, 1844; the message was:
"What hath God wrought?" The telegraph revolutionized long-distance communications.
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SECRET CODES STATION
CRACK THESE CODES
Pass out copies provided
Answers on Page 6 & 7 of Station Guide
Block Code:
LKU OHR OIT KGH WHE IER DRA ELF ROI LOE OKL OFD
SIG CNR OGE UIA TST
DRAS OBL YEW OSA UTY S
Morse Code:
-.-./..-/-…//…/-.-./---/..-/-//-.-./.-/--/.--.//.-./---/-.-./-.-/...//
..//-./././-..//.-//--/.-/.--.//---/..-.//-/...././/.-/.-././.-//../--/--/./-../../.-//./.-../-.--//
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