Captain’s Coming
Equipment needed: nil
1
Time: 15 minutes
Activity details:
The girls assemble in the centre of the hall. The leader of the game calls out a
command and the girls do the action (as below) as many or as few of the commands
maybe explained and used. After a few practise rounds, the last girl to complete the
action is ‘out’. Remember – a fast game is a good game, and means girls who are
out do not have long to wait before they can return to the game.
The commands and actions are as follows:
Captain’s Coming - all line up in front of the leader, stand at attention and salute
Bow - run to the ‘front’ of the hall
Stern - run to the ‘back’ of the hall
Port - facing the ‘front’ of the hall, port is the left wall. Run to port
Starboard - facing the ‘front’ of the hall, starboard is the right wall. Run to starboard
Man overboard - lie on front and swim
Scrub the deck – on hands and knees scrub the floor
Hit the deck – drop flat to the floor
Dinnertime – sit cross-legged on the floor eating furiously
Climb the rigging – mime climbing the rigging
Captain’s Daughter – get down on one knee and put hands out as if presenting a
ring
Submarines - lie on back and stick one leg
straight up. (for the periscope)
Man the Lifeboats - find a partner, sit
together, and row!
Torpedoes - lie on tummy, with hands
together over head to give a stream lined
look.
* Alternative to Bow, Stern, Port and
Starboard – North, South, East and West
can be used
Chocolate Game
Equipment needed:
Family block of chocolate
Plate, knife and fork
Dress Ups – hat, scarf and gloves
Wrapping paper/ tissue paper
Dice
2
Time: 20 minutes
Activity details:
Everyone sits in a circle. In the centre is a chocolate bar wrapped several
times in wrapping paper (don’t use anything too expensive - it’s only
going to get torn off as quickly as possible!), a scarf, a hat, a pair of
gloves, and a knife and fork.
To play the game, each player rolls the dice in turn. If a player rolls a
six, she goes to the centre of the circle, puts on the hat, scarf and
gloves, and begins to unwrap the chocolate bar using the knife and fork.
The dice is passed onto the next girl, until someone rolls a six; this girl
replaces the one in the
centre. She must put on the hat
scarf and gloves before
continuing to unwrap the
chocolate bar. Once the chocolate
is unwrapped, girls may start
cutting up the chocolate and
eating it one piece at a time - until
of course someone else
throws a six!
The game finishes when all
the chocolate has been eaten.
Newspaper Uniform
Equipment needed:
3
Newspaper
Sticky tape/masking tape
Time: 10 minutes
Activity details:
Set up:
Break girls into groups of at least 3 people. Give each group a pile of newspapers
and some tape.
Instructions:
The girls must design a new Guide uniform out of paper and dress a member of their
team in it.
At the end they must describe the functions of the new uniform.
The newspaper is to be recycled at the completion of this activity.
Ransom Poster
Equipment needed:
4
2
Newspaper
Glue sticks
Texta/pencils
Poster paper
Scissors
Time: 15 minutes
Activity details:
Set up:
For each Patrol supply a sheet of poster paper, a pile of newspapers, glue, scissors,
pencils and textas.
Instructions:
Using words cut out of newspapers,
the girls are to create a poster to
display in the hall to encourage girls to
join their Guide Unit when old enough.
Chinese Whispers
Equipment needed:
5
None
Time: 10 minutes
Activity details:
As many players as possible line up so that they can whisper to their immediate
neighbours but not hear any players farther away.
The player at the beginning of the line thinks of a phrase, and whispers it as quietly
as possible to her neighbour.
The neighbour then passes on the message to the next player to the best her ability.
The passing continues in this fashion until it reaches the player at the end of the line,
who calls out the message she received.
If the game has been ‘successful’, the final message will bear little or no
resemblance to the original, because of the cumulative effect of mistakes along the
line.
Deliberately changing the phrase
is often considered cheating, but if the
starting phrase is poorly chosen, there
may be disappointingly little
natural change.
Find a Friend Like Me
Equipment needed:
A copy of the template below for
each girl.
6
2
Time: 15 minutes
Activity details:
They need to find a friend who fits each of the categories. Try and get as many
different names as possible depending on the size of the Unit.
Same as me
Has the same pet as me
Has the same colour hair as me
Has the same eye colour as me
Goes to the same school as me
Has the same favourite colour as me
Is nearly the same height as me
Has the same number of
brothers/sisters as me
Likes the same band/music as me
Is the same age as me
Plays the same sport as me
Name of Friend
Just How
Different Am I?
Equipment needed:
7
2
Nil
Time: 15 minutes
Activity details:
Without speaking or using any sound the Guides need to sort themselves
into order when given a classification by the Leader.
Classification may be such things as:
Height: shortest to tallest
Age: youngest to oldest
Length of Hair: shortest to longest
Birth Dates: from January to December
Or into groups with the same characteristics such as:
Same eye colour
Same number of siblings
Favourite sport
Favourite AFL club including a group of Guides
who don’t follow football
Kim’s Game
Equipment needed:
8
2
A tray of a number of articles knives, spoons,
pencil, pen, stones, book and so on not more
than about fifteen for the first few games
Time: 15 minutes
Activity details:
Set the challenge of the game to the ability of the girls, increasing the difficulty as
they improve their skills.
“Kim’s Game” is an exercise used to develop a person’s capacity to observe and
remember specific details. The name is derived from Rudyard Kipling’s novel Kim. In
that novel, the exercise was used to train Kim and other students in the art of
clandestine operations in Central Asia and Northern India.
In his book Scouting Games, Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting,
describes the playing of Kim’s Game as follows:
The Leader should collect, on a tray, a number of articles; knives, spoons, pencil,
pen, stones, book and so on, not more than about fifteen for the first few games, and
cover the whole over with a cloth. She then makes the others sit round, where they
can see the tray, and uncovers it for one minute. Then each of them must make a
list on a piece of paper of all the articles she can remember or the Leader can make
a list of the things, with a column of names opposite the list, and let the girls come
in turn and whisper to her, and she must mark off each of the things they remember.
The one who remembers most wins the game.
Rudyard Kipling
Variations include:
Elimination Kim’s Game: One or more articles
are removed after the first look, and the game
is to name those articles that are removed after
a minute’s observation.
First-Aid Kim’s Game: A collection of first-aid
items are used. The Guide must write down
those that they remember as well as their use.
Knot Kim’s Game: A selection of knots and
lashings are used.
With words: Look at a list of words for about two minutes. Then look away and write
down as many words as you can remember.
Observation Game
Equipment needed:
9
2
Pen and paper
Time: 10 minutes
Activity details:
Make a list of questions about your meeting place, such as:
How many exits are there?
How many fire extinguishers are there?
What is above the fireplace?
These questions are designed to test the observational skills of the girls.
Before you begin asking the questions, give the girls 5 minutes to look
around the hall and tell them you will be asking them about things they
can see.
Take the girls outside or to somewhere in the hall where they can’t check
their observations.
Ask the questions and see which Guides are the most observant.
Penny Hike
Equipment needed:
10
2
Coins
Time: 30 minutes
Activity details:
A Patrol hike with a coin tossed at each intersection.
If a head, turn left, tail turn right.
See how far the Patrol can get in the allotted time before having to return
to the hall.
If there is no intersections near the hall, use some other point such as
every 3rd tree or some other sign.
Whip a Rope
Equipment needed:
A piece of soft twine about the
length of the distance from the wrist
to the elbow
Rope
11
2
Time: 20 minutes
Activity details:
The ends of a freshly-cut rope will rapidly fray and unlay if nothing is done
to prevent it. Before using a rope, whip the two ends, to keep them from
unravelling.
Double over the piece of twine and lay it along one of the ends of the
rope, letting both ends of the twine extend beyond the rope end, one end
about an inch beyond and the other end several inches beyond.
Take the long end of the twine and begin winding, starting close to the end
and moving towards the middle of the rope.
When the twin has been wound back to the bend in the twine, thrust the
end of the twine through this loop.
Now pull both ends of the twine
tight and the rope is whipped.
Cut off the spare twine.
Practise until the whipping can
be done without allowing the
rope to twist or slip away.
The Ranger Song
Equipment needed:
12
2
Nil
Time: 5 minutes
Activity details:
Verse 1
Firm be the bond that binds us fast,
Firm be the faith we owe,
We who are standing side by side,
One, though a thousand leagues divide,
Hills where the lighted campfires gleam and glow.
Verse 2
Down in the ash the embers die,
Turned to a silver grey; golden and blue the ev’ning sky,
Raises a star lit flag on high.
Now that the night relieves the guard of day.
Verse 3
Under the dark the daylight waits,
Over the sea withdrawn,
Now let the day bring calm or strife,
Rangering forth in love with life,
We have a tryst, a tryst to keep with dawn.