Nature and the environment are important parts of the Guiding program. Nature games can be used to teach the girls about the natural world and ecological systems, and protecting the environment. They can also get the girls outside and exploring nature in an active way.
Birds and Worms
For
Brownies,
Guides or
Pathfinders
This game teaches about predators and prey.
Equipment: Coloured straws or pipe cleaners cut in half (preferably green, yellow or colours that are hard to see in the grass)
Mark off a wide area in a grassy field to set boundaries, and mark off a “safe zone” on one end of the field. Spread the straws in the field – these are the worms. Girls line up on the other side of the field in rows (as in a relay game) and they are the “birds”. Choose two or three girls (depending on the size of the group) to be the hawks. The hawks go into the field with the straws and will act as “IT” as in a tag game. The object of the game is for the birds to cross the field, pick up the worms, and make it into the safe zone without getting tagged by the hawks. To begin the game, one girl from each line tries to cross the field and pick up the worms, and make it into the safe zone without getting tagged by the hawks (to make it more fun, the girls need to make chirping noises and their best bird impression!) If tagged by a hawk, the girl must drop her worms and return to the end of her team line. Once a girl makes it to the safe zone the next girl in line tries to cross the field. The game continues until all the girls on one team make it to the safe zone. The girls then count up their worms at the end of the game. The girls can also discuss how the game replicates the food chain.
Bat and Moth
For
Brownies,
Guides or
Pathfinders
This game teaches about echolocation.
Equipment: Blindfold.
Have the group stand in a large circle. One girl will be the bat and stand inside the centre of the circle with a blindfold. After she is blindfolded, a second girl will enter the circle and will be the moth. All the girls who are forming the circle are “insects” or “trees”. The insects can change positions in the circle formation, but the “trees” must stay still (only pick two or three trees in the group). The object of the game is for the bat to find and tag (“eat”) the moth by using echolocation to track it down. The bat walks briskly inside the circle and claps her hands once; the moth must return the sound by clapping twice within two seconds. If the bat approaches a girl forming the circle, she must “buzz” if she’s an insect or say “tree” if she’s a tree. Once the moth is caught, she becomes the bat. One of the insects becomes the new moth. The bat becomes a tree, and the trees become insects.
Food Chain Game
For
Brownies,
Guides or
Pathfinders
Equipment: Small paper bag and coloured sash for each girl (three different colours needed to identify grasshoppers, frogs and hawks), large bag of popped popcorn.
Explain to the group that grasshoppers eat plants, frogs eat grasshoppers and hawks eat frogs. Hawks don’t eat grasshoppers or plants. The popcorn represents the plants for the grasshoppers to eat. About one third of the group will be the grasshoppers – these girls wear a coloured sash of the same colour and get a paper bag. Another third are the frogs – they wear a different coloured sash and also get a paper bag. The last third are the hawks and wear a different coloured sash. The game is played in an outdoor field or gym. The popcorn is spread over a wide area and one area of the field is designated as the safe zone.
When the game begins, grasshoppers try to gather plants (the popcorn) into their paper bags (“stomachs”). The frogs try to tag the grasshoppers. If the frog tags a grasshopper, the content of her stomach (the popcorn in her bag) goes into the frog’s bag or “stomach”. The hawks go after the frogs. If a hawk tags a frog, she takes the frog’s stomach. Hawks cannot eat the plants or the grasshoppers directly. To survive, the grasshopper must collect 20 pieces of popcorn in her bag, a frog must have two grasshoppers’ worth of popcorn (or 40 pieces) and hawks must have one frog’s worth (40 pieces).
Let the girls play for three minutes and stop. Then check who has “survived”.
Try with some variations:
- Define a safe zone where the frogs and grasshoppers can hide in safety for a set amount of time
- Change the number of grasshoppers. frogs or hawks
- Let the grasshoppers go “eat first”, then release the frogs, then release the hawks
Scented Hike
For
Brownies,
Guides or
Pathfinders
This game can be used to teach how animals use scent to find their prey or to find a certain location.
Equipment: Make four or five different sets of “scented” containers. These can be made using a cotton ball dipped in essential oil or extract (e.g. vanilla extract, citrus oil, lavender etc.) and place in a small plastic container, like a film canister. Each set should have six to eight containers so a separate trail can be laid using each scent (i.e. six vanilla scents, six citrus scents and so on).
Preparation: For each scent, make a separate trail, using a circular pattern by hanging the film canister from a tree branch. Along with the canister, hang a note card which contains a clue. The first scent will have a clue or hint for finding the second scent in the set (of the same scent) and so on. The clue can be simple as in walk four paces from this large tree, or you can make it as complicated as you wish! The aim is for the girls to find all of the canisters with their scent in it.
The girls will work in pairs or small groups (three or four at most) to “sniff out” their trail. Allow the group to smell their scent from the extract container or from another cotton ball, which is not hidden on the trail before they start. Then give them a clue for finding the first scent on the trail. They will continue to follow the clues until they find all six (or eight) scent canisters on the trail and return to the beginning.
Hungry Animals
For
Brownies or
Guides
Equipment: Treasures like wrapped candies, scattered around a designated area
Divide the group into small teams. Each team chooses to be an animal and they have to decide on the sound that the animal makes. Each team chooses a runner. On a signal, everyone except the runners look for hidden treasures which will be scattered in a designated area. When someone finds a treasure they make the sound of the team animal, but only the runner is allowed to pick up the treasure. Other animals can come and find the treasure also and call their runner. The team that collects the most treasure wins but all treats are shared evenly.
Camouflage
For
Brownies,
Guides or
Pathfinders
Equipment: Outdoor area with good coverage (trees etc.)
One girl is "IT" and she stands in an open, conspicuous, spot with her eyes closed for five minutes. During this time the rest of the players all hide, but they must be able to see "IT" from their hiding place. A signal is given (like a blast on a whistle) and "IT" opens her eyes. Within a pre-arranged time limit and without moving from her place, except to turn around, she must see how many hiders she can spot. This is good practice in keeping still, which is what usually gives the hiders away, other than brightly coloured clothing.
Hug A Tree
For
Brownies,
Guides or
Pathfinders
Equipment: Blindfolds
Girls are in pairs and one girl is blindfolded. The sighted player leads the one who can’t see to a tree, by wandering around somewhat so the route is a little confusing. The blindfolded girl then examines the tree noticing everything she can about it by feeling the bark, leaves etc. Then she is led back to the starting point by a different route. The blindfold is then removed and the girl tries to locate her tree. It shouldn’t be too far away. When successful the girls change places and repeat the process.
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