Hidden Route Activity

This Activity is meant for Scouts BSA.

16 stepping stones, carpet squares, sheets of paper, or paper plates.
two-sided tape
bell or whistle

lay the 16 items in a 4x4 grid and tape them to the floor if inside

Goal: team crosses the grid following the hidden path through the stepping stones. This may take from 10 to 40 minutes. Teams try to accumulate the fewest points while solving the problem.

Instructions:

• The leader holds a map of the route so only he can see it. (See examples below).
• A scout steps onto any stone in the the grid.
• If it is the next stone in the sequence, the leader rings the bell and the scout steps to another stone.
• If it is not the correct stone, the bell is not rung and the scout must now backtrack out the correct route to the beginning.
• The team gets a point if a scout steps on a square out of sequence while backtracking.

The problem is solved when all team members have crossed the grid following the hidden route.

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Reflection:

• How were points received?
• How did people react when points were gained?
• Who took on leadership? In what ways?
• What did you discover about this patrol and about yourself?

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Alternate Activity: Split the group in half and have each half working at the same time to find the route, one going 1-16 and the other going 16-1. Don't say they are working together, but don't say they are competing either.
If they figure out they can cooperate, it should take half the time.

Some example layouts:

09 01 07 06      01 04 07 06
10 08 02 05      03 02 05 08
12 11 03 04      11 13 09 15
13 14 15 16      12 10 14 16