Knot or Not Activity

This Activity is meant for Scouts BSA.

one long rope - 50 to 75 feet

Create a loose overhand knot near the center of the rope.
Pile the rope onto the knot with each end of the rope visible on top.

Without touching the rope, determine if it is tied in a Knot or Not in the least amount of time.

The group of scouts can request the leader to shrink the knot, if they want. This results in the leader carefully pulling 2 feet out on each end of the rope and adding 1 minute to the total time.

---

Some groups might just take a guess right away, gambling that they will win big or totally lose. Others might request many pulls right away until the knot is obvious, ensuring they are correct but receiving large penalties. Or, they may investigate, try to figure it out, then ask for a few pulls through the process, burning time, but minimizing penalties.

It's good to reflect on how the decision was made. Do we jump in with both feet, be overly cautious, or somewhere in between?

---

You could use 20-30 feet of string instead as a smaller version and have troops compete against each other.