Nine Magazines Activity

This Activity is meant for Scouts BSA.

Nine magazines, sheets of paper, or similarly shaped rectangles
A staff, broomstick, or long stick

The idea of this activity is to improve observation skills but it can be pushed too far and make a few scouts feel bad. It is somewhat like the Jimmy Jimmy activity where scouts try to find the hidden bit of information in what is happening right in front of them.

Two scouts that know the secret need to start. One scout is the leader and has the magic pointing staff. The second scout volunteers to be the guesser.

Lay out the nine magazines in three rows of three, forming a rectangle on the floor like so:

  X   X   X
  X   X   X
  X   X   X

Have one scout leave the room while the rest choose one of the nine magazines. Let's say you chose "O" below:

  X   X   X
  X   X   X
  X   X   O

The scout returns to the room.
As you tap on each magazine with your staff, the guesser says, "No, not that one" for each magazine until you tap on the correct one and the guesser says, "Yes, that's the one."

Ask the group if they'd like you to use your magic again. Have the volunteer leave and repeat the trick. Continue this until another scout believes they know how to do it and is willing to be the guesser. Have the new guesser leave, choose a magazine, and see if it is correctly chosen.

The trick is in the location where you tap each magazine cover. For our example above, you would tap each magazine in the lower-right corner.

It can be very difficult to figure out this trick. Make the location on the cover more obvious each time. Or, try it with 4 magazines. It's better to stop after a bit more than half the group has figured it out.