The Hook: A silent, hilarious game that demonstrates how “stories” change as they are shared.

How to Play:

1. Squads stand in lines, all facing the same direction (the back of the person in front of them).
2. The Ranger shows the last person in each line a “Blog Topic” or action (e.g., “A monkey taking a selfie” or “Winning a video game tournament”).
3. That person taps the person in front of them and acts it out silently (no talking!).
4. That person then taps the next person and acts it out.
5. When it reaches the front of the line, the first person must guess the topic.

The “Peak”: The reveal of what the first person guessed vs. what the actual topic was is always the funniest moment.

Set Up: Check with your Site Administrator and the Assistant Site Administrator to see what supplies (jump ropes, balls, frisbees) are available and where to find them.

Organize a giant relay race. For example:

1. Dribble the basketball around cones
2. Jump rope 10 times
3. Toss a frisbee into a hoop
4. Sprint back to tag the teammate.

The Goal: To have a conversation using only questions.

How to Play:

Two players stand in the center. Adventure Guide B gives a topic (e.g., “At the Beach” or “Buying a Used Car”).

Player A: “Do you like the water?”
Player B: “Why would you ask that?”
Player A: “Is it because you can’t swim?”

If someone makes a statement (“I can swim!”) or takes too long to think, they are replaced by the next person in the circle.

The Hook: A game of absolute focus and sudden, explosive movement.

How to Play:

1. Everyone stands in a tight circle, hands together.
2. On the count of “3-2-1-NINJA!”, everyone jumps back into a “Ninja Pose” and freezes.
3. Taking turns clockwise, each player gets one fluid motion to try and tap another player’s hand.
4. The “Defender” can make one fluid motion to dodge.
5. Both players must freeze in their new position immediately after the move. If your hand is hit, that arm is “out” (put it behind your back). If both hands are hit, you’re out.

The “Peak”: This is great for the final 5 minutes of Troop Time to calm the heart rate before going back inside.

Directions:

1. One person (The Detective) leaves.
2. The group picks an adverb (e.g., “Suspiciously”).
3. The Detective returns and tells the group to do things (e.g., “Eat an apple”).
4. The group eats the apple suspiciously.
5. Detective guesses the adverb.

See also: Detective

The Hook: A classic tag game that literally forces the group to work together.

How to Play:

1. Start with two people holding hands. They are “The Blob.”
2. The Blob must run around the field and try to tag other campers.
3. When someone is tagged, they must join hands with the Blob.
4. As the Blob grows, it becomes more powerful but harder to coordinate. Only the people on the very ends of the chain can tag others.

Strategy: If the Blob gets too big (e.g., 10 people), the Ranger can shout “SPLIT!” and the Blob must break into two smaller, faster Blobs.

The “Peak”: End when everyone has been absorbed into one massive, laughing chain.

The Hook: A high-speed version of tag that uses “tech terms” as safe zones.

How to Play:
Designate two people as “The Glitch” (The Taggers).
If you are about to be tagged, you can drop to a crouch and yell a Blog Category (e.g., “Gaming!”, “Cooking!”, “Travel!”).
Once you yell a category, you are “Safe,” but you are frozen until another player “Airdrops” you by high-fiving you.

The Catch: You can’t use the same category twice in a row.

The “Peak”: Switch Taggers every 3 minutes to keep the speed high.

See also: Toilet Tag

The Goal: Categories is a fast-paced, rhythmic game where participants sit/stand in a circle and quickly name items within a chosen category to a clapping beat (e.g., clap-clap “Colors” clap-clap “Red” clap-clap “Blue”). If a player hesitates, repeats an item, or cannot think of a new item, they are eliminated, and the circle gets smaller.

Setup: Players sit in a circle. A leader or the whole group sets a consistent, simple clapping rhythm (e.g., slap legs twice, clap hands twice).

Starting: The leader or first player chooses a category (e.g., “Types of Dogs,” “Ice Cream Flavors,” “Cities”).

Gameplay: Moving clockwise, each player must say a word that fits the category on the beat.
Elimination: If a player takes too long, repeats a word, or says something incorrect, they are out.

Winning: The game continues until only one person is left, or the last person standing chooses the new category for the next round.

The Hook: A fast-paced “snake” game that tests coordination and Squad loyalty.

Equipment: 5 “Tails” (this can be a jump rope tucked into a pocket, a pinnie/scrimmage vest, or even a cone held in the back hand).

How to Play:
Each Squad of 5 forms a “Dragon” by standing in a line and holding the waist/shoulders of the person in front of them.
The person at the front is the “Head.” The person at the back is the “Tail” and has the jump rope/vest tucked into their waistband.

The Mission: The “Head” of each Dragon tries to snatch the “Tail” off of any other Dragon.

The Rule: The Dragon must stay connected. If the line breaks (someone lets go), the Dragon is temporarily “paralyzed” and cannot steal or be stolen from until they reconnect.

The “Peak”: When only two Dragons are left, or when one Dragon has successfully captured 3 tails.

Why it works: It’s hilarious and physical. The “Tail” has to wiggle to stay away while the “Head” lunges, forcing the 3 middle people to communicate and move as one unit.

Playing as a squad, form a circle and hold hands with two players who are not standing beside you. Make sure that you have not grabbed both hands of the same player.

When everyone has a hand, continue holding hands and work together to “unknot” yourselves and re-form a circle. The goal is not to let go of the hand you are holding.