Dashing digits
You’ll need
- Device with access to the internet
- Stopwatch or phone
Before you begin
- This is a great activity to run during an online session. Check out the advice on using Zoom and other popular digital platforms and the guidance on being safe online.
- Ask everyone to bring along a phone so they can type during the game, or just ask them to type into the chat box of your online meeting.
The Scout Promise for members who are Atheist or of no faith background
On my honour, I promise that I will do my best
to uphold our Scout values, to do my duty to The King,
to help other people
and to keep the Scout Law.
The Scout Promise for members who are Buddhist
On my honour,
I promise that I will do my best
to seek refuge in the Triple Gem, to do my duty to The King,
to act with compassion towards all life
and to keep the Scout Law.
The Scout Promise for members who are Christian
On my honour,
I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to God and to The King,
to help other people
and to keep the Scout Law.
The Scout Promise for members who are Hindu
On my honour,
I promise that I will do my best
to follow my dharma and do my duty to The King,
to act with compassion towards all life
and to keep the Scout Law.
The Scout Promise for members who are Humanist
On my honour,
I promise that I will do my best
to uphold our Scout values, to do my duty to The King,
to help other people
and to keep the Scout Law.
The Scout Promise for members who are Jewish
On my honour,
I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to God and to The King,
to help other people
and to keep the Scout Law.
The Scout Promise for members who are Muslim
In the name of Allah, the most beneficent and the most merciful,
I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to Allah and then to The King,
to help other people
and to keep the Scout Law.
The Scout Promise for members who are Sikh
On my honour,
I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to Waheguru and to The King,
to help other people
and to keep the Scout Law.
Grab your stopwatch
- The person leading the activity should welcome everyone to the meeting and ask them to mute themselves. If you're playing the game in smaller teams, use a feature like Zoom’s breakout rooms to get into groups.
- One person in each group will need a method of timing the typist, this could be with a stopwatch or an app on a phone.
- Using the Scout promises above, allow everyone the opportunity to choose the promise they want to type.
Flex those fingers
- Ask for a volunteer to go first and, when they're ready, begin the stop watch.
- See how fast they can type their chosen phrase.
Each promise has a different amount of characters, so this will affect how long it’ll take to type: Hindus and Buddhists version: 138 Christians, Jews and Sikhs version: 132 Muslims version: 185 Humanists, Atheists and those with no defined faith version: 149 Independent or stateless countries or foreign nationals version: 165
- Once everyone's had a go, try it a second time and see if they can type even faster.
Try to work out how fast everyone can type by dividing the amount of characters by the time it takes to type.
- To finish, you could ask everyone to type into the chat box of your online meeting at the same time. See who is fastest to complete the promise without making any mistakes.
Reflection
This activity was all about developing skills. How quickly was everyone able to type and use their phone? Did anyone make many mistakes? People may find that approaching tasks quickly will get the job done, but if they take their time, they may be more accurate and make fewer mistakes. Why is it important to find a balance between speed and accuracy? This isn’t just true for using a mobile phone. When else may people need to find a balance between speed and accuracy? When might people need to be speedy and when might they need to take their time?
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
- Online safety
Supervise young people when they’re online and give them advice about staying safe. Take a look at our online safety or bullying guidance. The NSPCC offers more advice and guidance, too. If you want to know more about specific social networks and games, Childnet has information and safety tips for apps. You can also report anything that’s worried you online to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command. As always, if you’ve got concerns about a young person’s welfare, including their online experiences, follow the Yellow Card to make a report.
Try changing the phrase used: make it longer or shorter, add or remove punctuation, or even try having someone else choose a phrase for you to try.
Most smartphones will have different accessibility settings to change font size, screen brightness, or contrast, so people will likely have their own way of using their mobile phone. Adjust timings appropriately if you need to.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
Instead of seeing how fast you can type, find out how quickly you can do other tasks with your phone. How quickly can you compose an email, send a picture message, or make a phone call?
Allow participants to choose their own phrase to type out, allow them to challenge each other to difficult phrases, or take it further and choose different mobile phone challenges.