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Fireflies at dusk

Develop your safety skills in the outdoors then use them in on orienteering course with your friends.

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You’ll need

  • Compass
  • Camera or phone
  • Maps and map cases, as needed
  • Suitable clothing (including long-sleeved shirts, long trousers and trail or running shoes), as needed
  • Orienteering flags, as needed
  • Control cards, as needed
  • Punch markers, as needed
  • Tripod, as needed
  • Computer or device with image-editing software, as needed
  • Head torches
  • Coloured LED lights or torches

Before you begin

  • This activity is ideal for a group’s first outdoor orienteering experience. Before running an orienteering activity, read the information here on recommended equipment, emergency procedures and risk assessments.
  • Remind everyone to come to the session wearing appropriate clothing for orienteering outdoors.
  • Make sure you have enough helpers and leaders to run this activity safety. They’ll need some experience of map reading, using cameras and acting out injury or general orienteering-related scenarios to help, so they may wish to do research and prepare.
  • Gather equipment that you might use for an outdoor orienteering experience. We’ve provided some examples of equipment in step one.

Fireflies at dusk

  1. Gather everyone together and have a go at 'Safety first - equipment' and 'Safety first - role play' first.
  2. Now, put everyone’s safety knowledge to the test. Set out a short orienteering course, or move to one nearby. Ideally, this should be a simple course that the group is familiar with and have attempted in daylight. Explain that everyone will have the chance to demonstrate both safety knowledge and orienteering skills like thumbing.
  1. Set up a camera in a spot with a view over a long, straight section of the course. You could use a tripod or stand to make this easier.
  2. When it’s darker outside, have everyone attempt the familiar course outdoors with head-torches or LED torches and in their groups. You could use different colour lights if you have these, to tell people apart.
  3. When everyone’s on the course, have your camera operator take a single long-exposure shot while everyone’s in the frame. Or, take multiple short long-exposure shots as each group reaches a marker.
  1. The images captured should show the trails taken by each group crossing the course. Different coloured lights could be used to tell groups apart. Check these when they’re developed to track the routes taken by each group.
  1. Lay out the outdoor orienteering equipment you gathered and have everyone stand in a circle around it. Point to pieces of equipment at random and have anyone who knows what it’s for raise their hand. Choose someone to explain to the group about that piece of equipment. You could examine the following items:
    • Map. Maps are important to show a course. Any kind of map may be used for orienteering, but specialised orienteering maps are better as they show the terrain.
    • Compass. A compass can help to orient the map.
    • Clothing. A long-sleeved T-shirt and long trousers will keep a person warm and protect against grazes. Waterproof jacket and trousers will help participants stay dry if the weather turns bad.
    • Trail shoes. Light, strong shoes help a participant run on all types of ground.
    • Control card. It’s part of the game to punch your control card when you reach a control marker. Control markers will have punch markers which can be used to mark the card.
    • Whistle. A whistle is important in case a participant gets injured or lost.
    • Optional items. Sunscreen is important to protect against sunburn. A hat is important to keep warm in cold weather or shade from the sun in hot weather. A drink bottle keeps you hydrated. A towel can help you stay dry after running. Snacks can help keep your energy up.
  1. Continue in this way until all of the equipment has been examined.
  1. Have six helpers set up six different stations around the activity area. At each station, the helper should role-play a different situation, and the group visiting the station should advise or point out the best response. Focus on scenarios that might occur while orienteering outdoors, such as these:

Situation

Possible symptoms

Possible solutions

Running injuries – including shin splints, strains, sprains and blisters

General pain in legs, or hurting muscles
  • Stop immediately if injury occurs.
  • Seek medical treatment for all injuries.

Impact injuries – from falling on steep, rocky, slippery or loose terrain

Person may be on the ground with ankle pain
  • Stop immediately because continuing to run with pain will only make an injury worse.
  • Seek medical treatment.

Skin injuries – including abrasions, cuts, bruises, insect bites and sunburn

Pain or itching on the skin
  • Apply a plaster if available. Insect repellent or sunscreen may help depending on the situation. Any cuts should receive medical attention.

Dehydration

Thirst, dry mouth, tired, headache, dizziness
  • Drink plenty of water before, during and after orienteering.
  • Seek medical attention by simulating calling 999.

Lost or injured player

Player doesn’t know where they are
  • Carry a whistle and use it if injured or seriously lost. The emergency signal is six blasts at 10 second intervals, repeated every two minutes.

You haven’t finished the course and it’s getting late

  
  • Wear a watch to keep track of time.
  • Return to registration by finish time, so you don’t lose your friends.
  • Carry a small torch to help you in the dark if you need it.

 

  1. Split into six groups and have each group visit each scenario station. Symptoms to act out and solutions to suggest are listed above. Groups should move to the next station after three or four minutes, so that they can get around to all of them.

Reflection

Everyone finally had the opportunity to have a crack at some orienteering outdoors. The great outdoors is better suited to this kind of activity as there are wider spaces to explore. As a result, there are also more risks involved. Why was it important to cover all of the safety procedures before actually trying a course? How were these safety procedures different to those you might use on a hike or at a campsite? What extra information did you need to remember?

Suitable equipment for outdoor orienteering included lots of stuff you’d use for sports and hiking, like lightweight clothing and coats, water bottles and sun protection. The skills needed for orienteering are just as important as the equipment. What skills do you feel you’ve developed by learning about and trying orienteering? Many people claim it improves their sense of direction, ability to keep track of time, how to pace themselves, the sharpness of their reactions and their problem-solving abilities. Experienced orienteers probably know about lots of terrain types as well.

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.

Outdoor activities

You must have permission to use the location. Always check the weather forecast, and inform parents and carers of any change in venue.

Snow and ice

Be careful when activities involve snow and ice. Check surfaces and reduce the risk of slipping where possible. Have appropriate supervision for this activity.

Hiking and walking

Follow the guidance for activities in Terrain Zero, or the guidance for each the adventurous activity.

Active games

The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.

Dark

Provide some light, so the environment isn’t completely dark. Everyone must be able to see others and move around the area safely.

Phones and cameras

Make sure parents and carers are aware and have given consent for photography.

Think about adding some red herrings to the equipment for outdoor orienteering. See if the group can separate them from the useful equipment. For instance, heavy boots, camping stoves and large rucksacks wouldn’t be much fun to move around an orienteering course

  • Plan or use orienteering routes that are accessible to everyone in the group. The routes in this activity only need to be simple and shouldn’t run across unsuitable terrain.
  • Simulate blowing the whistle in the role play situation, rather than actually blowing it, in case anyone finds the noise distressing.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Scouts Orienteer Activity Badge
Navigator Stage 1
Navigator Stage 2

There are many ways to expand on this and continue the orienteering journey. Try a course at camp or perhaps after a hiking trip. Progressive activities include longer courses, or courses on more varied terrain types.

For the role play section of this activity, more confident and knowledgeable group members may be able to run the role play stations themselves.

If some group members are more experienced in this activity than others, make sure that groups have at least one experienced group member during the last part of this activity. This part of the activity should still be completed with close supervision. More experienced group members can take the lead and make the rest of their group more confident.