Go on a spooky rope walk

You’ll need

Rope
String
Scrap paper
Pens or pencils
Blindfolds or Scout scarves
Spooky objects (find ideas on this page)

Before you begin

Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.

Planning and setting up this activity

Tie ropes to mark out a trail, which people will feel their way along. Keep the rope no higher than chest height. You could use trees to help hold the rope up.
You could try changing the height of the rope to make the course varied, such as by having some nearer the ground. You can use chairs and tables if you’re inside.
Have good supervision to make sure people don’t hurt themselves on the rope, such as catching their neck on the rope.
Space out the objects along the course.
The decision of whether a Scout section should run a Halloween-themed meeting is left to the local volunteers to decide. We realise that Halloween can raise issues for some people or venues, however we also recognise that it's a tradition that lots of young people are used to celebrating. Therefore, we think that only the local volunteers can judge what is most suitable for people in their group.

Running the activity

Gather everyone together and tell them that they’re going to go on a spooky walk rope. Depending on the size of the group, you might want to get everyone into pairs, so they can work together to try to remember all the items they’ll feel on the rope walk.
Explain that everyone will have a go at exploring the rope trail with a blindfold on, if they’re comfortable to do so.
Explain that there’ll be different objects for them to feel, guess and remember. They should try to keep hold of the rope, and they can take as long as they need to fully explore. You may need to reassure people that everything is safe to touch, there’s nothing gruesome and no real creepy crawlies.
Remind everyone that they don’t have to complete the whole trail if they don’t want to.
Decide how many people can safely be on the trail at once. The first participants or first team should put on their blindfolds and go the start of the course.
Start the first group going along the trail. You should have responsible adults and young leaders along the trail, making sure everyone is staying safe and is carefully watched while taking part.
Once at the end of the course, people can remove their blindfold. Keep going until everyone has had a go.
If you’re including any messy items, have a volunteer at that part of the trail, who can give people something to wipe or wash their hands. You could also go back inside and let everyone wash their hands at the end.
At the end, gather everyone back together. Ask everyone to write down or draw a list of the objects they can remember feeling on the course. People could do this individually, in small groups or in pairs.
Gather back together in a circle and ask a few people, who are happy and comfortable to, to say what they think they felt.
Now, reveal the objects. They could be collected together, or people could redo the trail with their eyes open. Did anyone manage to guess and remember them all?

Reflection

This activity was all about trying new things and being courageous.

When you were blindfolded during this activity, you had to use all your senses, including your sense of balance and awareness of your own body. Did you find this part of the activity easy or difficult? What was it like to not have your sense of sight? How did you feel?

Were any objects easier to guess or to remember than others? Why do you think that was?

Was there any part of the activity that people found scary or any items they didn’t like feeling? Why do you think different people find different things scary, and have different reactions to different textures?

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.

Visits away from your meeting place: Complete a thorough risk assessment and include hazards, such as roads, woodland, plants, animals, and bodies of water (for example, rivers, ponds, lakes, and seas). You’ll probably need more adult helpers than usual. Your risk assessment should include how many adults you need. The young people to adult ratios are a minimum requirement. When you do your risk assessment, you might decide that you need more adults than the ratio specifies. Think about extra equipment that you may need to take with you, such as high visibility clothing, a first aid kit, water, and waterproofs. Throughout the activity, watch out for changes in the weather and do regular headcounts.
Dark: Provide some light, so the environment isn’t completely dark. Everyone must be able to see others and move around the area safely.
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.
Craft: Unusual substances: Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using unusual substances, such as powdered paint, ash or dirt. Be aware of any medical conditions that could be affected by what’s being used. Make sure you follow all relevant safety guidance or manufacturers guidelines, where available. Make sure you dispose of it appropriately too, in line with safety guidance.