Play Copycat
You’ll need
- A place where someone is out of eye and earshot
Before you begin
- Choose someone to be the ‘Copycat Catcher.’ Explain that it’ll be their job to work out who’s starting the actions that everyone else is copying.
Run the activity
- Have the Copycat Catcher go to the place where they’re out of eye- and earshot.
- Everyone else should get into a circle in the playing area. Choose someone to be the ‘Copycat.’ Explain that everyone in the circle should copy what they do at all times. If they start doing something new, everyone should copy. Explain that everyone should try to do this without the Copycat Catcher noticing.
- Everyone in the circle should start to clap their hands together. The Copycat Catcher should re-enter the playing area and stand in the centre of the circle to begin the game.
- The Copycat should choose their moment and change the action from hand-clapping to something else.
- The Copycat Catcher should watch everyone in the circle carefully and try to work out who the Copycat is. When they think they know, they should point at the person. The Copycat Catcher has three chances to guess the Copycat.
- When the Copycat is caught, swap over both roles, so that there’s a new Copycat Catcher and a new Copycat. Do the same if the Copycat Catcher runs out of chances.
Reflection
Everyone needed to be alert, listen carefully and watch closely in Copycat. They also needed to copy the Copycat without making it obvious who they were copying, while the Catcher needed to watch everyone from the centre of the circle. Catchers, was it difficult to do this?, Did you need eyes in the back of your head? Copycats, how did you avoid the attentions of the Catcher? Queen Rania Al-Abdullah once famously said: ‘We are stronger when we listen and watch, and smarter when we share.’
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.
Catching can be made easier by having multiple Catchers, while copying can be made harder to spot if there is more than one Copycat.
You could play this game in a quiet environment, by removing any noises. Copycat actions need only be facial movements, waving arms or leg movements.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
Once everyone knows the rules, allow young leaders or young people in the group to run this game.