Put it on the map

You’ll need

Pens or pencils
A4 paper

Before you begin

Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to 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 if you’re short on helpers.

Planning and setting up this activity

You might want to run this activity before new Scouts start, before a taster session or before a Bring A Friend night, then the following week the new joiners or friends could use the map.
This activity could be adapted to include a treasure hunt element.

Run the activity

Give everyone paper and some pens.
Gather everyone together and explain that you’re going to draw a map of the meeting place to help practice your navigational skills.
To start, everyone should draw a big outline that’s the same shape as the floor of their meeting place. It might be helpful to go outside for a better look. If your meeting place has more than one floor, it’s up to you whether everyone draws just one floor or all of the floors, or if different people draw different floors.
Now, people should walk around the space, thinking about the most important things to include on their maps. It might be best to start with walls of the main room, then add in other spaces, such as corridors, kitchens, toilets, side rooms or cupboards.
Once their walls are in place, everyone should think about adding windows and doors to their map.
Everyone should decide what their map is for – what job will it do? For example, some maps might help someone find the toilet, others will help people find the fire exit from the main room, and others might help someone find where the footballs are kept.
Once they’ve created their rooms, and chosen a purpose, everyone should think about labelling their map. For example, do they need to use symbols or words to show where the toilet, stairs or fire exits are? If people are using symbols, do they need to use a key?
Now, it’s time to add detail. What other important things, such as pieces of furniture, would be useful to have on the map? What do people need to know?
Once everyone’s finished, gather everyone back together. People who feel comfortable to should tell everyone about their map and the map’s purpose. People could also compare their maps in small groups to discuss what’s similar and what’s different.
Now, everyone should swap maps with someone else, telling them what the map will help them to do. If possible, the people following the maps shouldn’t be too familiar with the meeting place. For example, you could ask the parents and carers who pick everyone up to come a few minutes early to give it a go.
Everyone who’s been given a map should follow it and complete the task. Does the map help them do the job? What feedback do they have?

Reflection

This activity was a chance for you to develop your map reading, map drawing and navigation skills. Why’s it useful to have maps? What skills do you need to draw a map?

Which things are useful to have on a map? Do all maps need the same information, or does it depend on the job they do? Do you think it’s easier to read maps if you understand how to draw them? Was it easy to show what you could see in a way someone else could understand?

This activity also helped you to communicate. Talking isn’t the only way to communicate – how did you communicate through your map? How did you decide what information to include, and what to leave out? Was it easy to imagine being the person reading the map?

We also practiced using the maps. Did the person who followed you map understand it? Did they do the job? Did they need any help, or did they need to ask any questions? If they did, was it easy to help and answer their questions?

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.

Road safety: Manage groups carefully when near or on roads. Consider adult supervision and additional equipment (such as lights and high visibility clothing) in your risk assessment.
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.
Dark: Provide some light, so the environment isn’t completely dark. Everyone must be able to see others and move around the area safely.