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What's in the stocking?

Use your senses and work with your team to guess what’s in the stocking.

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You’ll need

  • Scrap paper
  • Pens or pencils
  • Two big Christmas stockings or Santa sacks (one for each team)
  • 10 or more different objects (two of each item, so one set for each team)
  • Timer (optional)

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.
  • Each group will need a stocking or Santa sack, with several identical or very similar items inside.
  • You might want to hide the stockings or sacks away until you need them. You could also tie the tops with ribbon or string, so people don’t peek inside.

Feel the items

  1. Everyone can get into two groups, sitting either in a line or a circle.
  2. Each group needs to be given a stocking or Santa sack full of items. They also need some paper and pens/pencils.
  3. Players take it in turns to feel the objects inside their stocking, without looking inside. Then, pass it to the next person in their team.
  1. If they want to, players can write down or draw their guesses.
  2. Continue until everyone’s had a go.

Make your guesses

  1. The groups need to huddle together and share their guesses.
  2. Teams then need work together to write (or draw) a list of items they think were in the stocking or Santa sack. To make it easier, one person could be nominated to write.

The big reveal

  1. The person leading the activity can reveal the objects, one by one. Alternatively, groups could pull out an item in turn. Groups could also take it in turns to share one of their guesses and the person leading the activity can pull the item out if they’re correct.
  2. Groups can record which they guessed correctly and give themselves a point. Which group has the most points and correct guesses?
  3. The team with the most points could win, but prizes could also be given for best teamwork or communication.

The items could be related to the festive season or winter season, such as:

  • Star decoration
  • Pine cone
  • Roll of sticky tape
  • Toy animals, such as a reindeer or penguins
  • A satsuma
  • Ribbon
  • Bell(s)
  • Snowman figure
  • Gingerbread person cookie cutter
  • Bauble
  • Candy cane
  • Orange
  • Chocolate coins
  • Santa hat

Make sure none of the items are breakable or have sharp edges.

  • This activity could be done individually, with each person having a bit more time to feel the objects. They then need to write down or draw their guesses.
  • Place numbered stockings around your meeting space, each with a different item inside. Everyone goes around and feels the different objects, and writes or draws their guesses. People could use sheets with the numbers on, or write the number themselves.
  • Instead of objects being placed inside a stocking, they could be wrapped up in a box and covered with Christmas wrapping paper. A hole could be made in the top of the box for people to put their hand in and guess what’s inside.

Reflection

This activity gave everybody the opportunity to work on their communications and teamwork skills. The items in the stocking could have felt different to each person, how well did your team work together to try and guess the right answer? How do you think it would have been different if you’d done this by yourself? Were any items easier to guess than others? Not being able to see the items means you have to use other senses, what other senses did you use? Communication was important in this activity, how did your team communicate and decide on what the item was in the stocking?

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.

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.

You could include items that are easier, with a really recognisable shape, or items that are more difficult to guess.

To make the objects harder to guess, people could feel the objects through the stocking, rather than feeling inside.  

To make it more difficult, the stockings or Santa sack could be on a table with an adult or young leader watching them. The members of the team need to take it in turns to go up and put their hand in the stocking or Santa sack. After 30 seconds, the player needs to go back to their team and write down or draw their guess as to what’s inside.

Adjust the number of different objects according to the needs of your group, and use one object at a time if needed.

We’ve shared some other ways you could play this game, so that you can find something that works best for your group.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Squirrels All Together Challenge Award
Beavers Teamwork Challenge Award
Cubs Teamwork Challenge Award

Consider splitting your group into teams and get them to decide and bring in items to put in the stockings for another team.