Blog | 28 November 2022
Activities with minimal equipment needed
Alanah Reid, Creative Content Producer
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Are you hoping to add more exciting activities to your programme, but you’re limited on time or lack money to buy equipment? Fear not – we’ve lots of activities that use things you might already find at home, in your dry recycling or have at your meeting place.
From quick icebreakers to learning valuable skills, these activities can be quickly added to your programme without the cost or hassle of buying more.
Here’s a range of activities you’ll need little equipment for:
- Learning more about your friends is a breeze with the active game When the wind blows.
- Get everyone running around with the fruity memory game Apple, orange, or banana?
- Practise your listening skills and try to stay still with the fun Capture the keys.
- In Changing chairs, it’s a real chair-choosing challenge when you work as a team to block an opponent.
- Human noughts and crosses will have you completing challenges and questions to become a game piece. Will your team leader outwit their opponent to get three in a row?
- Play football while seated in chairs with Chair football. Talk tactics and positions before you start and see which team wins!
- Put on your thinking hat and work out who’s missing from the group in Watch out, fox is about.
- Remember everyone’s names in a quick game of Guess who?
- You’re hovering on a Magic carpet, when you realise it’s upside down. Can you find the solution and flip it over without anyone falling off?
- In Dragon dodgeball, you’ll transform into a human dragon and work together to protect your tail from your friends.
- Handball heroes is the handy game where teamwork is key.
- You’ll improve your hand-eye coordination and explore your space while you play the fun ball game Mix ‘n’ switch.
- Don’t lose your head as you try to handle the pressure in Heads or hands, a mind-boggling game of catch.
- Try Toss ‘n’ cross to warm up and improve coordination with these simple ball games.
- Put your reflexes to the test with River and bank, a fun warm up game.
- Practice being yourself and expressing your feelings with a game of Express yourself.
- Red light, green light is fast paced, traffic light themed game that’s bound to get your hearts racing.
- Warm up and see how fast teams can move around without causing a jam in Rush hour.
- Green cross crossers will teach you all about the Green Cross Code and lets you practice crossing your own road.
- Choose size, magic or wisdom in Giants, wizards and elves, a magical version of rock, paper, scissors.
- In Chase the ace, you’ll practice your phonetic alphabet and test your manoeuvres as you try to be the best pilot.
- Learn about water safety with the special game of noughts and crosses, Ship-tac-toe.
- Keep your eyes peeled for danger in Slope spotters as you hunt hazards on a mock ski run.
- Take on the In the groove dance challenge. Can you create a dance routine that has everyone’s favourite moves in?
- A classic game of Musical statues will have you showing everyone your favourite dance moves.
- Learn about different snow sports in Musical chairlifts, a chilly spin on a classic party game.
- Explore animals from around the world and get active with Guess the animal.
- Buzzing chords is all about practising your vocal skills with easy and interactive vocal warm-ups.
- Find out how animals represent things in different cultures with Catch the dragon’s tail, a fun game from China. Will the head catch the tail?
- In Scottish songs, you’ll perform a famous song from Scotland with a personalised twist.
- Get musical with nature in Nature’s Orchestra – can you play your favourite tune with items around you?
- World Membership Badge art attack is a chance to be creative as you make your own Scout World Membership Badge and learn about its parts.
- Make your own Magical tree trolls with natural materials.
- Explore your local park with a fresh pair of eyes as you search for items to craft a Park life portrait.
- Build a natural shelter and spend the night outdoors with Seeking shelter.
- Create a trail for others to follow using Tracking signs and symbols.
- In Find me, follow you, you’ll find out about tracking signs, then use them to follow a track and find the treasure.
- If you need an extra excuse for a walk in nature, Nature hunt turns a stroll into a super scavenger hunt to help you get in touch with the natural world.
- Challenge a friend to a natural Noughts and crosses game and test your skills.
- Spend a few minutes meeting others and chatting about the topic you’re given with Hello with the flow. How well do you know each other?
- How do you like to cook your food? Learn about cooking methods, and match them with the foods you like to eat in Bake or boil.
- In If you could read my mind, guess your friend’s favourite activity or badge, using just six questions to ‘read their mind.’
- Head outdoors to explore the trees, leaves, butterflies, and bugs waiting to be discovered with Mother Nature’s ID challenge.
- What are you good at? Getting personal will have you thinking about everyone’s strengths and exploring the abilities and attributes you'd like to develop.
- In Emergency loop chase game, learn what to do in an emergency involving key utilities: electricity, gas or water.
- Work as a team to act out and identify fire safety rules in Fire safety charades.
- Can you trust a targeted ad? With Spot the sponsored content, learn about online advertising and see if you can work out what’s reliable.
- With Pack your bags, figure out the difference between a need and a want and decide what to take on your trip based on the space you have in your bag.
- If you want something, lots has to happen before you get it. Can you turn the stages into a story with Shopping story?
- Explore the different parts of your Promise by acting out some of Aesop's fables when you take part in A fable for your Promise.
- In Song swap, you’ll learn a song and sing it together.
- It’s time to test your vehicle knowledge with Quizzical vehicles. Will you become a quiz whizz?
- Learn the steps of the Green Cross Code in Get in line, drama time. Then, bring them to life with an exciting drama.
- Find a fictional fire (and know what to do about a real one) in the location guessing game Fire finders.
- In Number five, skills for life, you’ll learn the survival essentials needed on an outdoor adventure with a game of bingo.
- Learn about the different types of pedestrian crossings and discuss how to cross roads safely in Cross correct.
- In Emergency superheroes, remain cool and calm as you practise making a call to the emergency services.
- How does a car or motorcycle work? Learn about different parts by acting them out in the busy activity Team transformers (car) and/or Team transformers (motorcycle).
- Prepare for an icy adventure and decide where it’s safe to ski in Snow go zones.
- Can you think of something no one else can? Try it out with the quick alphabet icebreaker Scattergories.
- In Cave painting, create your own cave maps as you get familiar with the cave conservation code.
- Celebrate your achievement, write to your local newspaper, and encourage others to take action when you Write a letter for better.
- Can you sneak a message into a conversation without others knowing in Advert icebreaker?
- Try Kind signs, where you pass your friends a compliment without letting them know who it’s from!
- Let these fruity facts give you food for thought in Fruity facts, a healthy eating true-or-false quiz.
- In Guess the feelings, you’ll explore the way people think and feel in different situations.
- Spot the Scots words in the traditional tale The beaver that wouldn’t swim, and think about how other cultures use the English language.
- In Balancing act, become an ingredient, find your food group, then join with your friends to make a balanced meal.
- Head outside, take a deep breath, and pay attention to the moment as you practise mindfulness and connect to the natural world on a Mindfulness walk.
- Get creative with Art apart. Can you follow your partner’s instructions to recreate their work of art without peeking?
- Go head-to-head and race across the board by naming the Right tools for the job. Then tell a story full of DIY mishaps in Disastrous DIY and work out how to prevent them happening to you.
- See where you fit into the history of the worldwide Scouts family in the fast-paced history game A race through time.
- In Flapping fish, race your team's paper fish in a relay and see who comes out the winner!
- Tune into your emotions and sensations with Gratitude scavenger hunt – a scavenger hunt with a difference!
- Try to Decode the countryside by heading outside to spot examples of the countryside code being followed or ignored.
- Put yourself in others’ shoes and learn how to stay safe online with Online safety summit.
- Plan the best way to exit your house in case of a fire with Escape route planning.
- Explore a wood like a detective and see if you can recognise trees by their leaves in the outdoor hunt Leaf spotters.
- Is there something unusual going on? See it, say it, sorted will teach you to speak up and tell someone that things aren’t right.
- Work as a team to set up the ramp, then release the ball when you play Rolling bowling. How many skittles will you knock over?
- Work as a team to guess the tunes others are performing in Name that tune, then be confident and give performing a go.
- How many items can you remember? Put your team to the test with this exciting, upgraded version of ‘Kim’s Game' called Eyes on the prize.
- Can you work out the Unspoken rules of a new game as you play it? Think about how society’s unspoken rules can hold people back.
- With In the garden, three friends need to get their farm in shape – can you help them choose the right gardening tools for each job?
- Take it in turns to give your friends a demo of your favourite sport in Action replay. What will you choose?
- In Tie a rabbit’s tale, you’ll learn a tale about a rabbit that helps you tie your shoelaces.
- Learn about the designs on British coins – can you recognise them with your eyes shut? Then use your imagination to design your own, brand new coin.
- Play a fun game of Web of life to explore how the natural world is connected like a beautiful spider’s web.
- In A safe exit, try escaping your meeting place, then take your new fire safety skills home to share.
- You’ll have to work together to find the best negotiation strategies when you play What’s in the box? Can you persuade someone to hand over their prize?
- Everyone loves different types of stories. It’s time to share your favourite story with your friends. Or, get ready to Roll and write a story planned by the dice.
- Where does our food come from? Tuck into Food detectives and peek into someone’s shopping to find out.
- In Find my fortune, spot who is passing the coin around the circle and try not to fool for any tricks!
- In Tiny tippy taps, use simple knots and lashings to create a model tippy tap. You could even scale it up for use on camp!
- Use a dictionary and thesaurus to decipher six riddles and reveal a hidden statement in Spectacular vernacular.
- Before you can master the skies, you need to know what’s happening on the ground when you try Airfield construction.
- In Ticking timeball, work as a team to defend your area from the ticking time ball. Will you be safe when the whistle blows?
- Try Space specifications, where you’ll explore and discuss space terms we need to learn, and use some everyday objects as props.
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