Online activities in 2021
10/01/2021
By David Moult
It’s fair to say 2020 changed the way we do Scouting! Switching our Scouting activities to online has been a challenge, but time and again we are seeing some fantastic content throughout Bedfordshire County being produced over Zoom (and other online providers!)
We’ve collated some of the best digital content out there, but please let us know some of your favourites on our Facebook or Twitter @BedsScouts.
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1st Virtual Scout Facebook group - With over 20 thousand members joined in less than a year, most of you will have seen this group, but did you know posts are tagged with topics? This means it’s easy to find games, challenges, zoom advice and third-party sessions.
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Scoutadelic YouTube and Website - Mike from Scoutadelic produces some great videos on his YouTube channel, with great lockdown activities. With over 780 videos (I’m proud to be in one!) and over 6 thousand subscribers, Scoutadelic has an area where you can play games; there’s a treasure hunt, spy missions and a Cluedo-style game (as well as much more!)
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The BIGG Events - Closer to home, the Biggleswade District team have created some brilliant weekend events for all to take part in. Headed up by Lucy and Tracey, the events themselves may be over, but the tonnes of activities made are still available, the two links below are from the BIGG Safari and the BIGG Summer Holiday events.
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The Scouts Website - Scouting has more great resources aimed at online evenings, aimed at all sections within Scouting. Also, recently, they have a new ‘Press Play and Go’ programme
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Winter Camp 2020 - Talking of the Scouts, they are running WinterCamp 2021 virtually this weekend (15-17th Jan) with over 150 activities and 7 ‘zones’ so this is definitely worth a look.
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National ‘Holidays’ - We know when Halloween, Easter and Christmas are, but did you know Jan 25th is national opposite day or 27th Jan is national chocolate cake day (a personal favourite!) Have a look at your meeting days and see if something interesting is nearby, it’s a great start to planning an evening of activities.
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Virtual Tours - These are getting more popular with Lockdown 3, where there are both sessions you can book with third parties, or search ‘Virtual Tours’ on YouTube. Some to note are a tour of Walt Disney or Melbourne Zoo!
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East of England – The East of England have their own Facebook page, where they are completing challenges aimed at all sections
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As a Scout and Explorer leader in Bedfordshire, here are a few ‘favourites’ of mine and the groups:
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Dessert nights are always a hit! Mug cakes, Cheesecake and armpit fudge, something that takes an hour to do, doesn’t have too much prep (or washing up!) and something that is guaranteed to be loved! Just make sure they hear commands clearly (One of my Explorers heard 10 tablespoons of flour (Which was 7 too many!!)
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A gameshow night. The Explorers ran the evening, with breakout for different games such as The Price is Right, Countdown and Catchphrase. The Explorers did so well, we are having another go with different games!
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Among Us. The popular mobile game can be worked well for a fun evening. Make sure you use the admin settings and get the leader team to trial it beforehand so everyone has an idea of the game!
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Taskmaster. A series of mini-tasks that can be done at home, or by solving small riddles to find certain items. You can place some Scouty tasks in the mix as well.
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Locations. GeoGuessr now has a paywall (there is a free version by searching for GeoGuessr Free) but a better alternative is City Guesser. Use this along with a What3words quiz or use your local area for Google Street View challenge.
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Hobbies/Collections evening. We had to run 2 of these, as Scouts & Explorers are so keen on showing off what they are interested in! We have had such a wide variety of awesome things that they get up to outside of school and Scouting!
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A couple of final games and links you might be interested in to fill 10-15 minutes:
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Zoom in game. Take a few photos and zoom them in, can Scouts guess what they are?
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Scattergories. A great filler. How many items can you think of with the same letter?
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Escape Rooms. There are a few Scouty Escape Rooms bound to interest your group. One of my favourites is this one:
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Two truths and a lie. As simple as the name suggests. We let the Leaders each come up with them and let the Explorers see which one was the lie. Very entertaining!
We hope that has given you a few new ideas. Please let us know your thoughts and ideas, as well as how these events go, on our Facebook or Twitter @BedsScouts
Stay safe and happy Scouting!
The group I’m a leader with (Phoenix Explorers) with the Taskmaster challenge of finding their teddy bear!
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