Challenge & Inititative Games For Cub Scouts

What are Challenge games for Cub Scouts?

The following games are taught in the Bear Manual... Apparently these games are new and wholly owned by the BSA..

They don't define challenge games, but a near as I can tell they are any group team building exercise that looks like a game. They do equate challenge games to initiative games which are all over the web,. there is a link at the bottom to a scouting PDF with a pile of them. Why they had to change the name other than to drive sales of their materials, I don't know.

Games in the Bear Book

Battening Down the Line 

Needed: Large indoor or outdoor playing area, any number of players , and inflated balloon.

• Line up shoulder to shoulder 2 feet apart.
• Start with the balloon at one end, 
• Each boy bats the balloon to the next kid in line.
• If the balloon touches the ground, the kid who hit it last takes it to the start of the line and it starts over
• When the balloon reaches the end, everyone wins.

Blanket Ball

Needed: Large indoor or outdoor playing area, any number of players , blanket or sheet, soft ball, or soft object (ie nerf or kickball).

• Blanket goes on ground, ball in the middle. Kids line up around the blanket and grab it.
• Boys swing blanket up and down to make the ball go high.
• No real victory condition, but the higher the ball goes the better they "do" 

Group Standup

Needed: Large indoor or outdoor playing area, any number of players , a long thick rope (they say about an inch in diameter) tied into a circle(use a square knot)..


Put the rope in a circle on the ground , cubs line up around it facing in, sit down. feet almost touching the rope and grab the rope.

Then they all pull on the rope together and try to stand up not using thier hands except to hold the rope.

Line Up

Needed: Large indoor or outdoor playing area, any number of players , blind folds 1 per player, or all the scouts promise to keep their eyes closed called "honor blindfolds".

put on blind folds, everyone keep silent, have them line up bu height, take off the blind fold see how they did.. you can do other things like tie shoes, or line up by middle name or whatever, the key is blindfolded and silence.

Fore Head Squeeze Relay

Needed: the normal stuff soft balls, balloons or oranges

squeeze the ball between 2 foreheads, move to one end of room and back. If they drop it they have to start over

Clothes pin rings toss

Put clothes pins around the out side of a bucket, toss mason jar lid rings on to it from 10 feet away

Keep your balance

Lay a 2x4 flat on the ground , walk it blindfolded
 

Smile

Two teams line up, one side heads, the other tails , flip a coin the side that is up tries by smiling laughing or acting silly to make the other side lose their straight face, anyone who does switches sides, repeat.

Marble Chop Suey

Move marbles ro small candies from one dish to ather using pencils as chop sticks and only one hand
skill game or relay race.

Juggler Toss.

Line up in pairs, everyone has a ball, pairs toss to each other at the same time.
each time they both catch, add a point and they take a step back. after a certain time, most points wins.

But you can come up your own, the key is team work and team building and learning about yourselves.

Links:
Lots of initiative games, which may or may not be the same as challenge games