The Trainer's Corner Blog

2-Liter Bottle Bowling June 2, 2009

Hello fellow Scouters,

Cub Scouts love to bowl, but an outing to a bowling alley can be expensive. But with enough 2 liter soda bottles, a ball and a flat surface, you can bring a bowling alley to your meeting!

When I did this at a den meeting, I set up two lanes, with a wood 2×4 as a divider between the lanes. I used 10 bottles per lane, with a rubber “four square”-type ball for the bowling ball. A fence at the end of the lane was a backstop, with enough room between the end of the lane and the backstop for the pin-setting volunteer to stand. I used blue painter’s tape to mark off the rest of the lane. For my Webelos, my lanes were approx. 10′ long.

Some tips for this game: First, the bottles fall over with little effort. But if you add a cup of water to the bottle, that will give them enough bottom weight to keep them from falling over too easily. Also, by adjusting the length of the “alley”, you can make this game age-appropriate. And bringing a clipboard is a good idea for score keeping. Finally, this game could be played indoor or outside, or even in a garage.

Here are the blank score sheets that I used for this game.

 bowling_scoresheet.jpg (Please e-mail me if you would like a pdf version of this score sheet).

I had two lanes going, to keep the wait-time down (with only one lane, this would have been a meeting bottleneck, which as I’ve blogged about before is something you want to avoid). To run this game, I had 3 other volunteers. I had two “pin setters” that would stack the pins and make sure the balls didn’t go into the other lanes. Me and another parent were the score keepers, although you could do with only one score keeper. A den chief would be a great resource for this game, either as a helper or even setting up and running this game (with assistance, of course).

This made a great game for a den meeting. When we did this as Webelos, I had two parents set up the game in the front driveway, while me and another parent taught a Readyman lesson on the back patio. When we were done with the lesson, we went to the front and found they had done an awesome job of setting up a two-lane bowling alley. They even made those lane “hash marks” with the tape! This was a game that the boys didn’t want to stop playing.

Along with a den meeting game, this can be used as a pack game, a gathering activity, a summer camp game, etc. This game can be set up and played anywhere that you have a flat surface. So start collecting your soda bottles now.

Have fun!

In Scouting,

 – Scouter Jeff <><

The Candy Bar Game February 13, 2009

Hello fellow Scouters,

There are so many den games on the Internet, and sometimes it is difficult to know if a game is fun or not. I personally like to hear about fun games that have been played in a den meeting. At this week’s den meeting, my Webelos II Scouts played the Candy Bar Game, that was featured in November’s Baloo’s Bugle (courtesy of the Capital Area Council). See the link on the right to visit Baloo’s Bugle.

The boys played for over 20 minutes, and I had to end the game so we could go home – and they wanted to keep playing! It’s a fun game to play for the older boys. As with all things, remember Age Appropriate Activities – I think Tigers would be too young to play this. I wrote the dice roll results on a large sheet of poster paper, so the boys could easily see what move resulted from their dice roll. Once the game started going, I was able to step back and offer limited assistance. The game seemed to run itself. If you are looking for a fun game for your den, why don’t you try this out?

Here’s the information from Baloo’s Bugle for this game:

Candy Bar Game

Capital Area Council

Objective: Each person tries to get as many candy bars as they can.

Materials:

2 Candy bars for each player or couple

1 brown lunch sack for each player or couple

Timer, Wood die

Bowl, Good Attitude

Timer: Set timer in another room, so no one can watch to see how much time is left.  A stop timer is perfect.  Most families play for about a half-hour.  After playing a few times, you will know how much time needs to be adjusted.  It’s fun to vary the time from each game to keep them off guard.

Preparation: If using this game for a party, assign each person to bring two candy bars.  Take the candy when they arrive.  One person (mother, father, or party leader) places two candy bars in a brown sack.  Fold down the top of each sack the same.  If there are extra bars, place them in a bowl.  Place a mark, (x) on the bottom of one of the bags.

Starting the game:

1.       Have everyone gather in a circle.

2.       Place bowl inside the circle.

3.       Each person or couple picks a sack out of the center.

4.       Explain that each sack contains two candy bars and no one is to look until directed to do so.

5.       Each person looks into their own sack but does not tell what kind of bars they have.

6.       Everyone closes their bag.  Players may look inside any sack that is their own during the game.

7.       Who goes first?  The player with the mark on the bottom of their sack. That player rolls first then follows to the left.

Roll Die: A player has to follow what has been rolled.

1.       Take the Bowl: If rolled the player takes all the bars.

2.       Trade sacks: Player picks another player to trade sacks with.  Remember: You want the most candy

3.       Lose a turn:  Lose next turn.

4.       Add Bar to Bowl: The player takes a bar from his sack and adds to the bowl.  Don’t let people know your sack is empty.  This might help out when trading. If you receive an empty sack don’t say anything. Just hope you can pass is off

5.       Double take: A player who rolls this takes one bar from the players on his left and right.  If the player is out of bars, you’re out of luck.

6.       Guess a Bar: Players need to watch bars and sacks as they are exchanged.

        When rolled a player says a person name and tries to guess the candy bar in their sack. The players only need to answer with a yes or no.  If the player asked has the bar, he must give it to the roller.

Ending the Game: When the timer goes off everyone keeps the sack that they end up with.  If a player has rolled the die when the timer goes off, that player may complete his turn. At this time any bars left in the bowl must be rolled for.

–

Enjoy!

In Scouting,

-Scouter Jeff <><