60-Minute Activity Plan: Lost! What Would You Do?

A practical lost outdoors activity for Scouts that teaches young people what to do when a walk, hike or outdoor activity doesn’t go according to plan.

Rather than turning getting lost into a frightening scenario, this activity focuses on calm decision-making. Teams work through realistic situations, decide what they would do next and learn why stopping and thinking is often better than simply continuing to walk.

Before You Start

Choose a safe area and prepare a few simple maps or route diagrams.

You don’t need a large outdoor site. A printed local map, a simple fictional map or even a hand-drawn route can work.

Prepare scenario cards that gradually become more challenging.

For example:

“You realise you’ve been walking for 15 minutes but haven’t seen the expected bridge.”

“The path splits into three directions and you aren’t sure which one is on your route.”

“Your group has reached a familiar-looking area, but you can’t identify exactly where you are.”

For younger sections, use simple picture maps and obvious landmarks.

For Scouts, prepare maps with enough detail to allow them to reason about their position.

Safety

This activity should not involve deliberately getting young people lost.

All outdoor practical work should take place within a known, supervised and clearly bounded area.

Don’t send young people away from leaders or into unfamiliar locations as part of the exercise.

Explain that the scenarios are fictional and that the purpose is to practise decision-making.

If using maps of the local area, avoid encouraging young people to cross roads, railway lines, rivers or other hazards to reach a theoretical destination.

For any real outdoor activity, follow your group’s current risk assessment and procedures.

0–10 Minutes: What Does “Lost” Mean?

Start by asking:

“What does it actually mean to be lost?”

You’ll probably get different answers.

Someone might say they don’t know where they are.

Someone else might say they don’t know which way to go.

Explain that these aren’t quite the same problem.

You might know exactly where you are but not know which route to take.

You might also know which direction you want to travel but not know your exact position.

Ask:

“What is the first thing you should do if you realise you’re not sure where you are?”

The key answer is:

Stop.

Don’t immediately continue walking in the hope that the route will somehow appear.

10–20 Minutes: The Stop and Think Method

Introduce a simple decision-making routine.

You can call it STOP:

S – Stop moving

T – Think about what you know

O – Observe your surroundings

P – Plan your next action

Explain that the exact procedure used on a real activity should follow the leader’s briefing and your group’s procedures.

The purpose of the exercise is to develop the habit of avoiding panic and making a deliberate decision.

Give teams a few short scenarios.

For example:

“You expected to reach a road junction but haven’t found it.”

Ask what they would do.

Encourage them to think about the last place they were definitely sure of.

20–32 Minutes: Where Did We Go Wrong?

Give each team a simple route map.

Mark the planned route and then show them a fictional mistake.

For example, the group has accidentally followed the wrong path at a junction.

Teams must identify:

Where were we last certain?

Where might we have made the mistake?

What evidence could help us?

This is where map-reading skills become useful.

For Cubs, use obvious features such as roads, streams, buildings and woodland.

For Scouts, include contours, paths, junctions and grid references.

The aim isn’t simply to find the answer.

It’s to teach young people to work backwards from known information.

32–42 Minutes: The Three Choices

Now give teams a scenario with three possible actions.

For example:

“You aren’t sure where you are. What should you do?”

A: Keep walking in the direction you think is correct.

B: Stop, check your information and try to establish your last known position.

C: Split up so someone can look for the route.

Ask teams to choose an option and explain their reasoning.

Discuss why splitting up can create additional problems and why continuing without reliable information can make the situation worse.

Repeat with several scenarios.

Don’t make every question too obvious. The discussion is more valuable than getting a perfect score.

42–52 Minutes: The Leader’s Information

Now introduce an important communication element.

Tell teams:

“Your group leader needs to know what is happening.”

Ask them to create a short message explaining the situation.

They need to communicate:

Who they are

Where they believe they are

What happened

What they can see

What they need

For younger sections, practise giving this information verbally to a leader.

For Scouts, give them a fictional emergency communication scenario and ask them to structure the message clearly.

The key lesson is that “We’re lost” isn’t enough information to be particularly useful.

52–57 Minutes: Final Scenario

Give the teams one final challenge.

“You’re on a supervised group walk. You realise the group has taken the wrong path. You stop and don’t know exactly where you are, but you remember the last place where the whole group was definitely on the planned route.”

Ask:

“What do you do next?”

Let teams discuss the situation.

Look for calm decision-making, checking known information, staying together and communicating with the appropriate leader rather than simply walking onwards.

57–60 Minutes: Final Review

Bring everyone together.

Ask:

“What is the biggest mistake someone could make when they realise they’re lost?”

Then ask:

“Why is stopping useful?”

Finish with the message:

“Don’t turn being unsure into being even more unsure.”

Stopping, thinking and communicating can prevent a small navigation mistake from becoming a much bigger problem.

Adapting for Different Ages

Beavers

Keep the activity simple and visual.

Use a picture map and familiar landmarks.

Practise the idea:

Stop → Stay together → Tell an adult.

Use short scenarios such as taking the wrong path or not seeing the expected landmark.

Cubs

Introduce simple maps and the idea of returning to the last known point.

Cubs can work through different choices and explain why some decisions could make the situation worse.

Keep the focus on staying calm and communicating with leaders.

Scouts

Use proper maps and navigation information.

Ask Scouts to identify their last known position and analyse how a navigation error could have happened.

Introduce grid references and map features where appropriate.

You can also challenge Scouts to explain how they would communicate their situation clearly to a leader or emergency service if required.

Leader Notes

Avoid teaching “if you’re lost, always do X” as though every situation is identical.

The correct response depends on the circumstances, the environment, the group’s instructions and the level of supervision.

The more useful lesson is to develop a calm decision-making process.

Young people should understand that wandering around searching for a route can make the situation harder to resolve.

It’s also worth emphasising that a young person on a Scout activity should follow the leader’s instructions and stay with the group.

For experienced Scouts, make the scenarios less obvious.

Give them incomplete information and ask what they would need to know before deciding what to do.

That turns the activity into a genuine navigation and risk-management exercise.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the activity, young people should have had opportunities to:

Final Thought for Leaders

Getting lost is often presented as a dramatic survival situation.

For young people, the more useful lesson is much simpler.

Navigation mistakes happen.

The important thing is knowing what to do when you realise one has happened.

Teaching young people to stop, think about what they know, stay with their group and communicate clearly can prevent a small mistake from becoming a much bigger problem.

The best navigation skill isn’t always knowing exactly where you are.

Sometimes it’s recognising when you aren’t sure.