Survival Charades | Scouting Game for Young People

Survival Charades is a simple team game where young people act out outdoor and survival activities without speaking while their teammates try to guess what they are doing.

It needs no equipment and can be adapted for different ages by changing the difficulty of the actions.

What you’ll learn

Young people will practise:

• Communicating without speaking
• Observing other people’s movements
• Thinking creatively
• Working as a team
• Recognising basic outdoor and survival activities

The game can be played indoors or outdoors. Make sure there is enough clear space for participants to move around safely.

Remind everyone that actions should be performed safely and without pretending to use dangerous equipment or physically acting out potentially harmful situations.

Equipment

None.

For larger groups, you can optionally prepare a list of survival and outdoor activities for players to choose from.

Prerequisites

No previous knowledge is required.

A basic understanding of common outdoor activities can help, but the game can also be used to introduce new skills and ideas.

Instructions

1. Divide the group into two or more teams.
2. Ask one player from the first team to come forward.
3. Give them a survival or outdoor activity to act out. They must not speak or make sounds.
4. Their team has a set amount of time, such as 30 seconds, to guess the activity.
5. If they guess correctly, award a point.
6. Move to the next team and continue.
7. Keep going until everyone who wants a turn has had an opportunity to act.
8. For younger sections, use simple actions such as putting up a tent, walking with a rucksack, looking through binoculars or cooking at camp.
9. For older groups, make the activities harder by using things such as reading a map, lighting a campfire, treating an injury, following a compass bearing or building a shelter.

For an extra challenge, don’t tell the player the activity. Instead, show them a picture or quietly describe the scenario.

Final tip

Keep the pace fast. A short time limit makes the game much funnier and encourages players to use clear, exaggerated movements rather than spending too long trying to work out how to act something out.