Camp & sleepover themes

Do your Beavers/Cubs/Scouts need some inspiration for their next nights away theme? Try these for starters, and please feel free to contribute your own (especially if they have worked well!). Ideas are not section-specific, so may need to be adjusted for your section's age/abilities.

Theme

Games/activities

Food

Notes

Harry Potter

Different 'classes' - potions for simple science experiments;

wand making (chopsticks, a glue gun and acrylic paint);

make broomsticks (or can buy cheap ones);

wide game (escape from Azkaban)

necker in house colours (and a sorting hat ceremony);

play quidditch (mixture of dodgeball and netball rules; throw balls through hula hoops);

make/use quills

buy 'mystical fire' powder for the campfire (burns purple, turquoise etc; it's on amazon)

Butterbeer (cream soda & ice-cream); give ordinary meals yucky names

This is a really popular theme at the moment and very easy to deliver. Make up your own house names if you like.

Survival / Camp skills

Firelighting

Water purification experiments

Wide games (capture the flag)

Shelter building

Knife skills / whittling

Paracord bracelets

'Bush tucker challenge'

Minimal utensils/kit for older Scouts

make a camp oven?

Can be quite flexible - from basic to quite extreme

Complete Beaver camp craft badge; Cubs backwoods cook; pioneer; outdoor challenge clauses

Space / stars

Junk model rockets

Balloon rockets

Telescopes

Constellation cards/torches

Spaghetti & marshmallow constellations

'ration packs' (foil-pouch meals from outdoor stores)

Space, astronomer, astronautics badges

Spies / Secret agents / James Bond

Code-breaking games

Camouflage techniques

Fingerprint ID

Bomb hunt / kidnap rescue (wide game)

good for Teamwork challenge

Nature

Make bird feeders (recycled bottles/tetrapaks)

Bug boxes/hotels (Baker Ross do great kits)

Scavenger hunt

Leaf rubbings

Mud & worms (choc mousse with jelly worms)

complete Cub/Scout naturalist badge?

Cowboys

Archery (real or make mini bows with lolly sticks)

Make dreamcatchers

Practice knots/pioneering

Build a tipi

Campfire!

Hot dogs

Backwoods cooking

Marshmallows!

Tomato soup

Beans

Make popcorn

Works really well with Beavers and younger Cubs; makes them feel very adventurous and good for acquiring basic skills in knotting etc