Scoutscan.com Games Database

Trading Post


Equipment

This requires careful planning and organisation ahead of time.
Pioneering poles & ropes, saws, knives, oil-stone, tents, knotting rope, stoves etc., basically the stores!
Instruction Sheet, tokens/money and cost/award sheet

Game Description

This is a big game which will require careful planning ahead of time and will need to be altered to suit the individual Scouts, the location and the equipment available.

Ideally this games should be played in Patrols.

Preparation

The Leaders need to decide on a number of tasks or challenges that the Scouts have to achieve, add them to the Insturction Sheet and ensure that the appropiate equipment in available.

The Basics

PLs can explain or demonstrate to Patrol members but must not perform the challenges themselves.

The Scouts select a challenge from the list, hire the equipment required to perform the challenge, do it and return the equipment. This earns them points.

The hire of equipment ‘costs’ tokens; the return of equipment (in good order) gets the cost back. Awards are made in tokens.
i.e. Boil water on a Trangia. 5 points.

The cost of hiring the Trangia is 10. Scout gives Trading Post 10. When water is successfully boiled the Scout returns the Trangia to the Trading Post and gets his 10 back plus 5 for performing the task.
i.e. Write and sing a song about a Leader or PL 10 points.

Sharpen a knife / saw 5 points

Do 10 sit-ups - 1 point per

The list can be whatever you choose it to be, and you can taylor it to the target age group; location and equipment you have.

Leaders can assess the completeness of the challenge and award the points.

The following format usually works well:-

PLs are told they can instruct but not do.

Hand out challenge sheets and allow the Patrols 10 minutes to decide upon the order they wish to do the challenges in. (Important since there will only be limited equipment available).

Hand out a float of tokens to each Patrol.

Allow 1 hour to do the challenges.

When the challenges begin the Leaders will need to man the Trading Post.

Deal with the Patrols on a first come basis. If equipment is being used a Patrol must wait or do another challenge.

A Patrol must return all equipment to the Trading Post in the condition taken (except consumables like paper) to get their deposit back.

The winning Patrol is the one with the most points.

If a challenge needs to be supervised by a Leader then the Patrols need to book the Leaders time to be able to do the task.

This is much more than a game. It consolidates many Scout and Patrol (Team) skills - but the great thing is - all the Scouts think it is a game.