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Face Paint


Equipment

1 Pack of face paints

Game Description

I learned a game at national scout camp which I forget the name of, but basically goes like this. All the scouts save one (or a couple) start out side of the woods. They are considered the prey of the forest (deer, antelope, small game). In the forest you place a large number of objects (hats, chips, scarves, etc) which represent food. The prey must go into the forest and gather three items of food (and return them to the safety zone) or risk starvation during the winter. The one scout who is not prey is considered a predator (wolf, grizzly, eagle, etc). The predators job is to capture the prey. he does this by simply touching the prey.

The prey has three methods of defense:

Run - Deer use it, (Be careful if you allow running at your camp.)

Freeze - A prey that is totally immobile is considered to by camouflaged, and cannot be touched until he moves (looks around, etc)
Hide - Touch a tree to symbolize hiding in the tree.


Each prey carries one object to symbolize themselves. If they are "eaten" by the predator, they must give their chip to the predator that got them. They then become a predator for the next year. If the predator doesn't get three prey, he starves for the winter. Any predator that starves becomes prey for the next year.

Note, you should start with only a small number of food in the forest the first year (maybe 2 x number of prey) (remember they need three to survive).

The game is fun and shows how there must be a balance between the prey and the predators. I'm sure you can adapt this game to many environments and change the rules where needed to make it more fun and or educational.