The Badge Archive

Animal Hide-and-Seek

Activity Description: Scouts play a hide-and-seek game that helps them explore how animals use camouflage to blend into their surroundings.

Info Needed: Explore how animals move, hide, and behave by mimicking their actions or observing how they blend into their surroundings.

Items Needed:

  • Location with plenty of hiding spots
  • (Optional) Timer or stopwatch

Instructions (Estimated Total Time: 20 min):

  1. Explain that scouts will play hide-and-seek while thinking about how animals hide in nature. (3 min)
    • Remind scouts to notice what colors and patterns they are wearing.
    • Ask them to think about where they might blend in best.
  2. Choose one scout to be the seeker. (2 min)
    • The seeker closes their eyes and counts slowly to a set number (e.g., 50 or 100).
    • (Optional) Use a timer instead of counting.
  3. While the seeker counts, the other scouts hide in places that match their clothing. (5 min)
    • Encourage scouts to find spots where they blend in with the background.
    • Remind them to stay quiet and still.
  4. The seeker opens their eyes and tries to find the hidden scouts. (5 min)
    • The first scout found becomes the next seeker.
    • The last scout found is the winner of the round.
    • (Optional) Set a time limit for each round. If no one is found, all hiders win.
  5. Play several rounds, then gather scouts to reflect. (5 min)
    • Ask which hiding spots worked best.
    • Talk about how animals use camouflage to stay safe or hunt.
    • Compare scout clothing to animal patterns in nature.
Tia Kennard