The Badge Archive

Digital Trail Game

Info Needed for badge requirements: Personally Identifiable Information (PII) includes details like your name, birthday, address, email, phone number, or password—anything that identifies you. Sharing PII online can lead to risks like hacking or identity theft. To stay safe: Don’t share PII with strangers online. Even small details, like your favorite color, can reveal more about you when combined with other information. Always think carefully about what you share and how much you share.

Items Needed

  • Masking tape
  • 7 poster boards (one for each of the following):
    • My Favorite Toy
    • My Birthdate
    • My Favorite Movie
    • My Favorite Color
    • My Address
    • My Pet’s Name
    • My Password
  • Colored markers
  • (Optional) Extra poster boards to play Make It Up variant.

Before the Meeting

Use masking tape to create a digital trail across the room by placing the poster boards on the floor in a line. Each board represents information that could be part of a digital footprint.

Instructions

  1. Explain that a digital footprint is a trail of information scouts leave when they go online. Discuss examples of what is safe to share online (like favorite things) and what should stay private (like passwords or addresses).
  2. Scouts take turns jumping onto each poster board in the digital trail, one by one, like in hopscotch.
    • On each board, scouts strike a pose to show if the information is safe to share online or not. Encourage them to create their own gestures for “share” and “don’t share.”
  3. Talk about which information is okay to share and which should stay private. Remind scouts to protect their private information whenever they go online and share what they’ve learned with their family.

Note: If a scout cannot jump or has limited mobility, provide alternatives like holding up a paper or acting out their choice.

Variations

Make It Up: Scouts can write additional examples of what is safe or not safe to share on extra poster boards. Shuffle the posters and create a new trail for another round.

Tia Kennard