Activity Description: Scouts create and explore “sense boxes” filled with items that can be seen, touched, smelled, heard, or tasted.
- Fulfills Step 4 of GSUSA Me Time badge requirements.
Info Needed: Scouts explore how their bodies help them move, observe, and learn.
Items Needed:
- Small box for each scout
- 3–5 Sensory items from each scout brought from home (e.g. feathers, bells, mints, small toys)
- Backup sensory items (for scouts who forget)
- Decoration supplies (markers, stickers, tape, etc.)
Instructions (Estimated Total Time: 20–30 minutes):
- Create and Decorate the Box (5–8 minutes)
- Scout decorates a small box to reflect their personality or interests
- They place 3–5 sensory items inside the box
- Swap and Explore (8–10 minutes)
- Scouts quietly swap boxes with a partner (taste items stay with their owner)
- Each scout explores the items one at a time, using different senses
- Example: touch a soft object, smell a mint, shake a bell to hear it
- Any item meant for tasting should be used only by the box creator
- Sense Reflection (5–8 minutes)
- Scouts hold up one item they experienced with each sense
- Optional: name one item that used more than one sense
- Scouts return boxes to their original owners (taste items stay with their owner)
- Group Share (3–4 minutes)
- Scouts share how their senses helped them learn something new
- Optional: share which item felt most interesting or surprising
The Badge Archive 