5 Fun and Active Den Meeting Game Ideas

Sometimes, you just need a little inspiration to get your Cub Scouts up and moving! Physical activity is the perfect way for Scouts to get the extra energy out, along with helping them focus. Check out these five Den Meeting ideas to get everyone laughing and heart rates up!

1. Jenga with a twist. We all know Jenga. You know, the game where you keep pulling out blocks and replacing them on top until the whole structure comes crashing down? Well try this twist on for size. Write interactive notes and questions on each block of wood. Then, when the Cub Scout pulls their block, they have to do whatever is written on the block, or answer whatever question is on the block! Some fun examples: “Challenge the person on your left to a race”, “Tell the person on your right something you admire about them (can’t be about looks!)”, “Jump on one foot while rubbing your belly and patting your head”, “Do something that makes everyone laugh”, “Have a long jump contest with everyone and see who can jump the furthest!”, or “Tell everyone one goal you have for yourself”. Items needed: a Jenga set with activities/questions written on them. I have used a fine-point Sharpie to write on mine. 
2. Sports-Inspired Charades. Write a list of sports and sport positions on a card and let Scouts act them out! For example, Quarterback, Running Back, Wide Receiver, Soccer, Baseball Pitcher, Baseball Catcher, Tennis, Pole Vaulting, Shotput, Volleyball, etc. Feel free to up the difficulty-level by picking sports that aren’t on TV all of the time (rugby or field hockey anyone?). Items needed: index cards with the sports/positions on them.
3. Continuing with the sports theme, have the Scouts make up a Touchdown Celebration. What a perfect way to get a solid laugh out while activating both creativity and team building! Depending on how large of a group you have, you can split them up into smaller groups or not. Items needed: possibly a football. 
4. Touch rugby. This one requires a bit more space, but it is easy to execute. Use a rugby ball, or if one is not available, use a football (it is what we had to do!). Line up your group into 2 lines facing each other. Each line can be as small as 3 each or really as large as you need. Keep in mind that the more people that are on each line, the more space you will need! The ball starts in the middle of one line, with the other line about 5-10 feet away. All passes must be backwards (so it helps to line up as a diagonal for the team with the ball). The line playing defense should move up together as a straight line to make sure that no holes are created where the ball-holder could sneak through. Turnovers happen when there is a forward pass, a try (the same thing as a touchdown), or an interception (which would happen by a defensive player running up and snagging the ball while it is in the air). Interceptions generally happen when the line playing offense is too spread out (same as when the defense doesn’t move up together as a team, it creates a hole). The line playing defense stops play action by touching the person with the ball (the person with the ball should aim to off-load to the next player before getting touched to keep play alive!). Once play has stopped, the line playing defense backs up 5-10 feet and play starts again by the line playing offense picking up the ball and tossing it diagonally back to the next person in line. Items needed: a rugby ball or a football and cones/something to mark the boundaries. 
5. River Crossing. Each team has a set number of cardboard pieces to help them get across the “river” (which is a designated space – the larger the group, the larger the space should be). The whole team has to cross together (“start as a team, end as a team”) and if someone “falls in the river” (steps off of their cardboard piece), the group has to start over. There should not be enough pieces to get fully across without some maneuvering. Items needed: 1-foot squares (enough to make it about halfway across the designated space) and something to mark the “river’s edge”.

We hope that you have the most fun trying out these fun and active games!