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Description

This is an example of an Incident Base/Challenge base to use for team competitions.

Scouts must spend 15 minutes max at each base and no more than 10 minutes doing each activity.

How it works: This is a task to set off mousetraps, but the mousetraps are set out of reach. A long rod must be made and then used to set them off. The distance should be set so that the scouts can just reach the nearest traps when using 2 staves lashed together. Some traps need to be further away so they would need 3 staves to reach them. <pro mode!>

The scouts must set off as many mousetraps as they can in the time available.

Resources

Kit list
Numerous spring loaded mouse traps
5 staves (plus 5 x spares so there is no need to reset everything really really fast between each team of scouts.
Rope for lashing or Sisal - pre-cut
Something to cut more sisal with
Something to make a barrier with -either a line on the floor or hazard tape
2 bags of bananas (sort of a red herring but can be used to dangle on the string to set off the traps)
Optional - Numerous sets of fairy lights / mannequin to be rescued

Before each group leaves - ask them to disassemble their fishing lines for the next person- many hands make light work

Instructions

[LEADERS SECRET INTEL - The best way for Scouts to do this is to lash two staves together. To just set the traps off they can use the end of the stave to hit the traps directly. The trick is to have long lashing, or 2 spaced lashings where the staves are lashed together. If the staves are only tied together at a single point they bend in the middle as soon as the scouts pick them up.
The bananas are a red herring. While Scouts may use these as a ‘fishing lure’ to drop onto the mousetraps, actually it just wastes their time - they are better to just hit the traps with a stick. At the end of their session if there is time to give them a debrief you can flag that sometimes the best way to achieve a goal isn't always the obvious route..]

Scoring
Give the usual scoring for teams work etc per the scoring sheet, PLUS at the end, score how many traps each group set off from the ‘closer traps’ and how many from the ‘far away’ group of traps.

AT THE END OF THE NIGHT YOUR WILL NEED TO REVIEW THE SCORING AND ASSIGN A FINAL SCORE TO EACH GROUP BY RELATIVE RANKING.

Risk assessment items
Adults to prime the mousetraps. Fingers fingers fingers.
Confirm no banana allergies
No other obvious risks during each session

Tags

• 7th Woking
• INH
• woking

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