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What Royal Ranger Activities are All About

Links to Minute To Win it Blueprints : Click Here

  The activities segment is an important part of making each Wednesday night fun and memorable.  You have heard it said, “a boy’s work is his play.”   It might not matter to you as a commander, but it’s extremely important to your rangers. Each segment taps into a different Gold point and builds camaraderie within the Outpost. MENTALLY they need to figure out the best way to perform the activity/game.  PHYSICALLY they will be engaged in the activity/game.  SPIRITUALLY “iron sharpens iron” as they continually build character “muscles”.  SOCIALLY they are learning to interact and cooperate with one another.

Must:

• Be boy led adult facilitated
• Utilize the patrol system
• Structure not chaos
• Follow the two rules (Respect & Safety)
• Promote camaraderie and teamwork
• Include an element of competition
• Result in winners and losers

Because the activity segment is one of the most energetic and fun parts of the evening, it can be given too much importance.  Be careful here.  It is just one important part of the whole.  We have been eyewitnesses to an unprepared Outpost that relied on the activity to save the night. As with everything in Rangers preparation is key.  The unprepared Outpost will quickly unravel and then it’s dodgeball to the rescue.  Why not?  They seem to be having fun, they can’t wait to come back next week for a round of dodgeball, and you’re the hero.  Be assured, dodgeball may rescue the night the first time, but it will begin to erode the foundation of Royal Rangers at your Outpost.

Enthusiasm Breeds Enthusiasm It’s been said too often, “the TraClub games are lame.”  No, your delivery is lame, and your enthusiasm is at an all time low.  If you have ever seen the nationally televised game show Minute To Win It, you will see lots of very simple and sometimes silly games that are engaging millions of people to watch and participate.  The producers are not throwing the dice with millions of dollars in advertisement.  They research, plan, and execute perfectly.  

Engage the Senses The sights and sounds of any event can cement that experience into our memories.  The buzzers of scoreboards at basketball games, or the explosions of fireworks during 4^th of July celebrations.  Your activities can be elevated quickly and easily with some music, countdown clocks and videos.  Minute To Win It games come prepackaged with this.  You can easily download the video blueprints from You Tube or Google.  Each video gives a graphic and fun explanation of the game. There are lots of great one-minute countdown timers on the internet.  One caution here, however, download and watch everything you pull down from the internet.  This will keep you from unintentionally playing something inappropriate and you don’t have to rely on internet service.

Participation If you have attended Ranger Basics training, then you will know how important it is to raise the level of participation.  Dodgeball, soccer, kickball and the like are great games and at large Ranger events they can be an awesome addition to the event.  But, if you want to get 100% participation and forge friendships between the band kids, the athletes, and the artists start embracing the simple team building activities described in this workshop.

Boy-Led Adult-Facilitated  Allow the boys to take ownership of their Outpost.  This is one more area that you can have boys lead.  You can utilize the Patrol Leaders and Asst. Patrol Leaders to organize, and the gear manager to setup and manage the audio and video.

Patrol System The activity segment is an awesome time to reinforce the patrol system and insert a little competition within the Outposts.

Plan A Remember, as in every part of the Wednesday night meeting always go to plan A.  Be prepared for the things that may go wrong and for bad weather.  The boys never need to know that whatever is presented wasn’t plan A all along.

Winning and Losing Life is full of wins and losses and  handling both in a respectful and classy way is learned.  The Activity segment is a great time to celebrate the victories and learn to be a gracious loser.  There are winners in each individual game.   Patrols can win the night and you can even keep a running score for a winning patrol over a quarter.

Minute To Win It I know we have really hyped the Minute To Win It games.  There are great games provided in all the TraClub merit materials and thousands more online.  The Minute To Win Games just happen to be a complete package.  There are fun games, cleaver videos and dynamic countdown timers.  In addition, these games have been tried on adults from every walk of life and proven to be lots of fun.  One caution, do some research on the materials needed so you can make sure it fits within your budget.