The amount of running about in this game can be determined by the number of Beavers and the size of the room. It does not even matter if most of those taking part stand still all through. One Beaver is 'It', and remains so until he succeeds in tagging, or touching, some other Beaver. But the others toss a handkerchief about between them, and 'It' can only touch another Beaver who is holding the handkerchief.

Bean-bag golf

The holes can be tins or boxes, scattered about the floor, and numbered so that they can be played in proper order. No clubs or balls are needed. Instead, each Beaver has a bean-bag which he tosses into the hole. When a bean-bag falls on the floor, outside a hole, it must be tossed again from the point where it is picked up.

Charades

A casual game where Beavers are asked to act out certain actions for other Beavers to guess. They can think them up on their own, or the leaders can give ideas, e.g., doing dishes, cutting the hedge, going to the store, driving a bus, etc.

Lemon golf

This is played as nearly as possible in the manner of ordinary golf - but with lemons and walking-sticks. For holes you may have chalked rings on the floor, or circular pieces of paper, cloth or cardboard, laid about. Until you have tried to knock a lemon about the floor, and make it go in a straight course, you have no idea of what an awkward fruit it can be.

Simon Says

One Beaver is Simon. He stands facing the others and shouts out instructions, such as 'Simon says, "touch your toes". Everyone has to obey. But if he leaves out the 'Simon says', anyone who obeys the instruction is 'out'.

Squeak, piggy, squeak

Everyone sits on the floor except for one Beaver, who is blindfolded. He tries to catch hold of the others. Each time he does, he says "Squeak, piggy, squeak" and the Beaver has to squeak. If he guesses who it is, the squeaker is blindfolded.

Sneaky Peter

One Beaver is blindfolded and sits on a chair with a teddy underneath it. The others try to sneak the teddy away without him catching hold of them. When someone is caught, he becomes 'It'.

Pipe Line

Give each Beaver a piece of construction paper and two paper clips. Have Beavers roll their papers into 12-inch cylinders with a 1-inch overlap. Fasten ends with paper clips. Separate the group into two teams and have them stand in two parallel lines. Tell teams to hold their paper cylinders end to end to create a long pipe. Crush two pieces of paper into balls small enough to fit through the cylinders. Say 'go' and drop the paper balls into the ends of the first two cylinders. Team members must jiggle the paper balls from one cylinder to the next. If a paper ball drops on the floor, the last Beaver must pick it up and try again. Passes can only be made from cylinder to cylinder. When the paper ball gets to the last Beaver's cylinder, teams must reverse the passing. The first team to get the paper ball back to the beginning is the winner.

Hot Stuff

Gather everyone in a circle. Leader starts as the Caller, selecting a number from 1 to 50 (or less). As the Beavers stand in the circle, passing the ball from Beaver to Beaver, the caller counts aloud to the preselected number, then yells 'Hot Stuff'. Meanwhile, the Beavers in the circle must keep the ball moving from Beaver to Beaver. When the Caller yells 'Hot stuff', the Beaver with the ball, (or if the ball is between Beavers, the Beaver just about to catch the ball) leaves the circle and joins the Caller. As more and more Beavers leave the circle, the Caller group becomes larger and larger, and the counting becomes louder and louder. The original Caller tells the new Callers the number to which the group will count. As the game dwindles to two Beavers passing the ball back and forth, the last Beaver left without the ball when the callers yell 'Hot Stuff' will the the winner.

Partner Pull-up

Partners sit down facing each other with the soles of their feet on the floor, toes touching. Partners reach forward, bending their knees if they must, and grasp hands. By pulling together, both come up to a stand and then try to return to a sitting position.

Partner Back-up

Two Beavers sit back to back, knees bent. From this position they try to stand up by pushing against each other's backs without moving their feet. Sitting down again can also be attempted. If the Beavers are successful, propose that from a halfway position they try to move like a spider. . .

Mile of Yarn

This is an interesting way to knit Beavers together. One Beaver starts with a bright ball of thick yarn, or a strip of material, wraps the end of the yarn around his waist, and passes the ball to another Beaver. He wraps it around his waist, and passes it to another child, and so on. Once the whole group has been intertwined in yarn, the whole process is reversed. The last Beaver begins to rewind the ball, passes it to the next Beaver, and so on until the fully wound ball reaches the first Beaver.

Shoe twister

Each Beaver removes one shoe and places it in a pile. Everyone then picks up someone else's shoe, and while holding the shoe (method left up to Beaver's ingenuity) everyone joins hands, forming a large circle. Each Beaver then locates the owner of the shoe that he is holding, and all Beavers exchange shoes without breaking their joined hands. Once all shoes have been returned to their owners, the circle is reformed and Beavers make another pile of shoes to start the game again.

Sticky Popcorn

The Beavers begin this game by 'popping' - jumping or hopping -about the Meeting Place as individual pieces of sticky popcorn, searching for other pieces of popcorn. When one piece of popcorn comes into contact with another piece, they stick together. Once stuck, they continue to pop around together, sticking to other pieces, until they all end up in a big popcorn ball.

Fish Gobbler

Select a caller, known as the Fish Gobbler. The caller shouts 'ship', and all of the Beavers run toward the wall to which he points. On the shout 'shore' they quickly change directions and run toward the opposite wall. On the signal 'Fish Gobbler', the Beavers quickly drop to the floor on their stomachs and link arms, legs, or bodies together with one or more friends.

The Fish

Gobbler moves around the room with arms outstretched like a big bird swimming toward the other Beavers but not touching any of them. The Beavers are all 'safe' as long as they are all physically linked together. Once the Fish Gobbler sees that everyone is linked to someone else, the signal 'Rescue' is called. At his moment all the Beavers jump to their feet, join hands, and yell 'Yah', raising their joined hands over their heads. Various other calls could be added, such as 'Sardines' -everyone runs to a central point to make the tightest group possible by either lying on the floor or forming a massive standing hug; 'Fishermen All' - everyone sits on someone else's knee or knees; 'Crabs' - everyone backs up to a partner, bends over, and reaches under their own legs to hold hands.

Toesies

Partners simply lie stretched out on the floor, feet to feet, and attempt to roll across the floor keeping their toes touching throughout. Toesies can also be attempted with only the toes of the right feet connected, with legs crisscrossed, or in a sitting position, rolling toe to toe.

Group pull-ups

Group pull-ups add fun to exercise and introduce an element of creative challenge. Players begin in a seated circle of four. Grasping hands or arms, they try pulling up to stand as a unit. If successful, they can try a circle of six or eight Beavers. The more Beavers added, the more difficult the challenge becomes. Group members can experiment and discover workable ways to get up.

Jiggle and Swiggle

A stick about 24 inches long and 1 inch thick is held parallel to the ground, supported between the waist of two partners. A string about 24 inches long hangs down from the center of the stick, with a small rubber ball at the loose end. Adjust the length of the string so that the ball hangs free a few inches above the ground. The two Beavers work in unison to wind the string and ball around the stick and then to unwind it.

Rump Bump

Partners stand back to back, bend down, and place their hands on the floor in front of them, with or without bending their knees. They then place a balloon (or ball) between their behinds and try to move around without dropping it. To end the game with a bang, the partners can press their behinds together until the balloon pops.

Touch Blue

The game begins with six to eight Beavers standing in a circle. A leader calls out instructions: First, all Beavers must use their right hand to touch something that is blue on another Beaver, and hold on. It could be a bit of blue trim on a shoe or blue jeans or a blue shirt. Next, the left hand has to touch something yellow and hold on. Have the left foot touch something black and the right foot something brown, the head can touch something red, and if the group hasn't fallen into a crumpled mass, the shoulder can touch something green.

Rubber Band Toss

Each Beaver begins with a wristful of rubber bands. One Beaver tosses or shoots a rubber band onto the ground, and the Beavers then take turns throwing one rubber band at a time, trying to make it hit any other rubber band on the ground. If a Beaver is successful, he immediately picks up all the rubber bands on the ground and redistributes them among all the players. They then begin tossing again, with the winner each time being given the privilege of redistributing the rubber bands for the next game.

Crab Race

The Beavers crawl on all fours backward to a goal.

Tightrope walking

Use existing lines on the floor of the Meeting Place, or use a clothesline stretched along the ground. To walk the 'tightrope', place the heel of one foot on the start line and begin to walk - placing the heel of one foot directly to the toe of the other foot - all the way to the finish line. Divide the Colony into two teams. When the leader says "Go", members of each team begin on their tightropes. Each Beaver waits until the Beaver ahead is finished 'walking the rope' before beginning.

Rope Ring

You will need approximately 50 feet of clothesline rope with the ends tied together to make a circle. Beavers stand outside the rope in a circle, holding it with both hands. One Beaver is selected to be the Ringmaster and to stand in the middle. The Ringmaster tries to tap the hand of a ringside Beaver holding the rope. Beavers can drop the rope to avoid being tapped. The Ringmaster may try to trick Beavers by pretending to tap one Beaver and then tap another. When a Beaver is tapped while holding the rope, he becomes the next Ringmaster, and the thrills and chills continue.

Dangling Doughnut Eating contest

Ensure that you have enough doughnuts for each Beaver. Powdered sugar doughnuts are fun because the Beavers get white noses. Tie a rope, one for each Beaver, to the branches of a tree or jungle gym. Keep ropes long enough so that they are only 2 or 3 feet off the ground. Slip the other end of the rope through the doughnut hole and knot it so that the doughnut doesn't slip off. The object of the game is to be the first Beaver to eat an entire doughnut without using any hands. Beavers stand next to their doughnuts with their hands behind their backs. When the leader says "Go", Beavers begin to gobble.

Laughing matter

A single Beaver is selected to the the Laugh Igniter. He lies down on the grass. The rest of the Colony is divided into two groups. A Beaver from each lodge lies down on either side of the Laugh Igniter with his head on the Laugh Igniter's stomach. One by one Beavers lie down, placing their heads on the stomach of the last Beaver. This makes two branches of Beavers with the Laugh Igniter at the center connecting them both. This is useful when shy boys prefer separate groups. After everyone is arranged, the Laugh Igniter takes a deep breath and yells "Ha!" The two Beavers resting on his stomach yell "Ha Ha!" The Beavers resting on their stomachs yell "Ha ha ha" and so forth. The idea, of course, is that each Beaver adds to the number of "ha's" at each turn.

Yellow Jello

Gather Beavers into a close group. Tell them that they have been changed into a bowl of banana Jello (or any flavour you like). Pretend you are shaking the bowl. Begin slowly waving your hands as if you were conducting an orchestra. Jiggle quickly and vibrate the Jello more. Beavers are encouraged to act exactly the way Jello would. Stop shaking the Jello. Usually Jello will shake for awhile until it slows down to a stop. Naturally, if you leave your Jello out in the sun, it will begin to melt away all over the ground.