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Supported by Royal Navy

Alphabet Ahoy! raft balance game

Balance on the raft as letters and numbers are called — stand up, stay steady, and help your team keep afloat!

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You’ll need

  • Rafting canoes
  • Any appropriate safety equipment, including helmets and life jackets.
  • Whistle, bell etc for emergency stop.

Before you begin 

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Take a look at our guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.  
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.

Planning and setting up this activity 

  • This activity’s designed for when you’re spending time on the water. 
  • This activity involves using rafting canoes, secure several canoes together to form a stable raft, with a leader supervising from the water or a safety boat.
  • It’s important to be able to stop the game or communicate any safety issues as needed. You need to have a clear plan to pause the game and get everyone’s attention quickly and urgently. For example, you could use a bell or a whistle. 

Running this activity 

  1. This activity is part of the Time on the water staged activity badge.
  2. Before the start of the activity explain to everyone the emergency stop, when they hear it, they must stop immediately and wait for instructions.
  3. Ask everyone to sit in the raft.
  4. The leader calls out a letter of the alphabet.
  5. Anyone whose name begins with that letter carefully stands up, keeping their balance while holding the canoe or a paddle for support.
  6. Once they are steady, they sit back down slowly.
  7. Next, the leader calls out a number.
  8. The young people sitting in the matching seat number in each canoe stand up together, then sit back down. 
  9. Repeat with different letters and numbers, encouraging slow movements and teamwork to keep the raft stable. 

Reflection

This activity shows how staying calm, moving slowly, and supporting each other helps everyone feel confident and safe on the water. Think about how you kept your balance when the raft moved. What helped you listen carefully and react at the right time? Did working together help keep the raft steady when others stood up? This activity shows how staying calm, moving slowly, and supporting each other helps everyone feel confident and safe on the water. 

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Water games and activities

Be careful when doing activities with, in, or near water. Check surfaces and reduce the risk of slipping where possible. Make sure you have appropriate supervision for this activity.

Make it accessible

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Time on the Water 1
Time on the Water 2