Debt detectives
You’ll need
- Stopwatch or phone
- Equipment for your stations
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more 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 have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
Planning and setting up this activity
- Set up each activity in an open area, such as on tables, making sure there’s lots of space for people to move freely between stations. We’ve included some ideas for stations on this page.
- You may wish to write out or print out what to do for each challenge and leave it next to the station.
- Each station will need a challenge and a loan card for young people to collect once theyve completed the challenge.
Aim of the activity
The aim of this activity is to help young people learn the difference between good debt and bad debt through hands-on experiences. Participants will take part in challenges and real-life borrowing scenarios where they decide when it’s smart to borrow money and when it can be risky. By making these choices, they’ll understand how to manage debt responsibly and make better financial decisions in the future.
Managing Risks and Emotions Associated with Money
- Protecting my Money
- Saving and Borrowing
- Risk and Reward
How to manage money
- Saving and Borrowing
Running this activity
- Gather everyone together and let them know that today you’re going to be learning about debt.
- Explain that debt is when you borrow money that you promise to pay back later, there is good debt and there is bad debt.
- Good debt is when you borrow money for something important that will help you in the future.
- Bad debt is when you borrow money for something you don’t really need or can’t afford.
- Read out the statements one by one and ask the group if they think it is good or bad debt.
- Buying a bicycle to get to a Saturday job (good debt)
- Buying the latest video game with money you don't have (bad debt)
- Borrowing money to pay for a course that helps you get a job (good debt)
- Taking out a loan to buy expensive concert tickets you can’t afford (bad debt)
- Borrowing to fix your phone so you can stay in touch with family and friends (good debt)
- Show them the five stations have been set up.
- Tell them that each station has a challenge to complete. Once completed successfully, the team will collect a loan card. This will describe either a good or bad loan.
- Divide the group into teams, each starting at a different station.
- Once they finish one station, they move to the next. You can use a timer to help everyone rotate at the same time if needed and Offer support at any stations that seem tricky or take longer than others.
- Once all the teams have completed the stations and collected their loan cards, bring everyone back together.
- Choose one space for good debt and one for bad debt – this could be two tables or two spots on the floor.
- Ask each team to place their loan cards into the pile they think is correct.
- The activity leader or a volunteer from the group should pick up each loan card and read it aloud.
- For each one, discuss the following questions together:
- Is this loan in the right pile?
- Was it a good reason to borrow money?
- Could you pay it back easily?
- What would happen if you couldn't pay it back?
- What choice would you make next time?
- Remind the group:
- Good debt helps with essentials, can be planned for and paid back, and often saves money or helps you earn money.
- Bad debt is for things you don’t really need, can trap you into borrowing more, and may cause stress or damage your finances in the future.
- You could add points to this activity and turn it into a competition, giving 1 point per right classification and a bonus point for strong explanations.
Problem Solving
- Solve a knot puzzle: Untangle a rope or string puzzle, or tie and untie a specific knot (e.g., reef knot or bowline) as a team.
- Jigsaw Puzzle Race: Give each team a small jigsaw puzzle (or a few pieces cut from a picture) to solve quickly.
- Code Cracker: Create a basic substitution code (A=1, B=2, etc.) and give a short phrase for teams to decode (e.g., "3-15-4-5" = "CODE").
- Peg hunting challenge: Find and collect as many hidden pegs (or small objects) around a designated area within 2 minutes.
Accuracy & Aim
- Paper Plane Accuracy: Make a paper plane and try to land it in a target zone (e.g., a hoop, box, or circle on the floor).
- Coin toss challenge: Take turns tossing a coin into a cup or target zone from a short distance. You get 5 attempts.
- Sock Basketball: Throw rolled-up socks into a laundry basket from a marked line—5 throws per team member
- Cup Stack Challenge: Stack and unstack 10 plastic cups into a pyramid and back down as fast as possible without them falling.
Quick Thinking & Memory
- Peg hunting challenge: Find and collect as many hidden pegs (or small objects) around a designated area within 2 minutes.
- Memory Tray Game: Show a tray of 10–15 small items for 30 seconds. Cover it, and teams list as many as they can remember.
- Word Scramble: Unscramble a list of mixed-up words related to money (e.g., "DTBE" = DEBT, "YENOM" = MONEY).
Movement & Agility
- Wheelbarrow race in pairs: One person walks on their hands while their teammate holds their legs – race from one end of the course to the other and back.
- Balloon Keep-Up: Keep a balloon in the air for 30 seconds using only heads or elbows. Bonus if they can do it as a group.
- Balance across a rope or beam: Walk carefully across a rope laid on the ground or a balance beam without stepping off.
Reflection
This activity was all about understanding debt and making smart choices about borrowing money, just like managing your own finances in real life. Think about the different loan cards you collected—were there any that surprised you? Which ones did you find easy or tricky to classify as good or bad debt?
Managing money is a skill that everyone needs, whether you’re saving for something important or avoiding unnecessary expenses. How do you think these lessons about good and bad debt will help you in the future? What would you do differently if you ever need to borrow money? What skills or habits do you want to develop to make better financial decisions next time?
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.
- Active games
The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.
- Contact games and activities
Make sure everyone understands what contact is acceptable, and monitor contact throughout the activity.
- Outdoor activities
You must have permission to use the location. Always check the weather forecast, and inform parents and carers of any change in venue.
- Visits away from your meeting place
Complete a thorough risk assessment and include hazards, such as roads, woodland, plants, animals, and bodies of water (for example, rivers, ponds, lakes, and seas). You’ll probably need more adult helpers than usual. Your risk assessment should include how many adults you need. The young people to adult ratios are a minimum requirement. When you do your risk assessment, you might decide that you need more adults than the ratio specifies. Think about extra equipment that you may need to take with you, such as high visibility clothing, a first aid kit, water, and waterproofs. Throughout the activity, watch out for changes in the weather and do regular headcounts.
To make this activity easier, you could remove any timed elements. You could also add two levels of challenge for each activity, so there’s an easier or harder version for people to choose from.
- Make sure any actions and equipment are/is accessible for everyone. Some examples include making sure to use colours that can easily be identified for anyone who’s colourblind, having cones spread further apart to allow a wheelchair to manoeuvre through them, using lighter balls, putting items on tables rather than the floor, having bigger containers, using picture-based labels, using large print fonts, kicking instead of throwing or using items that make noise for anyone with visual impairments. If needed, you can let someone start closer to the challenge or adapt it to their needs.
- Some people struggle with lots of change or moving between multiple activities. Give people as much notice as possible if there’s a change between activities. Be specific about any tasks you ask people to complete and realistic about how much they can complete in the time available. It can be very difficult for some people to move on if they don't feel they've managed to finish a task. Make sure there’s enough time for everyone to try the activity a few times and have plenty of adults available for support.
- People can move at their own pace, so you don’t need to make it competitive unless it works for everyone. You could adapt the competitive element. You could also reward good communication, creativity or teamwork, instead of speed or being the first. Remind people to encourage each other and that it’s not about winning, but about taking part, working well as a team and having fun. This activity can be noisy or busy. If anyone’s sensitive to loud noises, try to remind everyone to be quieter or have a noise level warning system. People could wear ear defenders, you can shut doors and windows to reduce external noise, or you can have a quiet zone for people to go to if needed. You could also run the activity outside or over a larger space to reduce the noise. It might be useful to agree on a signal, such as raising a hand, to indicate when someone needs a break or wants to speak to an adult.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
