Happy pet hunt
You’ll need
- Cards or slips of paper with a picture or name of a pet on
- Pictures of things each pet needs
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’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
Planning and setting up this activity
- You’ll need to hide pictures around your meeting place before the session. (e.g. cat – litter tray, bowl, cat food). You could use the pictures we’ve attached to this activity and you can find a list of what’s included on this page.
- You could do this activity outside. Make sure to explain the boundaries of the playing area and where any no-go zones are.
Happy pet hunt
- Gather everyone together and explain that you’re going to play a treasure hunt game to find important items that help pets stay safe, happy, and healthy.
- Get everyone into teams.
- Ask each team to pick a card at random with the name or picture of a pet on it.
- Explain that pictures of some essential items for each pet are hidden around the meeting space. They need to find pictures that match what their pet needs.
- You could set a time limit for the hunt or see which team can collect all their images the fastest. Make sure everyone knows about any no-go areas, where it’s not safe to search.
- Once finished, gather everyone together and check that the items each team found are suitable for their pet.
- Talk about how different pets have different needs, and it’s always important to check what’s right for your specific pet to keep them safe, happy, and healthy.
Rabbit
- Hutch
- Wood shavings (bedding)
- Hay (food)
- Food bowl and water bowl
- Leafy greens
- Rabbit nuggets
- Another rabbit
Cat
- Scratching post
- Pet carrier
- Cat bed
- Cat food and bowls
- Litter tray
- Cat litter
- Cat toys
Guinea pig
- Hutch
- Wood shavings (bedding)
- Hay
- Water bottle
- Guinea pig nuggets and food bowl
- Fresh vegetables
- Another guinea pig
Fish
- Aquarium
- Water filter
- Fish food
- Gravel
- Hiding spots (cave)
- Fish net
- Gravel cleaner
Dog
- Food and water bowls
- Dog food
- Collar
- Lead
- Dog bed
- Toys (tennis balls)
- Poo bags
Reflection
This activity is a good opportunity to think about what it means to be a responsible pet owner. Looking after a pet is a big responsibility and it’s important that everyone who owns a pet can meet their five welfare needs to keep them safe and happy for their whole lives. Can anyone remember the five welfare needs, or guess what they might be?
The five welfare needs are:
- A safe place to live - Animals should have the right type of home, including shelter, space and opportunities to exercise, and somewhere comfortable to rest and hide.
- Food and water - Animals need to have access to fresh, clean drinking water all the time and should be fed the right amount and type of food to keep them fit and healthy.
- To behave normally - Animals should have enough space and the right sort of toys and housing so they can behave normally.
- Having the right company - Some animals need to have friends of their own kind. Animals should have the right sort of company, and some should be kept on their own – find out what is best before you get your pet.
- Good health - Animals should be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease and should be treated by a vet if they are sick or injured.
People need they need to think about if they have the time, energy, money and space to be able to meet these needs, too.
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.
You can make this activity easier or harder by changing how many items the teams need to collect, and by choosing whether to make the images easier or more difficult to find.
- Make sure your images are hidden somewhere everyone can reach. For example, you might need to put items at lower heights. You could also do this activity without hiding the cards – teams could look through the images, and pick out or sort into groups.
- If anyone has difficulties with mobility or moving around, think about how the game could be adapted.
- People can move at their own pace, so you don’t need to make it competitive unless that works for everyone. Remind everyone to encourage each other and that it’s not about winning, but about joining in, working together and having fun.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
