Skip to main content

Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

Discover what this means
Supported by Generation Green

Meet a tree

Can you use your senses to find out which tree you met? Trust you partner and get connected to nature.

Back to Activities

You’ll need

  • Blindfolds
  • Access to outdoor space
Activity Plan (Meet A Tree)
PDF – 460.9KB

Love trees?

If you want to take your love of trees further, why not check out our partnership with the Green Tree Badge. This will give you the opportunity to engage with trees in a new way and earn external badges along the way!

Green Tree Badge
Contact

Use your senses to tune into the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and textures of nature.

Five pathways to nature connectedness >

Before you begin

  • Check the location you plan to use. Make sure that there are enough trees for each pair or group, and where possible try and make sure there is a good variety of trees.
  • Mark out a clear boundary for the activity, including a starting location.

Tree hugger

  1. Everyone should get into pairs or small groups. One person in each pair or group should put on a blindfold.
  2. From a set starting location, team members must guide their blindfolded teammate safely to a tree.
  1. The blindfolded person should use their other senses to get to know their tree: hug it, smell it, feel for knots or branches, and listen to the leaves rustling.
  2. Carefully guide the blindfolded people back to the starting location.
  3. Everyone should remove their blindfolds and try to locate the tree they went to, using what they learned about it.
  4. After successfully finding their tree, or after three wrong guesses, the teammates should swap around. Repeat by blindfolding another team member and choosing a different tree.

Reflection

This activity was about valuing the outdoors and being active. In this activity you got out into nature and used your senses to learn new things. We rely heavily on our eyes to take in the world around us, but there are lots of things we notice when we use our other senses. When you touched the tree, what textures did you feel? Were there any senses you didn’t use? Everyone tried to find their tree once the blindfold was taken off. How did you do it? You also had to trust your partner when you were blindfolded. How did it feel?

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.

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. 

Can anyone identify any of the trees they found? Try downloading a tree identification app or looking in a book. You could take pictures of the trees to take away and research later.

  • Choose an area that’s suitable for all members of your group. You could visit the area early and remove any large or obvious obstacles.
  • For anyone that does not want to wear a blindfold, consider closing their eyes or covering them with their hands.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.