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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

Play Buddy Bingo

Ask yes or no questions to work out who your partner is, then work as a team to complete a challenge.
Plan a session with this activity

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You’ll need

  • Scrap paper
  • Pens or pencils

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to 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 if you’re short on helpers. 

Planning this activity

  • Write down the names of well-known pairs on separate pieces of paper or cards, then fold them over or put them in envelopes. For example, some famous pairs include Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Salt and Pepper, Fish and Chips, Bread and Butter, SpongeBob and Patrick, and King and Queen. You could ask young people to show their ideas.

Find your other half

  1. Gather everyone together and let them know you're going to play a game called Buddy Bingo to help make new friends and find out more about each other.
  2. Give one card to each player, so they become one half of a well-known of famous pair.
  3. Explain that each player should find the person with the other half of their pair. Players should move around the room.
  4. When the person leading the game makes a signal, such as when they clap, everyone should try to find out who or what people are by asking questions that can be answered with either a yes or a no. For example, they could ask if the other person is a fictional character, if they’re a food, or if they’re in a film.
  5. Once a player finds the other half of their pair, they should sit down together at the edge of the space.
  6. Keep an eye on the game to make sure everyone has someone to ask – you might need to help make sure no one is left out.

Get to know each other and work as a team

  1. Once everyone is paired up and sat down, pairs should ask each other questions to find out more about each other, such as their favourite films, what hobbies they have, what you have in common, what special skills you have.
  2. You should then set a teamwork challenge to let the new pairs work together. For example, they could:
  • Create the tallest structure with mini-marshmallows and toothpicks
  • Make the highest playing card tower
  • Make the longest paper chain in 3 minutes
  • Use a whole toilet roll to wrap a person and make them in to a mummy the fastest. The toilet roll can be reused for games, placed single sheets in bathrooms in a tub, or for arts and crafts
  • Write down as many items as they can on a particular topic in 60 seconds, such as Disney films or Scout badges
  • Have a logo quiz and identify as many logos as you can in 3 minutes
  • Keep a balloon from touching the ground for the longest time
  • Attach two strings to a felt tip, making enough so there’s one for each team. Have each pair stand on either side of a table and take a string. Together, the pair will need to communicate in order to manipulate the pen and draw a required image onto a piece of paper.

Feedback on your teamwork

  1. Once everyone has finished, gather back together in a circle. Ask everyone how the challenge went working with your teammate and new friend. What did they do to be a good team player and help their team? How did they work together? What did they find out about their new friend?

Reflection

This game helped you to build friendships. Did you speak to anyone you don’t normally talk to? Do all of your friends have some things in common with you, and some things that are different? Why is it good for friends to have some things (but not everything) in common? Does knowing people’s skills make your friendship stronger?

This game also gave you the chance to be a team player. How did you work with other people to find out who was who? Was it easy or difficult to find your pair? Did everyone have the same goal, even though you were playing separately? Is it important to know about people’s skills in a team? Will you work together better now you know each other’s special skills?

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.

  • To make this game harder, don’t reveal to each player who they are. Instead, tape their card onto their back. Players must then guess who or what they are, again by asking yes or no questions, before they can work out who they’re paired with.
  • If a player has difficulties communicating verbally, you could explore doing this activity without speaking. Why not try charades?
  • Some people could share one card between two, so the pairs become groups of three.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Cubs Teamwork Challenge Award
Beavers Teamwork Challenge Award

This activity could be easily linked with the Cubs Personal Challenge Awards by getting young people to talk about a skill or activity they may want to improve or start.