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Play fast fashion relay

Race to reveal where your clothes come from - and who really made them.

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You’ll need

  • A world map (either one large map, or one per team)
  • Pins, stickers or plasticine to mark countries
  • Clothing items with labels showing country of manufacture

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

  • Ask everyone to bring two or three items of clothing that have visible labels or tags showing where they were manufactured.
  • Place all the clothing items on one side of the room.
  • Mark a starting line on the opposite side to create a clear activity space.
  • You’ll need a map of the world, but this could be one large world map, a globe, or smaller printed maps for each team. Make sure the maps are easy to read so participants can find the countries of origin.
  • If using one large map, assign a different coloured sticker to each team, and ensure the map is large enough for everyone to see.
  • If using individual maps, place them in secure locations that are easily accessible to the teams.

Fast fashion is a way of making clothes quickly and cheaply, so that shops can always have the latest trends. It’s all about fast production and low prices - great for our wallets, but not so great for people or the planet. But, what makes it ‘fast’?

  • New styles go from catwalk to store in just a few weeks.
  • Clothes are often worn only a few times before being thrown away.
  • Companies keep producing more and more to meet demand for the ‘next big thing’. 

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the fashion industry is the second-biggest consumer of water and produces about 10% of global carbon emissions - that’s more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Making just one pair of jeans uses around 7,500 litres of water, which is about what one person drinks in 7 years! Lots of clothes are made with synthetic fibres like polyester, which are plastic-based and don’t break down easily in nature. A truckload of textiles is dumped in landfill or burned every second.

Fast fashion often depends on cheap labour in countries where workers' rights are limited. The Clean Clothes Campaign is a global network dedicated to improving working conditions and empowering workers. They help educate and empower consumers and lobby companies and governments. The campaign has said that fast fashion means:

  • Many garment workers are paid less than a living wage, often not enough to meet basic needs.
  • 93% of big brands don’t share clear information about how much their workers are paid.
  • Issues, such as unsafe conditions, long hours, and even child labour are still found in the industry.

This is important because the clothes we buy impacts climate change, water pollution and workers’ rights.

There are simple actions we can take to reduce the impact of fast fashion and make more ethical choices:

  • Buy second-hand or vintage clothes: Helps reduce waste and save money while giving clothes a second life.
  • Support ethical brands: Look for companies that pay fair wages, use sustainable materials, and are transparent about how they work.
  • Upcycle and repair: Turn old clothes into something new, or fix what you have instead of throwing it away.
  • Choose quality over quantity: Buy fewer clothes that last longer instead of constantly replacing fast fashion items.
  • Research brands: Use tools, such as Fashion Checker, to learn more about the brands you buy from.

 

Running this activity

  1. Ask everyone to get into teams. Let them know they’re now Fashion Investigators in a global race to uncover the story behind what we wear.
  2. Each team lines up at the start line.
  3. When the game leader says ‘Go!’, the first player from each team races to the pile of clothes.
  4. Pick up a piece of clothing and find the country where it was made. This will be on the label.
  5. Then, they must mark that country on the map.
  6. Once they've marked the country, they place the item in the discarded pile and race back to tag the next person in line.
  7. Repeat until all clothes are either discarded, or everyone has taken their turn a set number of times.
  8. Once the relay ends, gather everyone and review the map and check which countries most of the clothes come from.
  9. Ask if anyone can spot anything the countries might have in common, if there were any surprises with where the clothes were made and if anything was made in the UK.
  10. Now, think about the clothing industry. Ask what everyone thinks about the cost of clothes and if they’re good value for money, such as good quality or long-lasting.
  11. Next, think about the working conditions for people who make clothes. What do they think the conditions might be like? Lots of companies are working to improve their practices through ethical sourcing and fair wages. However, some clothes are still produced in sweatshops. A sweatshop is a place where workers are exploited, often working long hours in unsafe conditions, but not all factories are like this.  
  12. Ask everyone how the fashion industry could be more sustainable. In the UN Sustainability goals, two goals are relevant to the fashion industry. They are Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth and Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. By supporting ethical companies, we contribute to creating better working conditions and more sustainable production processes.
  13. You could also search Fashion Checker for each of the clothing brands you've used in the game and see how sustainable they are.
  14. Get back into teams, talk about your own habits and what small changes you could make. Remember, there are no wrong answers.  Groups can write their thoughts down, talk about them or draw them. You can use these questions below to spark ideas:
    • How can we be more responsible with our fashion choices?
    • What does it mean to upcycle clothes?
    • How do we feel about second-hand shopping?
    • Can we make fashion more sustainable in our everyday lives and what’s one small thing we could each try?
    • How can we learn more about the brands we buy from?

Reflection

This activity was all about fashion, including how it’s made and the impact it has on the world. What did you think about the speed at which clothes are produced and their environmental and social costs?

You may have been surprised about how much water and energy goes into making clothes or how workers are often treated. What could we do in the future to make more sustainable fashion choices?

You could buy second-hand clothes or try to go for a period of time, such as two months, without buying clothes. You could also plan to buy better quality items that last longer, swap clothes with friends or research brands.

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.

  • To make this activity easier, you could work as one big group rather than teams, focusing on a few items each.
  • To make this activity harder, you could use a map without the countries labelled on it. 
  • Make sure any equipment is laid out in a way that’s accessible to everyone. There should be space or access for everyone to move around and reach anything needed. For example, you could put items on a table, rather than the floor if people struggle to bend down. Groups could also sit with their pile of clothes and a map, without having to need to do the relay or race.
  • Make sure that everyone can see the maps. Make sure to use colours that can easily be identified for anyone who’s colourblind. You could provide a digital version, so people can use of magnification software. People could also have access to magnifying glasses, braille versions or large print versions. You can buy extra-large OS Maps or add sticky note labels to make the country names clearer.
  • You can print or write onto thicker card to make items easier to handle or grip. You can also print onto paper and stick it to a sturdier surface, such as cardboard.
  • Some people might not like to touch some items or textures. No-one should be forced to touch something they feel uncomfortable with. They could wear gloves, use another object to interact with the item or find another way to do the activity. They could work in a pair or a group too, so someone else could do that part of the task. For example, people may not like touching other people’s clothes or certain fabrics.
  • 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. For example, instead of a race where the fastest wins, consider giving points for specific achievements within a set time, such as completing a task in a set time. You could also reward good communication, creativity or teamwork, instead of speed or being the first. 

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Explorers Global Issues Activity Badge

If you enjoyed this activity, you could do some research into your own wardrobe. You could also try organising a Scout swap shop.

Young people organise clothing swaps, upcycling workshops or run a local campaign to encourage others to think more sustainably about their fashion choices.