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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

Puzzling lighting

Solve the clues to work out the order of your lightbulbs and demonstrate how to fit them safely.
Plan a session with this activity

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You’ll need

  • Pens or pencils
  • A4 paper
  • A string of lights, such as festoon lighting
  • Light bulbs to fit the lights, in at least nine different colours

This game aims to help everyone understand how to change a lightbulb safely. To do this, everyone needs to work as a team to answer the questions and figure out the order of the colours.

Changing a lightbulb safely is very important as it works with electricity and most lightbulbs are made of glass. Make sure everyone is very careful when handling the bulbs and make sure the switch is off and unplugged before touching the bulbs.

There are different types of bulbs and fittings: screw, small screw, bayonet, small bayonet and others such as spotlights. It might be a good idea to bring in examples of most fitting types so show everyone what they look like and how to fit each one correctly.

Before you begin

  • This activity requires the use of a string of light fittings that fit standard lightbulbs.
  • Alongside this a selection of multi-coloured lightbulbs that correctly fit the fittings.
  • Come up with a different arrangement of lights for each team and make a note of each one.
  • Prepare a quiz sheet for each team. The position of the questions should correspond to the position of the bulbs for each team.

Time to shine

  1. Split everyone into teams. You should have one team for each arrangement of lights you’ve set up. Each team will need a piece of paper and a pen.
  2. The teams should go through their quiz sheets and solve the clues. They should write down the answer to each clue one after the other, as this should be the correct order for their bulbs.
  3. Once they think they’ve got all the answers, each team should use the order of colours they’ve written down to carefully fit their coloured lightbulbs in the same order. Each person should take turns to attach a bulb. Only once all the bulbs are fitted should the lights be plugged in and switched on.
  4. Continue until everyone has got their lights in the correct order. Then, the lights should be switched off, unplugged and carefully unscrewed ready for the next team.

Red bulb

  • The colour of the Tudor rose
  • The colour of this hero’s riding hood, when she goes to see her grandmother and finds a wolf
  • The colour we associate with anger
  • The colour of a fire extinguisher

Yellow bulb

  • What colour was the long brick road in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that Dorothy and her friends walked along?
  • What colour is known in French as ‘jaune?’ (Pronounced ‘zj-un’)
  • What colour is the front cover border of National Geographic magazine?
  • The colour of American school buses
  • What colour is the cartoon character who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

Green bulb

  • If someone is good at gardening, we say they have ….. fingers.
  • What colour is an amethyst?
  • ‘….. Eggs and Ham’
  • What colour do we often associate with envy?
  • The colour of the Cub uniform

Blue bulb

  • If you’re feeling sad, we may say that you seem to be this colour
  • What colour is the planet Neptune, when viewed from Earth?
  • What colour is the largest animal on the planet?
  • What colour covers 75% of our world, when viewed from space?
  • The colour of the Beaver uniform

Pink bulb

  • What colour is known in French as ‘rose?’
  • This is the colour of a flamingo
  • Pretty in ….
  • What is ‘magenta’ most commonly known as?
  • If you’re good with money and not in debt, you’re in this colour

Purple bulb

  • What colour is known in Spanish as ‘morado?’ (Pronounced ‘mo-ra-do’)
  • This is the colour of the UK Scouts logo
  • Lilac, orchid and lavender are all shades (and flowers) of what colour?
  • What colour is symbolic of royalty?
  • What colour do you get when you mix red and blue?

White bulb

  • In chess, which colour moves first?
  • What colour is known in German as ‘weiβ’? (Sounds like ‘vice’)
  • What’s the colour of the cue ball in snooker, billiards and pool?
  • What colour is made when all the colours of the rainbow are combined?
  • By what name was the evil ‘Queen’ known, who kept Narnia in perpetual winter in the C.S. Lewis book, ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’?

Orange bulb

  • What colour is known in Portuguese as ‘laranja?’ (Pronounced ‘la-ran-ja’)
  • What colour it the vegetable that helps you see in the dark?
  • Also a fruit used to make juice
  • The colour of pumpkins
  • The favourite colour of the Dutch

Black bulb

  • The colour of a polar bear’s skin
  • Often associated with characters like Darth Vader, Maleficent and Batman
  • Can also be described as ‘ebony’
  • The colour of cats that bring luck (either good or bad) when they cross your path
  • The main colour of an Orca (Killer whale)

Reflection

This game aims to help everyone understand how to change a lightbulb safely. To do this, everyone needed to work as a team to answer the questions and figure out the order of the colours. Why was it important to work as a team when solving the clues and changing the bulbs? Imagine changing the bulb in a lamp or light-fitting. The same principles should be followed: switch off, allow to cool, unplug, unscrew and do all this with help.

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.

Manufacturer’s guidelines

All vehicles will be different so always follow the manufacturer’s guidelines.

Introduce different kinds of lightbulbs for an extra challenge. You’ll need to warn the teams of this before they start fitting their bulbs, so they don’t make the wrong assumption.

Label the bulbs for those struggling to tell the colours apart by sight.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Cubs Our Skills Challenge Award
Scouts DIY Activity Badge
Scouts Skills Challenge Award

Once one team has tried this, they could set clues and prepare the bulbs for the next team.