Water obstacle course | Activities

You’ll need

Kayaks, canoes or rafts
Buoys, islands or other features to act as markers for the obstacle.
Paddles
Any appropriate safety equipment, including helmets and life jackets
Buoyancy aids/life jacket
Timer/ stop clock
Whistle or bell for emergency stop.

Before you begin

Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Take a look at our 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.
It’s important to be able to stop the game or communicate any safety issues as needed. You need to have a clear plan to pause the game and get everyone’s attention quickly and urgently. For example, you could use a bell or a whistle.

Planning and setting up this activity

This activity’s designed for when you’re spending time on the water. 
Before the start of the activity explain to everyone the emergency stop, when they hear it, they must stop immediately and wait for instructions.
Before running this activity, you’ll need to have a watercraft to use. You could use kayaks and canoes, or you could make a raft. If you’re making your own rafts, make sure everyone’s rafts are secure before starting the race. You can find out more about Traditional rafting. 
If the water space you’re using has any islands, buoys or other features, use these as markers the groups can paddle around. 
If you’ve got enough adults joining in, you can use your own boats on the water to make obstacles as well.
You could demonstrate or explain the route to the teams.

Running this activity

This activity is part of the Time on the water staged activity badge.
Before the start of the activity explain to everyone the emergency stop, when they hear it, they must stop immediately and wait for instructions.
Once your rafts, kayaks or canoes are ready, and everyone is ready to go, gather everyone together.  Explain you’re going to have an obstacle race. The winning team will be the one that completes the course the fastest.  
You could demonstrate or explain the route to the teams. 
Ask the groups to get into teams. You could count each singular vessel as one team, or you could have multiple vessels working together as one team. You may want to have a way to identify the different teams, such as different coloured helmets. 
Once everyone is ready, the person running the activity should shout ‘Go!’ The first member of each team should go and complete the course. Once they return, the next member goes and until everyone has completed the course.
The winning team is the one where all team members complete the course in the quickest time.

Reflection

This water rafting obstacle race challenged us to work together under pressure, communicate clearly, and support one another when things got tricky. We learned that teamwork, perseverance, and staying positive made a real difference, especially when obstacles didn’t go to plan. The activity built confidence, resilience, and trust, while reminding us that challenges are more fun and rewarding when we face them as a team.

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.

Water games and activities: Be careful when doing activities with, in, or near water. Check surfaces and reduce the risk of slipping where possible. Make sure you have appropriate supervision for this activity.

Make it accessible

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.