Explorers Problem Solver Activity Badge
Explorers Problem Solver Activity Badge
This badge helps you build your problem‑solving and teamwork skills by exploring real issues, taking part in challenging activities, and creating your own solutions. You’ll learn more about your community and global challenges, work with others to think critically, and take action to make a difference, while reflecting on what you learn along the way.
Complete three activities. You could:
Discover - Identify a real issue affecting your local area, such as housing, transport, youth services, or environmental concerns.
Speak to people impacted by the problem and research what’s being done or could be done to address it, including contacting local organisations or decision-makers.
Experience - Take part in a complex team-based challenge that requires communication, logic, and creative thinking.
This could be an escape room, puzzle trail, or simulation game. Reflect on how your group worked together, what strategies were effective, and what you’d do differently next time.
Mobilise - Choose a global issue - like climate change, racial inequality, or access to education and take meaningful local action to address it.
Use the UN Sustainable Development Goals to guide you and document how your action supports wider change, supporting a more equitable and inclusive movement.
Solve - Participate in a structured problem-solving activity such as a mock trial, ethical debate, or engineering design challenge.
Use critical thinking and teamwork to explore different solutions, and reflect on the consequences of each choice.
Create - Invent a problem-solving activity for others to complete - this could be a logic puzzle, roleplay scenario, or digital challenge using coding or electronics.
Test it with your Unit and gather feedback to improve its clarity, difficulty, and engagement, then take it to another group for them to solve.
Tips
- Problem solving can be found in many different styles of working and activities, so feel free to think outside the box and let Explorers choose something that is related to their own interests.
- There might be benefit to exploring traditional problem solving challenges such as egg drop or spaghetti and marshmallow towers, or thinking less literally, such as debating the trolley problem, or considering how we look to solve climate change.
- To get the badge, you can either try some of our example activities, or come up with your own with support from a Scouts volunteer or trusted adult. The activities should be challenging for you and take a reasonable amount of time.
Offer flexibility and encourage Explorers to tailor their badge to their interests and skill set.
Everyone has different skills and experiences, so try to consider their starting point when choosing what they will achieve.
As a rough guide, an Activity Badge should be achievable within 3 weeks of activities.- When taking part in activities, remember to let someone know:
- Where you’re going.
- Who you’re with.
- What time you plan to be finished.
- A plan for communicating your progress.
- Ask for help if you're visiting new places or trying new activities.
- When volunteering with unfamiliar teams, make sure you have a key contact person to liaise with and understand what to do if you feel unsafe or uncertain.
- When mobilising in social action locally, make sure you have considered everyone's safety and delegated tasks accordingly, especially in unfamiliar areas or locations.
- Make sure you have a clear plan and have checked the area beforehand to confirm it is safe and appropriate for leading activities.
- Complete your own risk assessment based on your plans and ask an adult volunteer to check it for you.
- When taking part in activities, remember to let someone know:
- All activities for this badge must be safely managed and locally approved.
- Engage with the young person to make sure they have the key information they need to volunteer and engage with unfamiliar teams, and for those teams in Scouts making sure that the Yellow Card and Purple Card are being followed.
- Review and make sure that you understand the activities plan and support the young person to ensuring all safety considerations are addressed before it takes place.
- Volunteers must make sure they have completed a thorough risk assessment and taken appropriate steps to reduce risks.
- Use the safety checklist to help plan and risk assess the activity.
Badges will be available to purchase from Scout Store later in September, please check back for updates.
June 2026.
Requirements can be adapted to suit each young persons abilities. See our guidance on flexibility.