———
Send the boys out on a walk. On their return examine them one by one, or have them all in and let them write their ans wers on, say, six questions which you give them with reference to certain points which they should have noticed. It adds to the value of the practice if you make certain small marks in the ground beforehand, or leave buttons or matches, etc., for the boys to notice or to pick up and bring in, as a means of making them examine the ground close to them, as well as distant objects.
———
At Troop meeting, arrange for an “incident” to take place without warning, such as this: A man rus hes in, “knocks down” the Scoutmaster, and escapes. Then each Patrol writes a report of what happened, a description of the man, etc.
GAMES IN OBSERVATION
Send the Patrol out of the room.
Thimble Finding
(Indoors)
Take a thimble, ring, coin, bit of paper, or any small article, and place it where it is perfectly visible, but in a spot where it is not likely to be noticed. Let the Patrol come in and look for it. When one of the Scout sees it, he should go and quietly sit down without indicating to the others where it is.
After a fair time he should be told to point it out to those who have not succeeded in finding it.
Far and Near
(For town or country)
Umpire goes along a given road or line of country with a Patrol in patrolling formation. He carries a scoring card with the name of each Scout on it.
Each Scout looks out for the details required, and, directly he notices one, he runs to the umpire and informs him or hands in the article, if it is an article he finds. The umpire enters a mark accordingly against his name. The Scout who gains most marks in the walk wins.
Details like the following should be chosen, to develop the Scout’s observation and to encourage him to look far and near, up and down. The details should be varied every time the game is played; and about eight or ten should be given at a time.
Every match found................................1 point
Every button found ...............................1 point
Bird’s tracks .........................................2 points
Grey horse seen....................................2 points
Pigeon flying........................................2 points
Sparrow sitting .....................................1 point
Ash tree ...............................................2 points
Broken window ....................................1 point
(And so on)
Shop Window
(Outdoors in town)
Umpire takes a Patrol down a street past six shops and gives them half a minute at each shop. Then, after moving them off to some distance, he gives each boy a pencil and card, and tells him to write from memory what he noticed in, say, the third and fifth shops. The Scout who sets down most articles correctly wins. It is useful practice to match one boy against another in heats—the losers competing again, till you arrive at the worst. This gives the worst Scouts the most practice.
Room Observation
(Indoors)
Send each Scout in turn into a room for half a minute. When he comes out, take down a list of furniture and articles which he has noticed. The boy who notices most wins.
The simplest way of scoring is to make a list of the articles in the room on your scoring paper, with a column against them for marks for each Scout. The marks can then easily be totalled up.
“Old Spotty-Face” is a good game for practising observation. It also helps to sharpen the eye sight.
Old Spotty-face
Prepare squares of cardboard divided into about a dozen or more small squares. Each Scout should take one, and should have a pencil and go off a few hundred yards.
The leader then takes a large sheet of cardboard, with the same number of squares ruled on it of about three inch sides. The leader has a number of black paper discs, half an inch in diameter, and pins ready, and sticks about half a dozen on to his
