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Walk the plank
Pirates, Planks, and Leadership Ahoy!
Step into the shoes of a trusty leader—or a daring pirate!
This activity will test your ability to steer the crew to victory while balancing water, blindfolds, and a whole lot of fun. Are you ready to lead the charge and keep your shipmates (and the plank) steady?
Before you begin
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Mark a start and finish line on the floor with the masking tape. This is the plank people will walk along. You could also use chalk or string.
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Fill one bucket with water, and put it at the start line with the plastic cup. Put the empty bucket at the finish line.
What you will need
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Masking tape
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Buckets
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Paper cups
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Scarves
Talk about leadership
- The Leader running the activity should ask everyone what they think is important when someone’s leading a game.
- People could think about things such as listening to everyone, giving instructions that are easy to understand, helping anyone who doesn’t understand, making fair decisions, and sorting out
- any problems.
- The Leader running the activity should
- choose someone to be the Patrol Leader. They may ask for volunteers, or they may have some people in mind.
- You could choose one youth at a time, or youth could lead in pairs.
- The Leader running the activity should remind everyone else to work in a Patrol so they enjoy the game and help the Patrol Leader—leading everyone can be a bit scary if you’re not used to it.
Walk the plank
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The Patrol Leader should help the first player to put a blindfold on, and guide them to the
start of the plank. -
Without touching the player, the Patrol Leader should help them to pick up the plastic cup and fill it with water. They’ll have to use their voice to direct them.
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Still without touching the player, the Patrol Leader should help them to walk along the plank.
The Patrol Leader should walk along the plank beside the blindfolded player. -
The rest of the Patrol can encourage the Patrol Leader and blindfolded player.
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Once the blindfolded player reaches the finish line, the Patrol Leader should help them empty their cup into the bucket—still without touching them.
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The Patrol Leader should take the empty cup and help the blindfolded player take off their blindfold. The Patrol Leader and player should return to the starting line.
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The next youth should have a turn. The Patrol Leader should repeat steps one to five until everyone’s had a go at walking the plank.
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Once the Patrol Leader has finished their turn at leading, everyone should give them a clap for trying their best to make the game fun.
Change the challenge level
You could play as one Patrol, or split into two Patrols with two planks and two (or more) Patrol Leaders. You could make it into a competition. The winning Patrol is the one with the most water in their finish line bucket when time runs out.
Some people could be pirates, calling out incorrect instructions to try and confuse the blindfolded player.
You could swap the water for something solid like sand or marbles to make it a bit easier.
People can move at their own pace. you don’t need to make it competitive unless it works for everyone.
No-one has to be blindfolded if they don’t want to be. They could just close their eyes, or they could choose someone else to have their turn on the plank.
If it gets too noisy and anyone doesn’t like the noise, the Patrol Leader (or the person running the whole activity) can remind everyone to be quieter.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
Reflection
This activity gave everyone a chance to think about what makes a great Leader, and gave some youth the chance to give it a go. The Patrol Leaders had to manage the rest of the team and give them clear instructions, so everyone reached their goal. What was it like to guide someone who couldn’t see?
Was it a lot of responsibility? If the Patrol Leaders hadn’t tried their best, others could’ve gotten wet or hurt themselves. It was important for the Patrol Leaders to be trustworthy.
This activity also needed everyone to work together—including the Patrol Leader who was also a member of the Patrol. The Patrol Leader needed their Patrol as much as they needed their Leader. Can you think of any other examples of where a Leader is also part of the team? How about in sports?
What was it like to have to trust the Patrol Leader—did you find it easy or tricky?
