Fire Games & Challenges

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Requirements

• Age 7+
• Players 8-12
• Time 3-5 min rounds
• Location Small clear area Large clear area Forest
• Energy Low (sitting, standing) Medium (walking, stalking) High (running) Extreme (sprinting)
• Materials Bands
• Lead by Pathfinder Whiskers Cloak
• Guides 1

Story

What is the essence of this game?

Action Call

Compelling questions / challenges to get kids excited to play.

Game

Safety

• Many of our program areas don't allow fires or have very restrictive rules about fire. Check with your program coordinator or site director about fire rules for your site.
• In areas where fires ARE allowed, consider the following before choosing...
• LINK to a separate page that lists all fire rules? These could be fire rules from the SQM.
• Scout playing area for hazards: tripping objects, stinging insects, trash, and much more.

Fire fundamentals

1. Fire fundamentals lesson. Teach/demonstrate/discuss safety, fuel gathering and sorting, fire structure, lighting strategies, fire triangle (fuel, oxygen, heat), etc.
2. Match lighting practice (how to light, how to hold). Everyone circles up around an empty firepit, is given a box of matches, and is asked to light six to ten matches to practice the technique of lighting a match AND to practice how to hold a match to get the biggest, most useful flame (try angling it 45 degrees downward!) Spent matches are discarded into the fire pit.
3. Firesteel and fireball lesson. Demonstrate how to use a firesteel (ferrocerium rod) to make sparks, and how to use a "fireball" (cotton ball covered in petroleum jelly) to catch the sparks and make a small fire that will burn for 3 - 4 minutes.

Fire Challenges

Notes about fire challenges

• Several of the games below involve a "fire challenge," meaning that a small group must make a fire according to certain criteria or restrictions.
• For fire challenges, small groups of 3 to 4 people work well. All these challenges can, of course, be done by 1 or 2 people, but having 3 or 4 people in each group divides up the labor AND challenges the participant's use of teamwork, leadership, and communication skills. But, if the groups are too large (more than 5 people), it's easy for certain members to "fade into the background" and not get involved.
• It's best to divide a large group into groups of 3 or 4 people using the "line up by skill and count off" method so as to distribute skill among the various groups.
• Because each one of multiple groups is building a fire, you'll need to have multiple fire pits. Make sure each fire pit is in a safe location and has a bucket of water nearby in case a fire starts burning out of control.
• One measure of success is to have the group build an “adult” fire, meaning a mature fire that can burn on its own for several minutes without the group adding or moving wood in the fire or blowing on it. In contrast, a "baby" fire is a small fire that needs constant feeding and attention or it will go out. A "teenage" fire is somewhere between the two.

Missions

Fire fundamentals (the S's of fire)

Match lighting practice (how to light, how to hold)

Firesteel and fireball lesson

One-match fire

String burn fire

Silent fire

Five minute fire

Blindfolded fire

No-metal water boil challenge (gourds, hot rocks)

One wet stick fire

Intro to bow drill

Intro to hand drill

Bow drill / hand drill practice time

Straighten hand drill drills over a fire

Make fire starters (roll up cardboard and dryer lint; dip in wax)

Make a fuzz stick

Make a coal carrier tube

Intro to flint and steel fire making

Practice flint and steel fire making

Make char cloth

Fire fuel lesson: wet wood, “ultraflammables”

Pirate's Cursed Treasure challenge

Make fire in uncommon ways: lenses, batteries, etc.

Intro to banking a fire (DANGER - unattended fire overnight!)

Modify

Variations of the game.