Weasels at Midnight

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This game is also known as "Firekeeper"

Requirements

• Age 7+
• Players 6-12
• Time 5-10 min rounds
• Location Small clear area
• Energy Medium (walking, stalking)
• Materials Band (to use as a blindfold), game boundary, small rocks
• Lead by Pathfinder
• Guides 1

Story

As day turns to night and darkness spreads across the forest, a mother bird settles into her nest with her three eggs - only days until they hatch! - and dozes off. Little does she know that hungry weasels are climbing the tree towards her nest in hopes of stealing and eating her eggs. After a few hours of sleep, the mother bird jolts awake - was that a rustle she heard on the far side of her nest? There it is again! An intruder! Though she can't see in the pitch dark night, she rears up and delivers a stinging peck with her beak to the spot where the sound came from. She hears the intruder scurry away. But wait - she hears another rustling sound on the other side of the nest. It's going to be a long night defending her precious eggs from the weasels....

Action Call

As the mother bird, can you listen closely and Pay Attention to determine where the invading weasels are? As a weasel, can you control your body to move across the nest and steal an egg with absolute silence?

Game

Safety

• Scout playing area for hazards: tripping objects, stinging insects, trash, and much more.

Mission

Create a game boundary by placing a large rope on the ground in a circle about 12 feet in diameter (you can make the circle larger, which makes the game more challenging for the weasels). In the center of the circle, make a small pile of leaves, then put a small object (like a stone) on top of the pile. The leaves rustle when the stone is touched, so vary the amount of leaves depending on the group's skill.

Have everyone stand outside the circle. Explain that in this game, one person will be a bird: a blindfolded person sitting in the middle of the circle. About a foot in front of the bird is their egg (the stone on the leaf pile). The goal of the weasels is to quietly stalk into the circle, take the stone, and stalk back outside the boundary rope without being detected by the bird.

The goal of the bird is to listen for the weasels (emphasize that observers must be completely silent during the game to make it fair for the bird). The bird can "peck" at a weasel and drive it from their nest by pointing their finger where they think a weasel is. Pointing should be a decisive, specific, singular action, not a vague, sweeping gesture.

Two facilitators should station themselves around the circle and watch the bird's finger points. When the bird correctly points at a weasel, the facilitators should say "hit." If the bird points but is not aiming at a weasel, the facilitators should say "miss." "Hit" weasels should immediately exit the circle.

There should be a maximum of three weasels in the circle at any one time. Facilitators should point at participants waiting around the circle to indicate that it's their turn to go. Whenever a weasel is "hit" and exits the circle, facilitators should send in a new weasel. To encourage waiting weasels to remain quiet, only send in weasels who are being respectful of the game.

When a weasel successfully exits the circle with the stone without being "hit," the round is over. The successful weasel can be the new bird or choose another volunteer.

Modify

• Practice walking silently using fox walking/deer stepping before the round starts. Between rounds, review what strategies work well.
• Make each round last longer by putting two or three eggs (stones) in the nest.
• To make the game more challenging for the weasels, place additional small sticks, dry leaves, or other obstacles that make noise when stepped on inside the circle.
• For large groups or older/more skilled groups, consider having two blindfolded birds in the nest. They can either sit back to back, each guarding their own nest, or facing each other about 3 feet apart with a single next between them.
• For extra challenge, the egg can be something that makes noise, such as a bundle of keys.