Adapting games

Many moons ago at a World Centres themed meeting, I decided to adapt one of my favourite games from when I was a Brownie, 'Shapes', to reinforce the names of each World Centre.

The game is played with four bases, each a different shape (eg. square, circle, star, octagon). So changing the game was as easy as relabelling each base after a World Centre. To my delight the game was a huge hit. The girls had fun and they were able to recall the names of the four World Centres and their location.

Last week I suggested that we play a game of Shapes and the Brownies all looked at me with blank expressions. Of course they had no idea what Shapes was, they have only ever played the game, World Centres!! (We did end up playing World Centres, I guess that the days of simple shapes are over).

It makes me wonder all the missed opportunities i've had. Fruit Salad would become "The Guide Laws" and Stuck in the Mud would involve saluting and reciting the Guide Promise to rescue someone.

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What games have you adapted to teach your Guides skills or information?