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Orienteering Game |
Planning on a week or weekend at Camp Tamaracouta, Mille Iles, Quebec? This is a great Orienteering Game combined with a Treasure Hunt finish. The following are the guidelines for the event.
Camp Tamaracouta was founded in 1912 and is the oldest continually operating Scout Camp in the world. It occupies a 1000 acre site 72 Km north of Montreal in rolling wooded country. Campsites are named after fur trading posts in Canada's northwest. Continuing with the theme, the camp director is called a Factor. There is also a Ranger. Stared in 1933, the Knights of Tamara were veteran Scouts who qualified by deed and ordeal to wear a beaded thong at the wrist. The tradition continues today. Log cabins, lodges, Jubilee Hall, Tamaracks, and A-frame all denote livable cabins of various kinds. There are six cabooses on railroad tracks. The main entrance is the contains the office, canteen, showers and a lounge full of ancient Scout memorabilia. BP's footprint from a long-ago visit is out front.
This game requires the following PC files:
- Game Guidelines and Clue Placement Sheet: An MS Word document containing all the clues and administration guidelines
- Individual Group Clue Sheets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6: Six MS Word documents with the directions to all the clues
- Secret Solution Sheets 1 to 6: The final clues to complete the game
- Map of Camp Tamaracouta
Thanks to Greg O'Brien, member of the BeacoNorth District, for preparing all this material.
The objectives of the hunt are to find all the six locations in Tamaracouta following a Clue Sheet. Then a Secret Solution Sheet is answered indicating the location of a final reward. Materials needed include the sheets, pencils, containers for code words, compasses, ziplock bags, maps and rewards.
The reason for the individual sheets for each of six groups is as follows. In order to have the groups work independently, one doesn't want them going in the same order through the destinations. Neither does one want the groups to criss-cross the camp several times and lose time relative to another group. Therefore there was some thought given to the sequence each group should follow.
A. Each clue is a pointer to a location. A map of Tamaracouta is absolutely required. At each location a tin or jar contains a word completely unrelated to the location. You can construct a word puzzle with each of these prize words. Then upon completing the course and returning with the 7 words, the hunt organizer hands each group a Secret Solution Sheet. You can easily adjust the clues to give more or less difficulty and to relate to Scouts instead of Cubs. The object of this part is to have them identify a location with a range of instructions from compass direction and map-reading to pop culture and word association.
B. Place secret following words at the defined locations. You may choose your own "prize words" but they must be able to be combined in only one way so they all get it. We asked a question that they all knew and that had a numerical answer.
C. Secret Solution Sheets; a different one for each group. It doesn't matter who gets which sheet but it is the way to finally direct the groups to a prize hidden near the rear posts of the Cabins.
D. Enclose the map and the Group Clue Sheets in a large zip lock bag so the weather won't interfere. The prize words can also be kept in here. Issue leaders with a clue sheet with the answers provided so they can circulate and help any group that is heading dead wrong. The cans with the prize words have to be placed sufficiently in advance to avoid having the kids see the placement. While circulating, leaders might check that they haven't been "re-located". Remind the kids to take only one copy of the word and leave the other copies for the groups to follow.
The time taken to run the game for all 7 locations ranged from about 1h30 minutes to 2h00.
October 04, 2004
