Trail Hide and Seek
This game helps campers to
become acclimated to moving in the dark without a flashlight. Choose a wide, well-used trail for this game
to work best [1]. Choose one volunteer
from the group to be the seeker, and instruct the rest of the group to follow
another staff member down the designated trail and to hide within five feet of
the trail. Explain that the seeker will
be trying to locate them, and if he does so, they must quietly come out of the
woods and help in the search for other campers.
Send the hiders off into the woods to hide while you talk with the
seeker about careful observation being key to the
game.
The staff member leading the
journey should yell back to the trailhead that the group is ready before hiding
herself. Given that cue, accompany the
seeker along the trail as he tries to discover the other campers. Once the seeker (and hopefully some campers
that he has found) reach the end of the trail, turn around and tell the hidden
campers to emerge from the woods as the group walks back to the starting
point. Play the game a number of times
to give a number of campers opportunities to move
about in the dark.
Note that the presence of a
staff member with the seeker and with the hiders ensures campers’ sense of
safety during this game. While one of
the goals is to acclimate campers to the dark, they
should never feel unsafe during their time in the night woods.
End the activity by discussing darkness in Psalms 18 and 139. In Psalm 18, God comes amidst the darkness on order to save the people. In Psalm, 139, we read that even if we hide in darkness, even there God can find us for the darkness is not dark to God. Although people are afraid of the darkness, God promises to protect us, even in the darkness. Just as the night is no longer frightening for the campers, help them to understand that even in the darkness of life, God is present and active in their lives.