Trail games

Teabag rocket

When you are in a cabin or in a place where it is not windy, you can make this simple rocket with a regular tea bag. Cut inside the clip and pour out the contents. If you have the right kind of tea bag, you can shape it like a long cylinder with air in the middle. Put it on a plate and check that the teabag is stable while standing. Take a match or lighter and gently light the top of the rocket. Do not forget the countdown, otherwise it won’t fly. It burns to the ground and before the fire has come all the way down, it lifts and flies towards the roof. When it comes down, you catch it in a bowl or on the plate. Do not blow, or it will dissipate into a thousand pieces.

Magical stone

As a guide I have sometimes smuggled down a small rock into the other guide’s backpack not saying anything to the group but clearly showing them what I do. If the other person doesn’t notice I take another one later in the day. Sometimes I’m ending up having rocks in my own bag or putting a very big rock under the lid making it obvious for the other one.

Tricky sleeping pad

Lay out a regular sleeping pad on the ground, take off your shoes and stand on your sleeping pad. Take one of the corners and without stepping off the sleeping pad, you turn it so the bottom ends up. Simple… Now! How many of you can be on the mat and still complete the task?

Folded paper/map

While you take a break and all backpacks are off you take the opportunity to play this game. If you have good weather, you can fold a piece of paper, or maybe the map, in the middle and place it on the ground. If it is wet, it may also work if it is protected in a map cover or similar. When the map is folded as a A4 size (portrait or landscape) you should try to take it with your mouth. Only one foot is allowed to touch the ground and the hands and arms are there to try to maintain your balance. Are you agile enough?

Noisy grass

Pick a blade of grass that is fairly soft. Stretch it and guide it between the thumbs on their outsides. When stretched, it should be closer to the front than the back and almost touch the lips when you put them against your thumbs (below the knuckles). Blow air between the thumbs and if you get a sound, you’re doing it right. Otherwise, you can try to tighten the straw or move it around a bit. Good luck!

Owl noise

Shape your hands so that it is airtight. Keep a small hole in between the thumbs and when you are happy with the result, put your lips on your knuckle and blow. If you do it right, it will be a sound and you can play different “tones”. During a week-long hike, some manage to do this!

Drink as a reindeer

Tired of walking and still looking for the first reindeer? If you walk by a creek in the mountains and the water is pure enough to drink I usually do this with my group. With or without my pack I go down on all fours and start drinking water from the river. Usually one or two find it fun and do the same. Tell them that are drinking like a reindeer and invite them to do the same. Some end up doing something that looks like a push-up and some just stand and watch.

Fold-a-cup race

If you find a nice stream where you can walk on both sides and you have a couple of cups in bright colours you can have a race. Put them in the creek and have someone waiting for them downstream. Perfect during short breaks while you wait for someone or while having a Swedish fika outdoors.

Playing with fire

Perhaps during the evening you have a fire going. After a while when good glowing coals have formed, you can take out a piece of the embers that is a little bigger than a pea. Quickly pick it up with your hands and shake it around in your hands without dropping it. If you blow a little air on it at the same time, it becomes really red. If it gets too hot, it can burn you, so be careful. Once we were a small group who carefully did this and threw it between us from a distance of less than an arm-length. A bit like walking on glowing coals. There is excitement and focus. Better to wear a t-shirt and not Gore-Tex.

Rock paper scissors tournament

Two people will square off, the winner goes on to play the next person on the team, and so on. Encourage spontaneity.

Tic Tac Toe

Can you get three in a straight line? Paper & pen are the only things you need for this game but stones, sticks, leaves and other things works equally good. Take what you have. Play a couple of rounds until your friends are ready to leave or help out if needed.

Acorn Cap Whistle

Whistling with an acorn cap is a fun skill. Once you master the technic, the sound can be very loud and will pierce the forest for some distance. 1) Find an acorn. Remove the cap. Clean out the inside. Make sure it is whole, with no missing chucks or sides crushed. Larger acorns caps are easier to learn with, while smaller caps tend to be louder. 2) Hold the acorn cap flat with the hollow side upright. Place your hands together with your thumbs touching over the top of the cap, tilt the thumbs outward to form a V shape. The acorn is covered up except a small triangle that you formed with your thumbs at the  edge of the acorn cap. 3) Place your bottom lip right on your knuckles and blow down into the acorn. You can also use a bottle cap if there’s no acorns around.

Human knot

When you’re a bigger group of people it can be fun to do this one. Each person puts the right hand towards the centre of the circle and randomly takes another person’s right hand with the left hand until all are joined. The goal is to untangle the members of the team without letting go. Sometimes you end up with more than one circle!