Backyard Scouting – Bringing Adventure Home
Backyard Scouting, created by Scouts Canada, is all about exploring the outdoors and practicing Scouting skills right from home! With activities that incorporate Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS), teamwork, exploration, and creativity, Scouts can continue to grow and challenge themselves while staying close to home.
Each week introduces new ways to stay active, connect with the community, learn survival skills, and discover the environment—all while advancing through OAS stages. Whether it’s building shelters, improving navigation skills, or engaging in local service projects, Backyard Scouting keeps the adventure alive!
✔ Upgrade your OAS stages by checking out skills on ScoutsTracker—fill in gaps and earn your next stage through fun backyard activities!
Why Try Backyard Scouting?
✔ Stay active & healthy while developing real-world survival skills.
✔ Stay connected to friends & family through interactive challenges.
✔ Learn new outdoor and adventure skills using everyday materials.
✔ Make a positive impact on your community through service and stewardship.
Even at home, Scouting can thrive! Through these engaging activities, Scouts can grow, learn, and strengthen their connection to nature, adventure, and leadership—right in their own backyard.
Week 1: Let’s Get Moving & Stay Healthy!
Staying active and spending time outdoors is great for both physical and mental well-being. Even while practicing social distancing, Scouts can continue outdoor adventures and build essential skills using the Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS) competencies!
🥾 Hiking & Survival Prep
✔ Pack for a day hike—check if you have all the necessary gear.
✔ Build your own personal survival kit—what items can you gather from home?
🌳 Backyard & Neighborhood Exploration
✔ Go for an outdoor walk or explore your backyard—identify plants, animals, and animal tracks along the way.
🏠 Shelter-Building Challenge
✔ Build a shelter indoors or in your backyard—would it keep you safe, warm, and dry in the wilderness?
🍲 Outdoor Cooking & Nutrition
✔ Plan a healthy camp menu for a future trip.
✔ Prepare a nutritious meal at home—practice skills you’d use in a Scouting adventure!
Backyard Scouting makes it easy to keep moving, learning, and developing outdoor skills—even from home!
Week 2: Staying Connected – Exploring Communication & Emergency Signals
Communication isn't just about talking—it’s about sharing messages in different ways, including during emergencies! Using Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS), Scouts can expand their communication methods, exploring signals, codes, and unique ways to stay connected.
🔦 Emergency Signaling & Code Practice
✔ Blink SOS in Morse code using a flashlight—get the timing right for a proper distress signal!
✔ Use a musical instrument (piano, guitar, recorder) to sound out SOS in Morse code—can others recognize it?
📡 Expanding Communication Skills
✔ Try different communication methods—use walkie-talkies, sign language, or visual signals to send messages.
✔ Learn radio communication protocols (ARES)—how are radios used for emergency services?
Staying connected isn’t just about fun—it’s a critical skill for emergencies and teamwork!
Week 3: Nature Detectives – Observing & Protecting the Outdoors
Scouts practice responsible outdoor habits by following the seven principles of Leave No Trace, ensuring that nature remains beautiful and protected. Even while at home or in the neighborhood, these principles can still be applied through creative and thoughtful activities!
🍃 Leave No Trace Challenge
✔ Create a drawing, video, or podcast about the seven principles and share their importance with others.
✔ Find ways to practice Leave No Trace at home—reducing waste, respecting nature, and minimizing impact.
🌳 Neighborhood Tree Scavenger Hunt
✔ During your next outdoor walk, identify four or more trees based on trunks, leaves, and branches.
Observing nature helps Scouts develop awareness, curiosity, and appreciation for the environment, even close to home!
Week 4: In My Neighbourhood – Staying Connected & Engaged
Scouts can stay involved with their community by thinking creatively and using Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS) competencies to find new ways to make an impact!
🧭 Orienteering Challenge
✔ Practice using a compass from home, your backyard, or on a walk—while keeping a safe physical distance.
✔ Create a compass challenge—mark landmarks by direction and test your family’s navigation skills!
✔ Share your challenge online—encourage others to try it, too!
🔥 Host a Virtual or Indoor Campfire
✔ Make a pretend campfire using household materials—paper towel tubes for logs, red/orange tissue paper for flames, and a flashlight for glow!
✔ Share songs and skits with your family or online to spread joy and connection.
🍫 Trail Snacks & Recipe Sharing
✔ Practice making dehydrated foods or trail snacks that are nutritious and energy-boosting.
✔ Share your tips online with your Scout Group or local community!
✔ Challenge yourself—can you successfully dehydrate 1,000 calories worth of food?
Scouting is about adventure, connection, and creativity, and these activities help Scouts engage with their neighborhood in fun and meaningful ways!
Week 5: A Better, More Sustainable World
Our planet is full of incredible natural elements that deserve protection and exploration! Scouts can use Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS) competencies to engage with sustainability efforts, even from home, and celebrate Earth Day by prioritizing environmental stewardship.
♻️ Earth Day & Sustainability Challenges
✔ Discover eco-friendly habits to reduce waste and protect nature.
✔ Explore ways to celebrate Earth Day—recycling, conserving water, or creating a nature-friendly backyard space!
🌪️ Extreme Weather & Emergency Preparedness
✔ Recreate weather systems indoors—try making tornadoes in pop bottles using water and dish soap!
✔ Explore other safe ways to simulate weather—such as rain evaporation, cloud formation, or wind power.
✔ Learn how to stay safe in extreme weather—research lightning storm, rain, snow, cold, heat or severe wind and identify the best places to seek shelter.
📢 Sharing Weather Safety Knowledge
✔ Create a brochure or video explaining weather safety tips—how can others prepare for emergencies caused by natural events?
Scouts can make a difference by exploring sustainability, preparing for emergencies, and taking action to help protect nature and their community!
Week 6: A Trip Around the World – Preparing for Global Adventures!
Exploring different destinations means adapting to new environments, climates, and cultures! Using Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS) competencies, Scouts can prepare for adventures across the world and learn what they might need in different locations.
✈️ Planning for a Global Journey
✔ Think about what you’d need for a trip around the world—which items are essential for different climates?
✔ What place would you most love to visit? Research its culture, food, and environment—how would you prepare for that adventure?
❄️ Cold-Weather Challenge – Bundle Up!
✔ Some places experience winter all year round—how would you dress for these extreme conditions?
✔ Challenge your family to a race—who can get dressed properly for freezing temperatures the fastest?
Travel and exploration teach adaptability, resilience, and curiosity, preparing Scouts to venture into different environments with confidence!
Week 7: Blast Off – Preparing for Space Adventures!
Outer space is one of the most fascinating frontiers—but what would it take to prepare for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS)? Using Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS) competencies, Scouts can train like astronauts and explore space-related challenges!
🔗 All Knotted Up – Dexterity Challenge
✔ Astronauts need precise motor skills despite bulky gloves—test your ability!
✔ Try tying knots while wearing thick gloves (ski gloves, for example)—how much harder does this make the task?
🌍 View from Above – Mapping & Observation
✔ Test your map-reading abilities—start with a paper map and practice finding locations.
✔ Explore satellite maps—what does the Earth look like from space?
✔ Watch NASA Live for a real-time stream from inside and outside the ISS!
📡 Navigate the Stars – GPS & Space Navigation
✔ GPS helps astronauts navigate space! Learn how it works and why it’s important.
✔ Practice using a GPS—understand how location tracking works without internet access.
Space exploration requires adaptability, precision, and problem-solving—this challenge brings out-of-this-world learning to Backyard Scouting!
Week 8: Look for Helpers – Learning to Lend a Hand
Helping others is a key part of Scouting—it builds leadership, teamwork, and a sense of responsibility! Using Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS) competencies, Scouts can learn how to support their community, assist in emergencies, and pass on knowledge.
🎒 Sort It Out – Teaching Younger Scouts
✔ Help younger family members or friends learn what to pack for a day hike.
✔ Create a sorting challenge—test their ability to recognize essential vs. unnecessary items.
✔ Share your challenge with others—encourage them to try it, too!
🚨 Be Prepared – Understanding Emergency Services
✔ Learn about local emergency services—firefighters, paramedics, police, and community responders.
✔ Practice calling emergency services—use walkie-talkies, FaceTime, or even a can-and-string phone!
✔ Role-play different emergency scenarios to test your abilities and learn what to say in a crisis.
Being a helpful citizen means knowing how to assist others, being prepared for emergencies, and taking action when needed!
Week 9: Learn or Teach a New Skill – Sharing Knowledge & Growing Together
Teaching a skill can boost your own abilities, helping you refine techniques while passing on knowledge to others! Using Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS) competencies, Scouts can develop new skills and share them with friends, family, or younger youth.
⛺ Camping at Home – Teaching the Basics
✔ Help others learn about camping—how can you prepare and make it fun?
✔ Teach someone how to pitch a tent by making a how-to video—demonstrate step-by-step instructions for beginners!
🏄 Paddling at Home – Water Safety Awareness
✔ Do you know all the key safety rules for being near water?
✔ Create a fun educational game—like a puzzle, challenge, or race—to teach important water safety tips.
✔ Challenge others to try your game—learning water safety in an engaging way!
Sharing skills strengthens leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities—and helps Scouts inspire confidence in others while learning more themselves!