Scouting America

Release the Kraken!

A game based on teamwork to get all “swimmers” safely out of the water before the Kraken is released.

Ranks

BEAR
WEBELOS
ARROW OF LIGHT

Specifications

Arrow of Light, Bear, Webelos

4+

Indoor

4

3

2

Get details on the Fun & Games specifications.

Supply List

  • 4 36-inch diameter hula hoops
  • 4 sports cones
  • Speaker connected to a device to play music

Objective

This is a team event, and the objective is for everyone to get out of the “water” and onto an “island” when the Kraken is released.

Set-Up

Identify a flat area free of hazards that is 30 feet x 30 feet. Use the four sports cones to mark the corners of the boundaries.  For the first round, place the four hula hoops at equal distances from one another in a square inside the boundaries.   You may need to adjust the play area or number of hula hoops based on the number of players.

Directions

The game leader explains that everyone is a swimmer in the ocean and the hula hoops represent islands.  There is a magical beast that lives in the ocean named the Kraken!  When music is playing the Kraken sleeps, but when the music stops the Kraken will wake up and attack swimmers.  To stay away from the Kraken, swimmers have to get onto an island (hula hoops) in 10 seconds.  The goal is for everyone to work as a team and get everyone out of the water in 10 seconds when the Kraken is awake.  When the music starts again, it safe to go swim in the water.

Play the music and have swimmers swim in the ocean.  The game leader picks a random time to stop the music and yell “Release the Kraken!” and start counting down from 10.  Once everyone has made it safely, play the music again and have them swim in the ocean.  The game leader again picks a random time to stop the music and yell “Release the Kraken!” and start counting down from 10. 

After the first two rounds, tell the players that they are now going to travel to another part of the ocean, but the Kraken is still close by.  Take away a hula hoop and arrange them equal distance from one another in a triangle.  After this round continue to play and take away an “island” until there is only one “island” left to swim to. This may be the challenge, based on the number of players, when everyone may need to hold on to one another to stay on the island.

 

Level Up – Reduce the amount of time players have to get to the Island.  Have someone be the Kraken and chase swimmers; if a swimmer gets tagged by the Kraken, the swimmer now becomes the Kraken and the Kraken becomes a swimmer.

Additional Resources

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Bray Barnes

Director, Global Security Innovative
Strategies

Bray Barnes is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, Silver
Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Learning for Life Distinguished
Service Award. He received the Messengers of Peace Hero award from
the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he’s a life member of
the 101st Airborne Association and Vietnam Veterans Association. Barnes
serves as a senior fellow for the Global Federation of Competitiveness
Councils, a nonpartisan network of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and
national laboratory directors. He has also served as a senior executive for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, leading the first-responder program
and has two U.S. presidential appointments

David Alexander

Managing Member Calje

David Alexander is a Baden-Powell Fellow, Summit Bechtel Reserve philanthropist, and recipient of the Silver Buffalo and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the founder of Caljet, one of the largest independent motor fuels terminals in the U.S. He has served the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association, Teen Lifeline, and American Heart Association. A triathlete who has completed hundreds of races, Alexander has also mentored the women’s triathlon team at Arizona State University.

Glenn Adams

President, CEO & Managing Director
Stonetex Oil Corp.

Glenn Adams is a recipient of the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the former president of the National Eagle Scout Association and established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. He has more than 40 years of experience in the oil, gas, and energy fields, including serving as a president, owner, and CEO. Adams has also received multiple service awards from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.