Three fun and educational activities for camps just getting started with orienteering
Animal-O (Clue Sheet Orienteering)
Find Your Way Home
Map Treasure Hunt
Fundamentals of orienteering map navigation in six 70-minute sessions over two weeks
Week 1: Introduction
Safety; Animal-O; Symbol Relay; Description Relay; Map Discussion
Safety; Map Walk; Score-O
Safety; Compass Basics; Courses
Week 2: Development
Safety; Symbol Relay; Line-O; Star Relay
Safety; Compass Segments; Poison-O
Safety; Courses / Relays
Culminating Activity
All-Camp Team Treasure Hunt (Score-O)
Details: Camp Belknap
Detailed information for each activity
Introductory activities
Animal-O (Clue Sheet Orienteering): Explore and find
Symbol Relay: Map symbols
Description Relay: Clue sheet interpretation
Map Discussion: Point out places you know
Map Walk: Match symbols to what you see around you
Find Your Way Home: Go from a starting point to the designated home base
Map Treasure Hunt (Score-O): Find checkpoints in any order
Compass Basics: Orient the map
Courses: Put it all together and orienteer
Development activities
Line-O: Walk a line shown on the map
Star Relay: Out and back in teams
Window-O: A compass helps when parts of the map are gone
Poison-O: Which of the markers are on the map?
Many of these activities are discussed in the Camp Belknap curriculum development slide decks and videos at this page.
Need equipment?
Get started quickly with one of the Navigation Games kits: https://www.navigationgames.org/shop
Orienteering vendors sell flags, punches and compasses.
Want us to help you get started or tailor a lesson plan to your camp?
Reach out to us and get one of our amazing staffers to help you: https://www.navigationgames.org/services
Need an orienteering map of your camp?
Teaching maps (up to 250 acres) can be obtained from Orienteering USA's Youth Mapping Project; consult us for how to get larger maps made.
Want to explore more activities?
Go to the Navigation Games - All Activities site. Currently free!