Ideas for O Clubs

Orienteering clubs typically have both expertise and electronic timing equipment. Building off of those assets, we recommend the following activities for clubs to use at their events or to bring to schools or other venues to engage children and families in orienteering.

Animal-O and Beyond

Animal-O is a great way to work with kids as young as 3. It does not require the ability to read a map, but does teach electronic punching, gets kids running and thinking, gets them using a clue sheet to visit controls in order, and develops spatial memory. Some kids enjoy the intrinsic feeling, or the extrinsic timing feedback, in getting faster on the same course. A variant is to have them memorize the order of the controls before going out, and allowing them to come back and refer to the card if they forget the order part way through. Simple maps can be layered onto the activity with Geometric Animal-O, or with another simple map. Symbol-O is a next step, ideally with controls placed at the objects represented by the symbol on the card. When teams of two take on these games, we find that they develop great strategies for working together.

Tarzan-O: String-O with a Map

The New England Orienteering Club includes Tarzan-O, which is string-O with a map, in its standard Youth Series offerings. By following a string (we use flagging tape) through the woods and over obstacles, participants can find all the controls and get some experience in uneven terrain. The map provides a nice progression, because those who are able to read a map can use it to look for shortcuts away from the string. 

Poison Score-O

Poison Score-O competitors have a map showing some of the controls that are out in the park or school campus. There are additional controls not marked on the map, and these are poison -- punching these gives you negative points. This is a great activity for developing map interpretation, and can be done in a team to work on communication about the map. This is fun to do as a mass start with a time limit, which makes it easy for organizers and creates a more social feeling. In a very small area, competitors can go out multiple times as they master the game. Errors give an opportunity for teachers to identify which students need one-on-one help, which can be given by fellow students, again developing their ability to communicate about the map symbols and orientation.

Grids and Mazes

Grid and maze orienteering provide an opportunity to work on map interpretation and orientation in a small space (even indoors!). Go4orienteering has a fantastic progression of exercises done on a grid of controls. The Tri-O arithmetic grid-O is great for memorizing patterns, and thinking while moving.

Super short courses with a leaderboard

Our classic World Orienteering Day event at schools! Set up short courses in the school grounds, use electronic timing, provide a brief explanation and let the kids start. They can work alone or in pairs. Some will struggle initially to interpret the map and identify the right controls; others will get it but find it fun to try and beat their previous times and race against each other. We generally maintain a whiteboard "leaderboard" listing the top 3 teams on each course, and even recording the best times from previous classes to see if the class can do better. In spite of this timing aspect, even the students who are slower find satisfaction in successfully completing courses, and teachers appreciate that this activity engages students of varying ability and preferences as to speed. 

Vampire-O and other team games

Vampire-O is a team Score-O with an added vampire theme. Vampires can tag your team, turning you into a vampire and stealing your punch card. Holy water, garlic and a wooden cross are stashed at controls to provide protection against vampires. Friendly vampires may roam the area with candy. Other team games based on Score-O include Quidditch-O, Pokemon-O, Catan-O, Poker-O, Scrabble-O and Set-O -- use your imagination! Variants of Capture the Flag that use a map work well. Team games accommodate people of different skills on the team, and encourage everyone to contribute to success by helping to spot things, keeping an eye on the time, and collaborating on strategy.