source: www.youthwork-practice.com | 2000 Games, Devotions, Themes, Ideas and more for Youth Work
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Detection

The following game was sent in together with 4 further adventure games by Moritz from the KJG Merzhausen. The game was developed by himself and a team colleague, tested on a youth camp and provided to Praxis-Jugendarbeit (youthwork-practice) with kind permission. He also disclosed that he is a big fan of this web site. Many thanks and, above all, thanks that his ideas can be presented here.

Beginning of the game:

The children are told that we will all meet up outside. A leader meets them and tells them that the other leaders have a meeting at the moment and that he wants to go and fetch them all.... While the leader is away a police car drives onto the grounds. 4 policemen climb out of the car and the kids about a terrible bank robbery. Due to the fact that some of the leaders are under suspicion, the kids are requested to help the police because the kids have a better relationship to the leaders and could find out who did the robbery. The kids are now told that they will be split into teams. They will be trained up as detectives at the police academy. They will receive a signature in the training record book for every successfully completed task. With each signature, they can go to the headquarters and question the suspect of their choice. (At a later point in the game a cassette and a photo of the escapee will be provided, but these will be sent by courier to the headquarters). If the children have proof against one of the leaders, they can present their findings in the headquarters and therefore help to expose the criminal. After everything has been explained, the leaders come out of the house, excuse themselves for the delay and say that the kids now have free play time.

The statements and alibis at the time of the crime – yesterday evening approx. 22 hours (10 p.m.)

Leaders 1, 2 and 3 play cards every Friday in “The Green Tree” between 20 – 24.00:
Leader (1): Was in “The Green Tree” just like every Friday from 20.00 onwards...
Leader (2): Just like every Friday, were there until 23.00 but leader (1) didn’t come
Leader (3): Was there the whole evening and knew that leader (1) came after 23.00 because he had a date with Leader (4)
Leader (4): Had a date with leader (1) at 21.00. They were at the cinema until 23.00 (think about which film they saw).
Leader (5): Was in London with leader (6) at a U2 concert. They came home late at 2.00 in the morning.
Leader (6): Was with leader (5) in London....
Leader (7): Leader (7) is very suspicious. She cut her finger while slicing some bread and was therefore at home for the whole evening. She is wearing a bandage. The cassette recording taken by a witness makes her a suspect (her alibi is the photo – she is a woman)
Leader (8): Leader (8) only seems to be a suspect at first sight after the cassette recording. He is limping because of a sport injury which he has had for 3 weeks. He has a doctor’s certificate to confirm this
Leader (9): Leader (9) is Anne, she also has the photo as an alibi, but she tells the kids that she spent the evening with Rodger to protect him. She knows about the connection with Rodger’s story. She tells the kids that she watched television with Rodger all evening. She extravagantly explains that they cooked later that evening and then went for a walk
Leader (10): Leader (10) is Rodger and he tells the same story as Anne with one difference – he says that they went out for a meal.

a) Cassette recording:

The cassette contains the details of the questioning of a witness. The witness was a guest in a hotel and saw the thief escaping. The thief had fallen over while on the run and was bound to have injured himself...

b) Photo:

The witness is a stargazer and happened to have a camera with a telephoto lens with him with which is captured the thief. The photo shows that the thief is a man.

Rodger’s story:

Rodger has gambled away his money for the camp because he is addicted to gambling. To pay for the camp he has cleared out the night safe of the national bank which was, of course, easy for him. Back on the camp, his gambling addiction grips him once again and he buries the money in the woods to use at his leisure.

End?:

If enough proof is collected, the police and the children will ask the leaders to come out with Rodger after they have told them about the bank robbery. However Rodger is no longer there. Anne notices that Rodger is found out and comes clean. She is scared that Rodger will be gripped by his gambling addiction once again and pleads the kids not to pull the scoop on Rodger so that he has a chance to clear his head.

Treasure hunt:

At this very moment, Rodger comes out from the woods. He is covered in dirt and is carrying a spade. At the last minute he notices that he is found out and why he is taken prisoner. While the children carry Rodger to the water trough he loses the treasure cards which lead to his various bundles of money. The police give the teams of children one card each and tell them to go on the hunt for the chocolate bars.

Important: The alibis must be agreed in advance!!!!

Material:

Chocolate bars – police clothing, sirens
Treasure cards
Photo
Cassette
Spade

The 10 tests:

Weapon licence, stamina, the test of courage, proof of strength, combination sense, sense of direction, camouflage skills, skill, driving licence and creativity.

Test No. 1: Weapon licence

In this test the children must prove their ability and their targeting with a weapon. Taking turns, the children must shoot a water pistol at a candle and put it out within 15 seconds. If the majority of the group manages this they receive the weapon licence. (Alternative: shooting through a paper ring).
Test No. 2: Stamina

In this test the kids stamina is under examination. Taking turns, the kids must run a certain distance against the clock. If the majority of the kids manage a certain distance in a certain time limit, they have managed the test.
Test No. 3: The test of courage

The aim is to test the ability to overcome something. The task is to swallow a horrible tasting drink or piece of food. As soon as these (all/ or three children) manage this, they receive the next licence.
Test No. 4: Test of strength

On the station the children have to put their “true strength” to the test. The children must carry certain objects e.g. boxes or wooden blocks over a certain distance without dropping them.
Test No. 5: Combination sense XXX

The children must also prove their true strength by solving different riddles.
Test No. 6: Sense of direction

Obviously in order to become a proper detective, you will need a good sense of direction. For this test, we will need the game “the crazy maze”. You must find several objects in the maze. With skill a bit of luck, this should be no problem.
Test No. 7: Camouflage skills

The children are given a selection of clothing from an old clothes box. They group now has five minutes to make the best possible camouflage clothing with the materials provide and to pull them on. The next test is to crawl, sneak and run past a leader at a certain location without being seen. Obviously this will hardly be possible, therefore the leader must decide if they receive the licence or not.
Test No. 8: Skill

The group must find a way to only have two feet and two hands on the ground at a time by standing sitting or lying down. The whole thing should look a bit like a pyramid.
Test No. 9: Driving licence

No one can become a detective without a driving licence therefore the kids must also get one by doing a test. Obviously that cannot be a real driving licence so the kids must push each other around a course in a “wheel barrow” (one runs on their hands and the other holds his feet) without letting the bottom person fall and without giving up.
Test No. 10: Creativity

The children must use stones, pebbles, wood or leaves...to make a picture which looks like something. It should be a creative as possible and should not like it has been thrown together quickly. The leader may decide if the player has earned the licence or if he has to start again. The leader may give some pointers and hints.

Important:

The tests are there so that the questioning of the witnesses is not too easy. However the group should be able to withstand all of the tests otherwise they will be missing a witness. If the group does happen to fail on one of the tests they should have the opportunity to repeat the test or to win the licence in another way so that they can question all of the witnesses and suspects.