The time is now, right at the beginning of a new Scouting season, to get out of the troop room and show your boys what it's all about. Take them outdoors for some traditional Scout activities that are fun to do and will help both boys and leaders assess the state of the troop's Scouting skills. Include, as well, some personal items like sleeping bags, patrol scarfs, shirts with identification on them, name tags, etc. Give patrols five minutes to study the site. They are not to talk, but they can touch what they see as long as they leave an item exactly as they found it.
Patrols then huddle to prepare a list of all the things they found wrong in the camp.
Best list wins. Knotty Trail Tie together several pieces of rope of various thicknesses using several different knots. Use a clove hitch to tie one end of the rope to a tree and another knot to tie the other end to a second tree. Give patrols about 2 minutes to walk along the rope from tree to tree and back again. Silently they observe the different knots and try to remember what they are, before huddling to list the knots in the correct order, including the knots used around the trees.