The Salisbury & South Wilts District Cube Competition took place on Friday, 3rd March at Chafyn Grove School with 22 teams and 120 scouts taking part.

In total, 10 scout troops were represented: 23rd Salisbury; 3rd Salisbury Sea Scouts; 4th Salisbury (Harnham); Bourne Valley Idmiston; Bourne Valley Figsbury; 10th Salisbury; 1st Amesbury; 2nd Bulford; 1st Laverstock; 1st Alderbury.

Each team was set the challenge of achieving the best score possible in each of the three-minute table top challenges.

The winners, with the best score overall, were 1st Amesbury, with the 23rd Salisbury in second and 4th Salisbury (Harnham) in third.

The challengers were as follows:
● How many cups can you get off the ground in 180 seconds – pyramids or other shapes allowed. Scouts had to take it in turns to stack a single cup before joining the back of the queue. The stack was counted at the end of the 180 seconds.
● How many balls can you throw into cups in 180 seconds – the cup had to remain standing with the ball inside for it to count (it could then be removed).
Scouts took one turn before
joining the back of the
queue.
● How many times can a troop hit a ping pong ball into the air without it touching the ground. Scouts took turns to hit the ball to the person standing next to them. If the ball touched the floor the sequence was broken.
● Bottle flip – how many times could the troop land a bottle flip in 180 seconds. There was only one bottle and scouts took turns.
● Cheerio chopsticks – how many cheerios could be transferred from one bowl to another using only chopsticks in 180 seconds. Cheerios dropped were not counted. Only two scouts could use chopsticks at any time.
● Card order – how fast could the troop order a deck of cards into suits and numerical order.
● How many levels could a troop make a card pyramid in 180 seconds – only one scout at a time was allowed to place either a single or double card.
● Dominoes – in 180 seconds, the scouts had to stand as many dominoes as they could to then allow for them to sequentially tumble over. At the end of 180 seconds, the patrol leader started the tumble, but how many fell over?
● How many sit ups could the team do in 180 seconds – this number was then divided by the number of scouts.
● Memory chain – how many words can the team remember in the correct order from a pre-set list. Each scout had to answer in turn.
● Hula Hoop – using a stopwatch, how long could the troop keep a hula hoop off the ground for, at the same time.
● Orders – using a stopwatch, how long did it take a troop to get into height order, then age order, then birthdate order.
● 2p coin stack – the largest number of 2p coins a team could stack on top of each other. Scouts took it in turns and could only add one coin at a time.
● Rubber band shooting alley – using rubber bands, how many plastic cups could the troop knock over in 180 seconds. Only one scout was allowed to fire at a time.
● Kim’s game – 60 seconds to remember items, 120 seconds to recall those items.
● Shove penny – how many pennies could the team shove to land in the scoring zone? Only one scout was allowed to shove at a time.
● How many badges could each team name?
● Alphabet – for each letter of the alphabet, the team had to list a boys name, a girls name, an animal and a sport.
● Spicy/saucy – from smell alone, the scouts had to try and name sauces and spices. No tasting allowed.
● Balloon Shooting – each scout was given a balloon to blow up. Taking turns, they then had to use the air from their balloon to blow a plastic cup along the length of a table to see how many they could get to the end in 180 seconds.