Fun Things to Do

Fun Stuff To Do

Play challenging online games, laugh at funny jokes, build amazing projects, get Pinewood Derby tips and find lots of fun at the online home of Scout Life, the official youth magazine for the Boy Scouts of America.

5 Easy Tips to Help You Snag a Free Baseball at a Game

How often have you gone to a baseball game hoping to catch a ball that goes into the stands? It's not as hard as it seems.
How to Fold Your Own Pocket-Sized Joke Books

Never be without your favorite jokes again. Download, print and fold these fun pocket-sized joke books to take with you.
Learn Morse Code With This Morse Translator and Decoder

Use this helpful tool to translate between morse code and text.
10 Tips to Become a Chess Champ

If you want to be a chess champ, it'll take lots of learning and lots of practicing. Here are 10 tips to get you started.
How to Easily Take Fingerprints With Household Items

You can take fingerprints using a pencil, a sheet of paper and clear adhesive tape.
How to Use Lashings to Build a Comfortable Camp Chair

Relax around camp by lashing together a comfortable camping chair. It's easy if you have the pioneering skills.
How to Make a Paper Fortune Teller

Learn how to fold this classic paper game and fill it with hidden messages.
How to Do the 4 Thieves Card Trick

This simple magic trick is all about storytelling -- and a little sleight of hand. Learn how to do it with our step-by-step video.
How to Get Started Birding

Birdwatching can be a fun pastime. All you need are binoculars and a bird guide to start.
Learn How to Draw a Bear From a Pro

Learn to draw a bear from an Oscar-nominated animator who worked on the Brother Bear movie.
Improve Your Chess Skills With These 9 Expert Tips

Chess grandmaster and Eagle Scout Kayden Troff shares his nine tips to become a better player.
Combat Food Waste with These 5 Easy Recipes

Perfectly good food scraps get tossed in the trash when they can be used to help make another meal.
11 Tasty S’mores Recipes

There's no reason to mess with this classic camping dessert. But if you're feeling adventurous, here are 11 tasty S'more variations.
How to Throw a Tomahawk and Hit a Target

Tomahawk throwing can be a rigorous yet rewarding activity. The secret to throwing tomahawks is "lots of practice and follow-through."
Go Beyond GORP With These 40 Tasty Trail Mix Ingredients

Trail mix doesn't have to be boring. Mix and match these ingredients to create your own perfect trail snack.
How to Build a Cooking Tripod

Use your lashing skills to make this simple tripod to hang a pot over a cooking fire.
5 Things to Check Before Every Bike Ride

For a safe and fun bicycle ride, make sure you check and maintain these important parts of your bike.
Download a Scout Life Coloring Book

You're never too old to color, so grab some crayons or colored pencils and download our fun coloring book.
How to Customize a Coffee Mug for Father’s Day

Give dad a cup full of love and warmth by customizing a coffee mug for him.
Download a Printable Paper Chess Set That You Can Make at Home

Play chess anywhere with this downloadable paper chess set. Just cut out the pieces and start playing!
How to Make a Homemade Photo Album for Mother’s Day

Highlight your favorite moments with mom by making her a photo album.
How to Make a Monarch Butterfly Habitat

To help out these beautiful monarch butterflies, you can build this protective habitat.
10 Videos Guaranteed to Make You Smile

If you're bored, cooped up or just want to smile, check out these mood-boosting videos!
Stuck Inside? 25 Fun Projects to Do at Home

Be creative! Try these easy indoor activities and projects and send us photos!
How to Tie a Heart Knot for Mother’s Day

The heart knot is easy to tie, and you can use it to make a necklace, bracelet or keychain.
15 Community Service Projects Perfect for Kids and Cub Scouts

You can make a BIG difference in the world, no matter your age!
How to Do the Surefire Card Trick

Learn how to use a "key card" to perform this easy magic trick using only a deck of cards.
Learn How to Do the ‘Torn and Restored Dollar Bill’ Magic Trick

Rip a piece out of a dollar bill and then miraculously repair it. Watch a video of the trick in action to learn how to do it.
6 Top Tips for Building Better Lego Creations

An Eagle Scout professional Lego master shares his top tips for building better creations. Plus, send us your Lego photos.
The Friendship Knot: How to Secure Your Neckerchief Without a Slide

Learn how to tie the friendship knot and find out the really cool story behind it!
How to Start a Rock Collection

Becoming a rock hound -- an amateur collector of rocks and minerals -- is easy! Here's how to get started.
How Much Would You Weigh on Other Planets?

Use this calculator to find out what you'd weigh on the other planets in our solar system.
How to Make Invisible Ink for Writing Top-Secret Messages

Create your own top-secret invisible messages with this simple technique.
How to Wash Your Dog

Being a responsible dog owner means keeping your pup clean. Try these dog-bathing tips from the Dog Care merit badge pamphlet.
Take Tastier Food Photos With These Professional Tips

Go ahead and play with your food to learn more about lighting, composition and photo magic.
How to Make the Perfect Hot Chocolate Mix

This jar of hot chocolate mix makes the PERFECT holiday gift for everyone on your list!
How to Make a Plaster Cast of Animal Tracks in the Snow

Don't give up. Making plaster casts of animal tracks in snow is tricky but not impossible.
How BL Uses Photo Magic to Get the Not-So-Big Picture

Experiment with lighting, angles and a camera to set up fun photo shoots and create a little bit of photo magic.
How to Solve the Rubik’s Cube

Solving a Rubik's Cube takes patience, practice and plenty of trial and error. Here's how to do it.
Make Your Paper Airplane Soar With These Tips

Making paper airplanes is tough, but BL is here to help. These three videos will make your next paper airplane fly far.
How to Play Capture the Flag

The goal is to capture the other team's flag and bring it back to your side.
How to Lash Together Your Own Clothes Drying Rack

A drying rack is perfect for hanging wet clothes or towels during a long-term campout. Here's how to build it.
10 Amazing Duct-Tape Creations You Can Make Right Now

Is there anything you can’t make with duct tape and a little imagination?
How to Build Your Own Dishwashing Rack

Here's how to build a dishwashing rack that can be used for backcountry dish and utensil cleaning.
How to Build a Stand-Alone Camp Table

Here's how to lash together a small camp table to provide a convenient raised surface.
How to Build a Hand Wash Station

This wash station is sturdy, portable and very useful when camping away from washroom facilities.
9 Optical Illusions to Confuse Your Brain

Your eyes can play tricks on you. See if you can figure out these awesome optical illusions.
How to Draw a Cat

Grab a pencil (NOT a pen!) and let's learn how to draw a cat! Here's how.
Learn How To Be a Ventriloquist

A world-famous ventriloquist shares the secrets of how to do ventriloquism.
How to Keep Spiders as Pets

Spiders can make fascinating pets. Here are a few steps to get you started keeping spiders.
Take the Best Videos With These Videography Tips

Everybody has their own style, but here are some tips that will help you take the best videos.
Can You Spot 30 Hidden Animals in These Photos?

Some animals have amazing natural camouflage. Can you find where they're hiding?
5 Fun Backyard Games

Summer is for outside, and these fun games are just the things to get you out there.
Make a Weather Barometer

Make a barometer to give you a heads-up about weather conditions.
Amaze Your Friends with These 4 Awesome Magic Tricks

Learn how to do four magic tricks with the help of our video tutorials.
Catch a Snowflake and Keep It Forever

Find out how to preserve fragile snowflakes so you can study or admire them anytime you wish.
100 Books That Every Kid Should Read

Boys' Life has provided more than 100 years of great reading. Here are 100 other titles that every kid should read.
6 Weird Science Experiments

Have fun with the wacky world of science. Try these simple experiments.
How to Plan a Photo Scavenger Hunt

Use a digital camera or camera phone to create a trail of photo clues for your friends to find.
100 Movies Every Kid Should Watch

The first movie appeared just a few years before the first issue of Boys' Life. Since then, there have been a lot of great ones. Here are 100 movies that every kid should see.
How to Do 5 Awesome Yo-Yo Tricks

Watch as an expert demonstrates how to do five yo-yo tricks.
4 Fun Sports For the Great Outdoors

No referee? No sports field? No problem. We've adapted these four sports so they can be played almost anywhere.
How to Draw Cartoon Dogs

A professional illustrator shows how to make your penciled puppies come to life.
How to Find Fossils

Sometimes a rock's just a rock... and sometimes it's a fossil. How can you tell the difference?
Conduct 7 Sweet Candy Experiments

Candy isn't just a sugary treat. You can learn something by using it in some fun science experiments.
6 Fun Games to Play in the Car

Stuck in the backseat on a long drive? Here are some classic (and free!) games to help travel time go by faster.
How to make amazing sand castles

Get some sand-sculpting tips from a pro.
How to Skip Rocks

A stone-skipping expert shares his tips to help you successfully skip rocks.
4 interesting weather experiments to try at home

Learn more about science, weather and energy by conducting these experiments with easy-to-find materials.
Tips to improve your golf game

Watch video tips from a young golfer who has played with the pros.
Use an old toy car to make a power door opener for your bedroom

Build a fun power door opener as seen in science-fiction and spy movies.
How to draw funny caricatures

Grab a piece of paper and a pencil and get ready to learn how to give your friends a few yucks and chuckles. This is a lesson in how to draw caricatures.
How to Cook Some Goofy Grub

We scoured the Internet for these six strange recipes and oddball cooking methods. Then we challenged a Scout troop to try them out.
Tips for making movie magic

Want to make an amazing movie? Just follow these tips from one of the best filmmakers around.
How to Get a Player’s Autograph

It’s not as easy to get an autograph in person as it used to be. Here’s how to attract your favorite baseball player’s attention.
How to Cook Camping Doughnuts

Like most food, doughnuts taste even better when you're camping. Here's a simple recipe to cook fresh doughnuts on your next outing.
Choose Pedro’s Wacky Adventure

Pedro tells the story, but you twist the plot in our new interactive adventure.
Amazing Science Tricks with Common Household Items

You can demonstrate cool scientific laws using common objects around the house.
Skateboarding Video Tips and Tricks

Learn some basic skateboarding techniques from a world record-holding skater.
How to Plant a Compact Vegetable Garden

You can grow lots of food in a small space by placing plants close together in squares instead of traditional rows.
9 tips for taking better smartphone photos

Use these handy smartphone photography tips to take awesome pictures with your camera phone.
12 tips for taking better digital photos

Want to take better digital photos? Here are 12 tips that will help your pictures really stand out.
How to Draw an Elephant

Grab a pencil (NOT a pen!) and let's draw an elephant! Here's how.
50 Incredible Pinewood Derby Cars of 2012

Looking for some new Pinewood Derby car design ideas? Take a look at some of the great cars sent to us in 2012.
100 Amazing Pinewood Derby Car Design Photos of 2011

Looking for Pinewood Derby design ideas? Browse photos of more than 100 amazing Pinewood Derby cars.
Sure-fire hits to get you reading

Not sure what to read? Start with this teacher/librarian-tested list of titles for boys of all ages.
Pro Angler Demonstrates 5 Ways to Cast Your Fishing Line

Improve your fishing with these casting tips from a professional fisherman.
100 Cool Pinewood Derby Car Photos of 2010

Looking for Pinewood Derby design ideas? Browse our photos of more than 100 amazing Pinewood Derby cars.
How to start a hydroponic garden

Plants don't need soil as long as they have five things: food, water, light, air and support. You can provide all five in a hydroponic garden. Here's how to create your own.
How to start a collection of magazines

Read it and keep it! Here's how to start a great collection of magazines.
10 Steps to Help You Get Straight A’s

Ten tips to help you get straight A's in school and have fun at the same time!
Realistic grass for your models

Use felt to make the grass in your models look good enough to mow.
Sneaky uses for everyday things

Try these amazing feats using things you may already have in your home.