Attend a District event, 31/03/06

District events will be organised through the regular Beaver Round Table meetings organised by your District Beaver Programme Advisor. The PA is not the person who necessarily organises the events; usually it is done by a committee or a group.

Events that can be run include:

Table quiz

Sports Day

Litter clean ups

Treasure hunts

Easter Egg Hunt

Treasure Hunt

One Group within the District should take on the job of preparing a Treasure Hunt in a local park and invite the other Teams along to take part. The hunt should be run over a period of 2 -2 ½ hours and the questions simple or hard enough so that all the Beavers taking part should have a chance to answer them. However you should include a couple of tough ones to make sure of a winner. Leaders should not be allowed to give clues. Questions or tasks on the Treasure Hunt could concentrate on:

Spotting wildlife.

Identifying plants.

Gathering different bits of fallen tree bark, leaves, feathers, cones or seeds. (Must be fallen)

Noticing special features within the park;.

Litter Clean Up

The Leaders will need to vet the area first for really undesirable objects. If you find any look for a new site.

Choose a Beaver-sized area to clean so that there is a visible improvement that the Beavers can feel proud of. The Beavers should bring their own rubber gloves, but have a few extra pairs for those who forget theirs. Don’t forget the first aid kit.

Make sure they can wash their hands afterwards. If there is no tap bring a water carrier. Don’t forget the soap and a towel. Make sure the Beavers know to tell the Leaders if they find anything sharp or dangerous.

Run a Fun Day for the District

Choose a large park or somewhere that offers a range of different types of area, such as rough grassland, smooth cut grass and some woodland. Depending on the size of the District and on the area chosen, it may be advisable to seek

permission. Have a range of activities on offer so that waiting is kept to a minimum. Arrange beforehand whether the Beavers are to go round in their Teams or in small groups, but ensure that Leaders always accompany the Beavers. Rope in your Scouts to run some of the bases. Use the Fun Day as an opportunity to do some of the challenges for the Paw Badge Scheme, especially those that need a large open space or area of woodland. Build the possibility of poor weather into your plan. Rain shouldn’t mean a cancellation. If it is to be a winter event, make it a short so you have fewer problems keeping everyone warm and happy if it rains. Make use of any available shelter such as trees and woodland.

Run an Easter Egg Hunt and Invite the District

Each Beaver Team could bring their own Easter Eggs, though it would be a good idea to have a general consensus on type and quantity. Rather than hiding the eggs for Beavers to tread on and local dogs to eat, hide either coloured counters or cut-out egg shapes. Then each Beaver can find lots of egg shapes even though they may only be getting one egg. Get the Leaders from the other Teams to help with the cutting out so no one person has to cut out 400 eggs! Arrange someone to hide the egg shapes before the Beavers arrive. Don’t forget to visit the area beforehand to make sure it is suitable for the purpose. Have some other activities lined up. The Beavers should bring drinks with them and possibly a snack. Consider inviting the local CSI Beaver Team along.

Parable of the Mule

This parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule.

The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule “praying”—or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving.

Instead, he called his neighbours together, told them what had happened and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery. Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbours continued shovelling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, he could shake it off and step up! This he did, blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up . . . . Shake it off and step up . . . . Shake it off and step up!” He repeated it to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought panic and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up! It wasn’t long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well! What seemingly would bury him actually helped him, all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity. That’s life!

If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity. The problems that come along to bury us usually have within them the very potential to benefit us . . . and benefit Scouting, too!

Visit another section, 17/03/06

The ideal Section for Beavers to visit would be the Cub Section as this is closer to their age group. Part of the requirement for the Silver Arrow badge in the Cub Section is that they interact with the Beaver section, so that this task may be best suited to those Beavers who will shortly be swimming up to Cubs.

Activities that could be carried out include:

Cinema or Bowling night

Pantomime

A day at the Cub Pack Holiday

Sports Day

Invite Akela and Silver Arrow Cubs to a Beaver Meeting

Scouts help at Beaver fun day

Group BBQ

Visit Cub or Scout Camp

Brief the Scouts or Cubs in advance to look after the Beavers. The Beavers to see where the Scouts sleep, cook and have fun. Run Beaver sized games prepared by Scouts in advance in consultation with Ameek. Bear in mind that the older sections tend to require less intense activities than the Beavers, so the Beaver Leaders will need to have prepared additional activities for when the level of interest on both sides declines. During their visit ask the Cubs or Scouts to show the Beavers where they sleep.

Ask the Cubs or Scouts to show the Beavers how to prepare hot drinks, such as drinking chocolate when on Camp. They can then sit down together and the Cubs and Scouts can talk the Beavers through life on Camp.

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

“To get a hold on boys you must be their friend.”

Group or Family event, 03/03/06

The idea of a Group or Family event is to introduce the Beavers to the concept of being part of a larger Group within the Scouting framework. This will enable them to find their place within the Group and to be comfortable within the Group.

A family event would be an activity in which the Parents and Beavers participate together. This has the added bonus of involving Parents in Scouting and to see what Scouting means to their child and how much effort the Leaders put into

Scouting. There are many different types of events that could be run, some of which are given below. There may be events that other Sections in your Group run on an annual basis. Try and go along to these if you can. You can also get your Parents and Friends committee involved in organising these events.

Typical Family Events

B-B-Q

Treasure hunt

Ten-Pin Bowling Sports Day

Help decorate the church for Christmas or Harvest Festival

Parent and Beaver Trek

Invite the Parents to the Beaver meeting and let the Parents be "Beavers" by participating in all the games.

Beaver Concert and Play

Group Events

Group Investiture

Beaver Swim up

Community Clean up with Group

Beavers visit a Cub Camp, perhaps in conjunction with a Slumbernight in a local hall.

Charity fair involving all sections and families.

Group Fund Raising Events.

Most groups have fundraising events which can easily be adapted so that the Beavers can join in. For example a

sponsored cycle . The starts can be staggered to accommodate the different abilities of the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts

allowing everybody to finish in the same place.

Why not have a sponsored sandcastle building competition.