Nature, 23/04/10

6.00pm

Ropes, ball, hockey sticks and balls, skittles

Brief chat about what the pulse is and how to take a pulse. Record the pulse rate of each member of the six as they sit on the floor

3 x bases on Fitness, 10 minutes each

• Skipping

• Hockey

• Skittles

Ask someone to come in a do some basic fitness with the Beavers. It might be a football coach, an athletics coach or an aerobics instructor. You could ask a dietician to come to the meeting to talk about healthy food. Measure their pulses again to compare with earlier rate

6.30pm

Drink and biscuits

6.35pm

Nature Prayer Pictures

Ask the Beavers to think of something they like in the natural world, this could be a tree an animal or beaches. Then give out the paper and pens and ask them to draw a picture of this and write a short prayer thanking God for nature. You could adapt this activity to other subjects or make one large prayer picture for the whole Colony. You could also make a collage or mosaic instead of drawing and colouring.

First Aid, 16/04/10

6.05pm

Beavers and Water-rats Pairs

The Colony divides into pairs. Each pair stands shoulder-to-shoulder

wherever they want in the hall. Choose just one pair, and one of the Beavers becomes the cat and the other the mouse. The cat chases the mouse around the hall, and if the mouse is caught they immediately change roles and the mouse becomes the cat. If the mouse needs a rest, the Beaver can stand next to any pair (making a line of three) and the Beaver at the other end of the line becomes the mouse, and the chase continues. The game once started will run itself.

6.15pm

First Aid Bases: First Aid Kit

• Burns, cuts and grazes

• First Aid Kit

• Recovery position and getting help

6.45pm

What Am I Doing?

The Colony stands in a circle and passes the ball around. When the Leader blows the whistle the Beaver with the ball has to mime out an animal. The rest of the Colony has to guess the animal. You can change the subject of the mime to vary the game.

Maps, 09/04/10

6.00pm

Mapping – bases

Two bases led by an adult – 15 minutes each

6.05pm

Map symbols Visit the Ordnance Survey website and download the most popular map symbols and teach these to your Beavers. If time allows, get Beavers to mime what they mean.

6.20pm

Setting a map: the Scale. Maps are of little use unless you know the scale and which way they go relative to where you are standing. Once your Beavers realise that each grid is 1km x 1km they can start judging distances. You can set a map be relating the features on it to the real world, (i.e. I have my back to the station, the public house is on my right and the telephone box is over there) or use a compass to find north. Then orientate the map so that the top (north) of the map points in the same direction.

6.40pm

Mapping Relay Game

Line up the Beavers in relay formation with a table for each Six at the far end of the hall. On each table is an Ordnance Survey map. In turn, each Beaver runs to the table and is asked by a Leader to find a particular symbol, i.e. motorway, a public house, a canal lock, a church with a tower. If they cannot find it, they must run back and collect another Beaver and both must try and find the symbol. Also devise questions on distance (i.e. how far is the viewpoint from J27 on the motorway?

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

“A fisherman does not bait his hook with food he likes. He uses food the fish likes. So with boys.”

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

“Scouting is a man’s job cut down to a boy’s size.”

Experiments, 02/04/10

6.00pm

Blindfold Directions

Split the Colony into teams and set out a basic relay course. Each team member has to complete the course blindfolded by using only the instructions from another team member. The teams should each nominate one player to guide the others through the course. This game can also be played in pairs or you can supplement the relay course for another task, for example a simple jigsaw puzzle.

6.10pm

Growing cress caterpillars

You will need:

• a Colonyet of both mustard and cress seeds

• an old yoghurt pot

• an egg carton

• kitchen roll

• cotton wool.

How to grow your caterpillar

Cut the bottom half off an egg carton and then cut it again length ways so you are left with two long shapes each with three compartments. To make the caterpillar, paint the outside of the carton green with a yellow stripe around the top. Line the base with a strip of plastic (to prevent the carton from going soggy). Add some scrunched-up kitchen roll and cotton wool as before, leaving a space from the top of about 1cm. Sprinkle the seeds along, pressing them down lightly. Leave the pot in a warm light place, and look daily for signs of growth, which should happen after about seven days. (Check that the cotton wool remains damp and add a little water if necessary).

6.30pm

Build a Tower

Random objects such as playing cards, felt-tipped pens and drinking straws.

A Six is challenged to build a tower as tall as possible using only the objects provided. You can set a time limit to this, but you must give the Sixes the same equipment to make the game fair.

6.40pm

Game: Obstacle Course

Equipment: Chairs, tables, bean bags etc.

Arrange chairs, tables and other articles that the Beavers need to crawl under, step over or run round.