Tuesday, 30 December 2008

Kwanzaa, 30/12/08

Game: Back to back
Players stand about in pairs. One Beaver is ‘It’
When the leaders calls, "Back to back!" the players must back up to a partner.  When the leader calls "Face to Face!" these partners must face each other and shake hands. 
On the next call "Back to back!" and each time here after, all players must change partners. 
‘It’ tries to get a partner during the change. 
The player left out becomes it.

Fried BananasThe holiday is based on traditional "first fruits" or harvest.
A snack idea for this would be Fried Bananas -
Material -
6 med to large bananas; plastic knives; lemon juice; brown sugar; cinnamon;
butter; frying pan; spatula; paper towels
Ask the children to peel the bananas and cut into 1/2" slices (you may want to
do the cutting). Place banana slice on a plate and sprinkle a little lemon
juice, brown sugar and cinnamon onto the slices. Put butter in the frying pan
over med heat. Place a layer of slices in the frying pan. Fry both sides of
the slices until golden. Drain on paper towels and serve.

Game: Banana
Equipment: A rag or sock or a real banana     
Form a circle with all players sitting on the floor.  It is important for the players to sit close together with their knees up and their hands tucked under their legs.  The person in the middle has to figure out where the banana is as the people in the circle are passing the "banana" under their legs secretly.     

Tuesday, 23 December 2008

The Twins

One day a set of twins decided to move to a new town because they felt like they’d seen everything there was to see in their hometown. They started out together, but somehow along the way one twin had gotten ahead of the other one.
This first twin came to an old man sitting by the road just outside a nearby town.  The twin stopped and asked the old man what the people were like in this town. The old man replied by asking the same question of him, “What were the people like in the town you came from?” The first twin said they were very unkind and harsh, not very friendly at all. The old man said, “I think you’ll find that the people who live here are very much the same.”
Not long after the first twin left, the second twin came across the same old man sitting by the same road. This twin stopped and asked the same question of the old man. The old man again replied by asking what the people were like in the town the twin had come from. The second twin said the people were all great. “I had a lot of friends and the people always tried to help others.” The old man replied, “I think you’ll find that the people who live here are very much the same.”
The point here isn’t about the people who lived in those towns, it is about how a person treats the people around him. If you treat others with kindness and understanding, they will treat you the same way.

Friday, 12 December 2008

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

“It’s the spirit within, not the veneer without, which makes a man.”

Sunday, 23 November 2008

Our Spiritual Compass

For Scouts on a hike or a canoe trip, a compass is an important tool. Because it gives you a stable reference point (magnetic north), you can set a course and follow it. As long as your compass is accurate and you don’t damage it, it will serve you faithfully—if you trust it. Our faith or spirituality is something like that. We have a point of reference that does not change: God. And we have a compass, so to speak, in our relationship with God. It’s something we have learned and continue to learn about, just as we learn to use a compass properly. We use our spirituality and faith to get us through this grand journey we call life. If we are prepared to trust the things we have learned about God, our spirituality can guide us through the joys and the temptations of life. We can use it to show us what service we can give and what potential dangers to stay away from. We can use it to guide us in our friendships, in our work, in what we say to people and about people, and in how we treat our natural world.

Tuesday, 11 November 2008

Remembrance Day, 11/11/08

Chat about Remembrance Day and peace. Practice standing to attention and at ease.

Army, navy, air force game
In a circle each Beaver Scout is named army, navy, or airforce. The leader calls one name and the Beaver with that name run around the outside of the circle. First one back to his own place scores a point for his team.

Craft:
Poppy Wreath + Cross
Poppy Wreath
Draw and cut out poppy shapes from red tissue or crepe paper. Use black paper for the centre circle.
Cut the centre from a paper plate (this can be used for the cross craft).
Stick the poppies around the circle

Poppy Cross
Using centre from plate cut into a cross.
Stick one poppy to the centre of the cross

Attention game
The Beavers march around the room. The leader calls out:-
Attention – they all stand still & to attention
At ease - they all stand still & at ease
Salute - they all stand still & salute
Fall out - they all turn right and walk to the edge of the room
March - they all march around the room.

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

“It is risky to order a boy not to do something; it immediately opens to him the adventure of doing it.”

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

“It is risky to order a boy not to do something; it immediately opens to him the adventure of doing it.”

Saturday, 1 November 2008

All Saints Day, 01/11/08

Coming in game: 5 Dots
Each Beavers has a piece of paper and a pencil. He/she puts 5 dots anywhere on the paper and passes the paper to another Beavers. The Beavers has to draw a person with head, both hands and both feet each touching a different dot.
Remember the halo – because we are doing Saints !

Game: Saints About
One piece of paper per Beaver – on which is written the name of a saint. These can be repeated so 3 or 4 pieces of paper have the same name. Place the paper on the floor. The Beavers run around and when ALL Saints is called they stand on a piece of paper. The leader calls out a saint’s name and if the Beavers in on that named paper he wins a sweet.

Craft Bases: Stained Glass Windows
If you are a sponsored group your Church may have stained glass windows depicting Saints – perhaps you could show the Beavers them?
Each Beavers need a square of sugar paper with a design in the centre cut out & some pieces of coloured tissue paper. The Beavers should cut the tissue paper to cover the hole in the paper. When completed they can be hung in the Beavers windows at home.

Game: Oranges & Lemons
2 Beavers stand in centre of room hands held up into an arch, one is an orange the other a lemon.. The other Beavers pass through. When the last line is said the 2 Beavers catch a Beavers within their arms. He then joins the arch as either an orange or a lemon, and so on.

Thursday, 23 October 2008

Attitude

Words could never adequately convey how great the impact our attitude can have on our lives. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it. I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitude is right, there’s no barrier too wide, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.

Friday, 10 October 2008

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

“You can only get discipline in the mass by discipline in the individual.”