Friday, 22 January 2010

Animals, 22/01/10

5.55pm
Opening ceremony

6.00pm
Beavers be animals:
The leader calls out: ‘Beavers be lions’ and the Beavers have to pretend to be lions then ‘Beavers be dogs’ etc

6.05pm
Whose tail
Pictures of animals’ tails around the room - the Beavers are given a list of animals and have to match the tail to the animal.

6.10pm
Chat about animals and zoos

6.15pm
Craft: Animal plates
Using paper plates let the Beavers create animals

6.30pm
Game: Elephants charge
Beavers stand at one end of the hall. When the leader calls ‘elephants charge’ they run to the other end. The leader rolls the ball and tries to hit the Beavers below the knee. If ‘hit’ the Beavers are out

6.40pm
Stealing Nagaina's Eggs
All except one Six are blindfolded and sit on the floor, spaced around the hall. At one end of the hall are piled the eggs (beanbags or other objects) The free Six must tiptoe quietly through nest of cobras to try to steal the eggs and return without being 'bitten' (touched by waving arms) Note - only one egg can be taken per cub at a time. When all eggs have been stolen, or after a set time, select another Six to have a go. Note - any Beaver 'bitten' is regarded as dead and is out

6.55pm
Short prayer
Prayer
Dear Lord
Thank you for all the days in the year
And for all the living creatures on this planet
And for all your gifts to us
Amen

Closing Ceremony

Friday, 15 January 2010

Aeroplanes, 15/01/10

5.55pm
Opening ceremony

6.00pm
Flying Formations
The Beavers run around the hall in circles with their arms outstretched. The corners of the hall are: Control tower; Hangar; Runway; Refuelling depot. A leader calls out instructions - while the 'planes' are in the air the leader can 'change flight path' and the Beavers should turn and run in the opposite direction

6.10pm
Aeroplane craft
Talk about who has been on a plane, and where they have been. How do planes stay in the air?
Cut out the 'shadow' shapes of some 'flying machines' and let the Beavers match them with the picture and guess what they are. Examples could be an Air Balloon, a jet, a Jumbo jet, Concorde etc. Also have a few pictures of planes to colour.

6.20pm
Paper planes
In small groups show the Beavers how to fold a simple paper plane
Once folded let the Beavers decorate them - make sure each 'pilot' writes their name on their plane

6.30pm
Air display
Line the Beavers up with their planes
See whose will go the furthest when thrown
Try racing against long party balloons

6.35pm
Ladders
The Beavers sit in pairs on the floor facing each other with their feet touching. They form the rungs of a ladder.
Each pair is numbered off from one end. The Leader calls a number and the Beavers with that number have to get up and carefully step over the rungs of the ladder (i.e. other Beavers’ legs), touch the wall, run down the outside of the ladder (on their own side) to the top and then down the ladder to their places. It is a race between the pair; the first one back in his place wins.

Variations: Story Ladders 
Equipment: Story book
Each pair is given a character / part in a story. The Leader reads out the story and every time a pair hears their part mentioned they race as outlined above.
 
This variation helps to improve the Beavers’ listening skills and holds their attention better than the normal version. Make sure that each part features more than once. Try more than one pair racing at the same time. You will need to spend time emphasizing the route that each side takes. The younger Beavers, in particular, tend to want to run down the same side of the ladder. Also stress that Beavers must keep their legs straight out, touching, still, and on the floor - otherwise injuries can result as Beavers trip or stand on legs.
 
Variation
Mathematical ladders – call out a sum e.g. “2 plus 3” – the pair numbered 5 races.

6.45pm
Egg & Spoon relay                 
Balls and spoon. Obstacle course.

6.55pm
Short prayer
Closing Ceremony

Friday, 8 January 2010

Kangaroo, 08/01/10

5.55pm
Opening ceremony

6.00pm
Kangaroo relay. Normal rules - but the Beaver Scouts have to hop!

6.05pm
Hunt the wallaby. Hide pictures of native Australian animals around the room - who can find the wallabies?

6.10pm
Iced biscuits as the Australian flag

6.20pm
Kangaroo pencil holders:
Let the Beaver Scouts copy a kangaroo template (add a square at the bottom that can be folded forward to make a base for the ½  kitchen roll inner that will be stuck to the front to hold pencils.

6.30pm
Upside down game
Find some pictures of every day objects taken from an unusual age
See how many the Beaver Scouts can guess

6.35pm
Sharks
Lay out a few hoops (or draw chalk circles), these are the islands. The area around the hoops is shark infested sea. The children must walk around the hoops; no standing still, hanging around one hoop etc. A leader shouts 'Sharks' and all the children should take refuge in a hoop, as many as possible in each hoop. Any children caught by the shark (the leader) are out. Leader shouts 'all clear' and the children walk around again. Repeat, but remove some hoops so that the children really have to crowd into a few hoops. The idea of the game is that they help each other to stay in the hoop.

6.45pm
Knock-Out Skittles
Equipment: 2 chairs, 2 sponge footballs, 5 skittles (bought ones or pop bottles in different colours)
Game layout:
Chair                          X     X    X    X    X        <= skittles                         Chair
 Split the Colony into 2 teams. Put a team at each end of the room behind the chair. A ball is placed on the chair. When the game starts, a Beaver climbs onto the chair and throws the ball towards the skittles to try to knock one down. Whether they knock one down or not, they must jump down and retrieve the ball to pass to the next Beaver who should be waiting on the chair for their return. The Beaver who has just had his go then joins the back of his team. The Beavers get as many turns as it takes to complete the game. The game is completed when one team has knocked down 3 skittles.
 
Variations 
Equipment: 2 chairs, 2 beanbags, 1 skittle
Game layout: Chair (held by adult)          X   <= skittle      Chair (held by adult)

6.55pm
Short prayer
Closing Ceremony

Friday, 1 January 2010

Beaver Logs, 01/01/10

5.55pm
Opening ceremony

6.00pm
Make Logs: Let the Beavers make ‘logs’ from rolled up newspaper - to be used in first game. Hands will need washing after this!

6.10pm
Chat about the Beaver animal

6.15pm
Game: Beaver under the blanket

6.25pm
Beaver biscuits: Ingredients - digestive biscuits, liquorice allsorts + strands, chocolate icing. Let the Beavers make a beaver face from the bits and pieces

6.35pm
Beaver word search

6.40pm
Beaver logs: Beavers divide into 2 or 3 teams and are given a number. The teams go to different corners of the room. An odd number of logs are placed in the centre of the room and the leader calls out a number - that Beavers must collect as many logs as possible and place them in his corner. Team with the most logs at the end wins

6.55pm
Short prayer
Dear Lord
Thank you God for all the Beavers
And all the boys and girls who join
Bless us in our work and play
This and every day
Amen

Closing Ceremony

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

“It is important to arrange games and competition so that all Scouts of the troop take part.”

Wednesday, 23 December 2009

The Carnival

I must have been only 5 or 6 when my grandfather took me to see the carnival that had come to town. It was really great. First we went to see the parade. It came right down the middle of
Main Street
. Then we went into the big top tent to see the acrobats and the lions.
Afterward, as we were leaving, I saw where the elephants were tied and I just had to go over and see them. I was very surprised when I noticed that the smallest elephant, just a baby really, was tied up with a very heavy chain, but its mother was tied with what seemed to be only a piece of old clothesline. I asked my grandfather why the elephants were tied so differently. He replied, “The older elephant has learned that she can’t break free and run away. Her baby hasn’t learned that yet, so the people in the circus have to chain her to one place. Learn from this. The older elephant could easily break free from that old rope and run away, but she has long since stopped trying. Don’t you ever be like that and stop trying.”

Saturday, 12 December 2009

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

“We are not a club or a Sunday school class, but a school of the woods.”

Friday, 11 December 2009

Hands, 11/12/09

Feeling Game
Make some fabric bags, number them and put a small object in each.
 Tie them to a rope and stretch between chairs. 
Beavers have to guess what is in them

Head & hands catch 
Beavers in circle, leader in centre. 
Throw the ball and shout hands – the Beavers have to head the ball. 
Shout head the Beavers have to catch the ball. 
If they do it wrong they sit down for 4 throws
Repeat as often as you want.

Hand Tree
Beavers draw round their hands and colour, put on their name and cut out. 
Then stick them on a tree shape and you have made a helping hand tree

Pass the woggle game
Beavers sit in circle, close together, with one Beavers in centre. 
They pass a woggle in closed hands. 
Beavers in centre has to guess where the woggle is.

Hand Collage
Let the Beavers draw around their hands and cut them out - save them for later

Hand catch
Try any ball games that use your hands. then try with just one hand - see how hard it is

Hand Collage
Using the hands from the coming in game - let the Beavers make:
Hedgehogs, peacocks, doves or red Indians to decorate your hall

Helping Hands
Everyone draws around their hand and to a piece of paper
Then they take it home and write a good turn that they have done each day onto a finger (Monday to Friday). They write the good turns for Saturday and Sunday in the palm of the hand.

Hand paints
Very messy but fun!!!!!
Make a fist - use the space between finger and thumb to make a mouth - paint on lips, eyes, nose and have some fun!!!

Hand Signs
Show the Beavers some Deaf Sign Language

Friday, 4 December 2009

Hot and Cold, 04/12/09

Leave food / drink that should be hot, cold in a dish. Some that should be cold make hot etc - ready for the Beaver Scouts to try as they come in. Create a simple questionnaire for them to complete - did they like cold custard, hot lemonade etc?

Dress up relay
Have a pile of clothes per team (woolly hat, coat, sunglasses, beach towel, gloves etc). On the command (eg: it is very hot today) the first Beaver Scout runs to their team's pile of clothes and put on the appropriate piece of clothing.

Hot and Cold collage
Pile of magazines, old catalogues etc.
Draw a line down the middle of either individual pieces of A4 or one large piece per lodge. The Beaver Scouts have to create a collage of pictures of things that are hot on one side, and cold on the other.

True and False
Make a list of questions to which the answer is true or false - to do with hot & cold things:
We get snow in winter - true
Snow is hot - false
We get cold in the sunshine - false
Tell the Beaver Scouts that one wall is the true wall, the other the false wall. They have to run to the correct wall when the question is asked. Last one there is out!

What is hot, what is cold
How can we tell without touching?
Do hot things look different?
What different foods can we have hot and cold?
Spicy ones are hot to taste but not to touch - try some.

Tuesday, 1 December 2009

Winter Craft Ideas, December 2009

45 things to help programme planning in the winter
1. Gather several pairs of mittens. Let the Beavers sort them by size, colour, design, left hand, right hand, etc. Make it a game.
2. Make a 'tent' using blankets draped over a table or chairs. Pretend it is a bear cave and the Beavers are a bear getting ready to hibernate. Try singing the Bear Hunt song
3. Use white clay to make tiny snow people. Embellish with small twigs, pebbles, chenille stems, scrap material, etc.
4. Make a pin the nose on the snowman game. Play by seeing who, blindfolded, can pin a paper carrot nose closest to where it belongs.
5. Trace your winter boots, gloves, mittens, hats, etc and colour them.
6. Paint a snow scene on light blue paper using glue. Sprinkle the glue with white glitter or salt and let dry.
7. Make a mini ice castle using coloured ice cubes (use salt to 'glue' them together). May be a bit hard !
8. Make miniature igloos using marshmallows and frosting.
9. Draw out snowflake designs on wax paper using glue, sprinkle on glitter if desired. Once the glue is dry, peel off your snowflake and it should stick to the window.
10. Draw a winter scene on black construction paper using white chalk.
11. Make a snow gauge by marking inch lines on a coffee can and setting it outside to catch snow in.
12. Have snowballs for a snack (the ones from the supermarket)!
13. Place an ice cube or snowball in a large bowl. Set it in the middle of a table and observe how it melts. Let the Beavers write down their findings
14. Have an indoor snowball fight using wadded up pieces of paper or marshmallows!
15. Make a winter clothing collage by cutting pictures of clothes you where in the winter and gluing them on paper.
16. Pretend it is summer and have a beach party! Everyone can where their bathing suits and sunglasses inside. Sit on lawn chairs and sip lemonade.
17. Design your own snowflakes using white play dough and with silver glitter mixed into it.
18. Make a snowstorm inside by tearing up several pieces of white paper. Place them on a sheet or towel, have everyone grab around the edge, and toss the snow into the air.
19. Cut snowflakes out of coffee filters and hang them around the room.
20. Blow bubbles outside when it is very cold and see what happens!
21. Make large snowmen indoors by stuffing large, white rubbish bags with newspaper.
22. Experiments with the effects sand and salt have on ice on ice.
23. Make a winter picture by gluing Honeycomb cereal on construction paper to look like snow.
24. Place small Styrofoam balls on spoons and try to carry this mini "snowballs" across the room without dropping them.
25. Make ice cube lollies by freezing juice in ice cube trays and inserting cocktail sticks or lolly sticks cut in half.
26. Make hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows.
27. Give everyone an ice cube and see who can find ways to melt them the fastest.
28. Make snowman prints using a marshmallow dipped into white paint.
29. Put on some music and pretend to be snowflakes gently flying around.
30. Make round bean bags out of white material to look like snowballs. Have a snowball toss competition!
31. Collect different pairs of gloves. Mix them up and set them in a pile. Take turns finding the matching gloves.
32. Fingerpaint snowflakes on the windows using white tempera paint mixed with a bit of dish soap!
33. Learn about different kinds of snowflakes.
34. Cut snowflakes out of paper. Experiment with different folding techniques and cuts.
35. Have a scavenger hunt and look for objects that are white.
36. Make your own puffy, snow paint by mixing equal parts of glue and shaving cream.
37. Build an igloo inside using empty milk jugs taped or glued together.
38. Pretend to be a snowman melting on a warm day.
39. Make a snowman snack using marshmallows, pretzel sticks, chocolate chips, and peanut butter (to hold them all together).
40. Make a winter white collage by cutting white objects out of magazines and gluing them on paper.
41. Hide a mitten in the room somewhere and let others try to find it. Give them clues by telling them whether they are 'hot' (near the mitten) or 'cold' (far from the mitten).
42. Write a poem or story about snow.
43. Blow up several white balloons and pretend they are snowballs! Toss them around, or try to build something with them (using tape).
44. Make snowflakes on cookies by placing a small doily on top of a cookie and sprinkling on some powdered sugar. This well for cakes also.
45. If you have slippery hardwood or tiled floors, pretend to ice skate in your stocking feet.