Knots, 21/05/10

6.00pm

Port and Starboard

Label your meeting place walls with the following nautical names:

Port = left

Starboard = right

Bow = front

Stern = back

The Leader calls outs one of the commands and the players run to the relevant part of the room. Players that go to the wrong part of the room are out. You can add extra instructions to make the game harder. For Patron Saints, name the four walls England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Then call out the Saint’s name or symbols or feast day.

6.10pm

Creep Up on a Sleeping Tiger

The Colony sits in a large circle with one Beaver Scout in the middle blindfolded guarding a bunch of keys. Beavers have to take it in turns to creep up on the Beaver in the middle and snatch the keys without being heard. The blinded folded Beaver or tiger points if he or she hears the moving Beaver. If the keys are successfully snatched, the two Beavers swap places and another Beaver tries to snatch the keys. If the blindfolded Beaver points directly at the Beaver trying to snatch the keys, that Beaver returns to their place and another has a go.

Bunch of keys/Scarf or blindfold

6.25pm

Knot bases (ten minutes each base)

Knots could be:

Reef knot

Clove hitch

Sheer lashing (this knot would be useful for the next activity)

6.45pm

Hockey

This game can be played with many variations. You can set up a goal at one end of the meeting place and teams take turns to try and score a goal. Or you can play a game of hockey and have two players from each team playing at the same time, until one side scores a goal or you can set a time for each pair of players.

Shelter Building, 14/05/10

6.00pm

Cops and Robbers

Equpiment: Whistle

Divide the Colony into two teams. One team stands in a line at the end of the room facing the wall this team are the cops. The robbers stand at the opposite end of the room. A Beaver needs to be appointed as lead robber. The robbers then creep up on the cops, when the leader of the robbers thinks they have crept as near to the cops as they dare he or she blows on a whistle and the robbers turn and run back to their starting point. As soon as the cops hear the whistle they can turn and chase the robbers. If a robber is caught they become a cop. The Leader of the robbers changes after each go.

6.10pm

Masterspy

Throwing Memory Games 15 Objects

Split the Colony into small groups. One Leader throws the objects to another Leader. The Beavers then have to write down what objects were thrown. This game can also be played by allowing the teams to look at a group of objects for 30 seconds and then asking them to write down what they have seen.

6.20pm

Shelter Building

Using chairs and old newspapers, the Beavers build a shelter in which the whole group can hide.

6.45pm

Skittles

Four balls of two different colours. e.g. red and blue. Split the Colony in half and line them up at opposite ends of the hall. Explain that the object of the game is to get members of the other team out by hitting their feet with a red ball. The Beavers are only allowed to touch the blue balls, so they must use those to knock the red balls. Beavers are not allowed to hold a blue ball or to move.

Senses, 07/05/10

6.00pm

Chinese Handball

Four soft balls and a bench or five chairs to use as a jail. The aim of this game is to get other players out by hitting them below the knee with a ball. Ask your Beavers to move around the meeting place. Beavers must use their arms to both knock the ball on and to defend themselves. Anyone can hit the balls but only along the floor. If the ball hits them they sit in the jail. When another Beaver gets out they shuffle along until all five spaces in the jail are taken.

The Beaver on the end then joins in the game again. This is a very energetic game and can be played for any length of time.

6.15pm

Sense bases: Four bases led by an adult – 10 minutes each.

Make Names out of Letters: Beavers are blindfolded and given plastic letters which they use to spell words.

Taste Foods and Drinks Blindfolded: Beavers in turn are blindfolded and try to identify lemonade, salt, vinegar, liquorice, raw carrot. Use tiny amounts only. The Beavers that are waiting could identify crisp flavours.

Feeling Kim’s Game: Select a number of household objects which you then wrap in a clean handkerchief and staple closed. Beavers have a few moments to identify what the object is. Consider Hula Hoops, paperclips, pen top, rubber, torch bulb, small battery, pencil sharpener, safety pin, badge, money, boiled sweet.

Noisy Kim’s Game: Show the Beavers eight articles and then ask them to turn away, while you drop each in turn. They identify it by the sound it makes. Consider screw, paperclips, rubber, bottle top, pen, keys, book, and beanbag

6.45pm

Beaver Netball

Two chairs and three balls

Split the Colony into two teams and give each player a number. Two Beavers or Leaders stand on a chair at opposite ends of the room facing each other to act as nets (one for each team). Call two numbers at a time to play. Players start the game by touching the chair of the opposing team and all the balls are placed in the middle of the room. A Leader starts the game. The Beavers have to throw the balls to their net however they cannot move with a ball or take a ball from another player. To win a round a team’s net has to be holding two balls. The team with the highest score at the end of the game wins. You can increase the number of players and balls if you have a larger room. If you have Beavers as nets it is a good idea to swap them around after each round so that everybody gets a turn.

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

“A boy on joining wants to begin Scouting right away.”

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.