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.”

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

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

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

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.

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.

Hibernation, 27/11/09

Where do they live?

Matching game - putting animals in their homes

Chat about animals that hibernate

Blanket game

Beavers run round being animal - when ‘hibernate’ is shouted they all ‘go to sleep’. One is covered by a blanket and the others have to guess who it is

Cold Cookery - hedgehogs

Use either small Swiss roles or chocolate fairy cakes.

Let the Beavers cover with chocolate butter cream and add chocolate buttons as the spines.

Make 2 each

Musical animals

Each Beavers has a chair - all have an animals name stuck under the seat (some that hibernate + some that don’t). When the music stops the Beavers looks under his seat - if the animal there hibernates they are out.

The Golden Windows

It was getting toward the end of summer and I was about to enter the second grade. Each morning all summer long I had noticed a particular house up on a hill about a mile away. This house, I thought, must be spectacular because every morning when I got up, it looked like it had golden windows. On this particular morning, I decided to go see the house with golden windows. I packed a lunch and started out on my big journey. Not long after I started, I came to a fence and couldn’t resist the temptation to see how far I could walk along the top rail. Then, I continued on my way until I came to a stream, where I stopped for a long while to catch crayfish and minnows.

By that time I was hungry and I ate my lunch. Starting up the hill to the house with the golden windows, I happened to see a porcupine. We stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally, I gave up and returned to my quest. When I did reach the house with the golden windows, I was very disappointed. There was the house, but instead of being majestic, it was a deserted, rundown shambles. The railings were falling off the porch, the screen door was off its hinges, the yard needed mowing, and the flower garden was overgrown with weeds. I was crushed. Sadly, I sat down on the front steps and just happened to gaze back toward my own home. There, in the late afternoon sun, was my house with golden windows!

Often in life we think that someone else has it far better than we do, or maybe that we should have a position much better than the one we have. But, we really should stop and think about all that we have and be thankful.

Scotland, 20/11/09

Game
Toss the caber
Using rolls of newspaper see who can toss the caber the furthest

Craft
Curling Stones
Curling Disks
1. Curling Stones - paint stones with thistle patterns
2. Curling Disks - the Beavers cannot really play curling with stones within a building so make paper plate wizzers for them to throw around. Use small paper plate, colour and cut the edges from outside towards centre (appx 3cm). Bend "cuts" up and down.

Game:  Scotch Broth
Played in teams
Give each person name of an item in the broth:
Potato Carrot Meat Gravy Peas Onion
When leader calls out name of an item, that person runs to end of room round obstacle and back.
If ‘broth’ is mentioned, whole team to run

Craft: Make a tartan
The Beaver Scouts can all design their own tartan on a piece of A4 paper

Game: Golf
Played in teams - with each team having a golf club and a ball
The Beaver Scouts have to knock the ball down the hall and into a box (pretend hole).
Then run back again and pass the ball and club to the next player.

Game: Queenie, Queenie, who's got the ball (traditional Scottish game)
A person is picked to be the "queenie," and that person turns her back to everyone else. The "queenie" then throws the ball over her shoulder and one of the other players needs to catch it or pick it up. Everyone, except the "queenie", puts their hands behind their backs so that the "queenie" doesn't know who has the ball. The "queenie" then turns around and everyone shouts: because you don't have the ball!"
The "queenie" has to guess who has the ball through a process of elimination. If the person with the ball is the last one to be picked, that person becomes the new "queenie."

Game
Throw the Curling Disks
Beavers stand on each side of a roped off area. Beavers throw the wizzers across the "divide". When whistle blows see who's wizzer is in the area

Skill
Tasting
Provide a selection of Scottish dishes for the Beaver Scouts to taste:
Haggis
Scottish shortbread
Edinburgh rock
Scotch pancakes
We has shortbread and oat cakes with Scottish cheese and highland spring water

Identifying Fish
Label one end of the room ‘lake’ and the other ‘sea’
Prepare the pictures or names of fish – printed onto large cards
The Beaver Scouts stand in the middle of the hall and the leader holds up a card
The Beaver Scouts have to chose where the fish would live and run to that end of the hall
You could make up some bogus cards – with made up fish or non-fish on.
When these are held up the Beaver Scouts have to stay in the middle of the hall
Try using this game to fit another theme – eg: animals with forest / fields

Hot Air Balloons, 13/11/09

Let the Beaver Scouts blow up the balloons for use during the evening (watch for allergies).

Chat about Hot Air Balloons and how they work.

This can be used as part of the Discovery Challenge or Experiment badge.

Game:   TimeBomb

A Beanbag or other suitable bomb (use a small balloon)

This is basically a game of tag with a simulated time-bomb. The player tries to touch someone with the bomb, that player then has to take the bomb.

Every 30~60 seconds a Leader blows a whistle and whoever has the 'bomb' is out.

Craft: Hot Air Balloon

Balloon

Paper cup

4 straws

Decorate the paper cup

Tape the straws to the paper cup (on opposite sides)

Then tape the balloon into the centre of the straws and a piece of string to hang the hot air balloon in the Beaver Scouts bedroom

Game:    Balloon Tag

Balloons and string

Each player blows up a balloon, ties a knot in the end, then ties a length of string to the end of the balloon and ties to other end to their ankle.

The players have to try to burst everyone else's balloons by stamping on them, while at the same time protecting their own balloon (they are not allowed to pick up the balloons). When a player’s balloon is burst, they sit at the side. The winner is the last player who has a balloon and then all the players who were out are allowed back in to try and burst the winners’ balloon.

NOTES:

A balloon that is only half inflated will be more difficult to burst.

Also a prize could be given if a player has happened to get a balloon which has already had a chocolate penny put in it.

Game:    Flapping game

The lodges line up in relay formation. Give one player a rolled up newspaper. On the word ‘go’ they use the newspaper to flap their balloon up to the far end of the hall. They then pick up their balloon and run back - giving it to the next person. The game continues until everyone has had a turn.

Pearls of Wisdom—Quotes from Baden-Powell

“Fun, fighting, and feeding! These are the three indispensable elements of the boy’s world.”