Brownies cubs final oct 13

Children’s Commissioner for Wales

RIGHT’S CHALLENGE Badge Requirements & Activities for Brownie Guides & Cub Scouts

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales INDEX

Page

Introduction and Badge Requirements 2 - 3

1 Body of Rights 4 - 5 2 Building the UNCRC 6 - 7 3 Planet UNCRC 8 - 11 4 Right on Target 12 - 15 5 CCfW Guessing Game 16 - 19 6

Here to Help Poster or Quilt

7 Post-it storm and voting

20 21 - 22

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales Introduction and Badge Requirements: This badge was conceived to provide a vehicle through which Guides and Scouts in Wales could learn about their rights, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales and to encourage their participation in decision making.

The table below shows how the activities in this resource pack can help your Brownies/Cubs achieve the requirements for the badge. The activities are varied to cater to most abilities and are designed to provide leaders with an instant programme, instructions on how to carry out the activity, lists of equipment required and additional information which can be downloaded as required.

The requirements are listed in the order we suggest you follow, as knowledge from fulfilling earlier requirements supports the learning in subsequent requirements.

Requirements 1. Know 4 rights from the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child (including Article 12). Tell someone outside of Cubs/Brownies about these rights.

2. Know the name of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales 3. Know what the Children’s Commissioner does.

4 Know where to get information on children’s rights 5 Make a display/poster for your six showing where you could go for help achieving your rights 6. Meet with your leader and the rest of your pack and talk about the sort of thing you would like to do at your meetings. (Article 12)

Activities to choose from 1, 2, 3 or 4

4 or 5 5 5 3,4 or 6 7

There are some abbreviations in the pack: CCfW

-

Children’s Commissioner for Wales

UNCRC

-

United Nations convention on the Rights of the Child

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales On our website you will find additional information for leaders regarding the Children’s Commissioner and the UNCRC. You can also download: • • • •

CCFW poster CCFW leaflet Personal learning record Group Questionnaire

A poster and leaflet should be given to each Brownie or Cub, to help them evidence their learning for this badge so they can make their own personalised children’s rights leaflet.

The Children’s Commissioner would also like to hear about how children have been involved in this badge, so please email us at scouts.guides@childcomwales.org.uk and tell us what you have done. If you have time, you could fill in the brief group questionnaire and send it to us.

Many thanks.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales 1

Body of Rights Meets requirement: 1 Size of group: Sixes

Time required: 30 minutes

What it does:

You will need:

Enables the group to think about rights by

Flip chart paper/wallpaper/paper tablecloths

focusing on themselves and thinking about what they need to grow and be healthy, happy and safe. It then introduces them to the UNCRC and explores whether the needs they have identified, match up with the rights they have

Felt pens (washable)

UNCRC leaflets/poster Glue Blue tac Scissors

How to do it: Ask each group to draw round one member of their team on the large piece of paper on the floor (taken from a roll of wall paper or flip chart paper stuck together with sticky tape). Get the groups to name the imaginary child they have drawn and decorate them (adding facial features, clothes etc.).

Then ask the participants to write or draw pictures to represent the things they think this imaginary child needs to grow, be healthy, happy and safe. (allow 10-15 minutes to do this).

Ask each group to feedback 3 things they have written/drawn on their young person to the whole pack. Then explain that the UNCRC is a list of 42 rights for children and young people, up to age 18, everywhere in the world. The rights on the list are all the things that children and young people need to make sure that they are safe, have the things they need to survive and develop, and have a say in decisions that affect their lives. Some of the rights they have described might be in the UNCRC and they might be given rights by the UNCRC they haven’t thought of (allow 5-10 minutes to do this).

Give participants a copy of the UNCRC poster and ask them to see if they have written/drawn any of the rights on their young person. Then ask them to look for rights in the convention that they have not drawn/written on their person, trying to find as many as they can and cutting these out to stick them on their imaginary child (allow 10 minutes).

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales At the end of the activity: Ask the participants in addition to Article 12 to choose 3 rights to go home and tell other people about. Ask them to fill in Section A of their individual learning record.

Other things to think about: •

Consider the make up of the group; it may not be appropriate for mixed gender groups to draw around each other.

•

The activity may lead to discussions about why some children are unable to access all their rights. Have advice and support information available to give out if necessary.

•

Stick the bodies up on the wall so each group can have a look at what the other groups have done.

Variations: Ask participants to draw a person (rather than drawing around a member of the group), or provide them with a pre-drawn person.

Make/create a body of a child out of anything you can get.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales Building the UNCRC 2 Size of group: Any size

Meets requirement: 1

What it does:

Time required: 45 minutes

The activity starts by introducing children to the UNCRC and then explores how these can be grouped together in different themes. It draws attention to how all rights are important to all children but how some rights may be especially important for groups of children and young people who face particular

You will need:

discrimination or those in particular places.

Pens, pencils Sticky tape, glue Paper Scissors UNCRC poster cut up to make rights building blocks (at least 2 for each group)

How to do it: Explain to the group that the UNCRC is a list of all the things that governments of the world have agreed that children should have to make sure they can grow and be healthy, happy and safe.

These rights are there to make sure that children are provided with the things they need, are protected from things that are dangerous and can take part in making decisions about things that are important to them.

Give each group or participant a poster with a list of their rights.

Then ask the participants to name some children they think might need particular help in getting their rights met or particular places they need to have rights.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales If they struggle to identify children, you could say things like: •

‘Children who are being bullied’

•

‘Children who do not live at home with their parents’

•

‘Children who are treated unfairly because of their religion or the colour of their skin’

•

‘Children who are disabled’’

You could also talk about having rights everywhere – at home, at school, in the park, wherever they go. Tell them one of their rights is Article 12 – the right to say what they think should happen and be listened to - ask them to have their say about whether they want to do the next part of the activity about people or places (Allow 10 minutes for this introduction).

If they chose places: Ask them to build, draw or do a collage of a place they know and stick on to it the rights they think are important for children there.

If they choose people: Ask them to build, draw or do a collage of a machine, object or structure that will help give a particular child the rights they need. They should cut up and stick on the rights from the UNCRC poster that they think are particularly important for this child. If you have scrap materials (like cardboard boxes or yoghurt pots) the rights can be stuck on to these to make a 3-D model (Allow 20-30 minutes for building these rights structures).

Give a 5 minute warning that the activity will end then ask each group to show others what they have made and to say 3 rights which they thought were very important. You might like to draw attention to where the same rights are being used by everyone (allow 10 minutes).

At the end of the activity: Ask the participants in addition to Article 12 to choose 3 rights to go home and tell other people about. Ask them to fill in Section A of their individual learning record.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales Furher things to think about:

* The activity may lead to discussions about why some children are unable to access all their rights.

Have advice and support information available to give out if necessary. * Be aware that some of the children in the group will have some of the experiences of not getting their rights met that you are talking about. Emphasise that through doing this badge they will all be learning about where to go to get help getting their rights met.

Variations: •

Ask the young people to come up with the rights they associate with each category, sticking each right on a piece of Duplo. As they do, they can use the Duplo bricks to create the structure.

•

Get them to create whole landscapes depicting where they live. They can place

themselves and their machines/structures/objects on the landscapes and show how each of those is supporting them to get their rights. For example, the participation machine might have microphones so that it can listen to young people. This can also serve as a good opportunity to explore where and when their rights aren’t being met.

•

Read and find out about the UNCRC – write and do a poster of your top rights – that you think are really important (remembering that they are all important).

•

Design and make a poster with some of the rights that all scouts, guides and young people have. Put in a place where other propel can see it (with permission)

•

Build a tower of rights – you get together sticks, boxes, newspapers anything! number each piece (1-42) then build a tower of rights.

•

Could make a house and link to article 27

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales Planet UNCRC Size of group: Pairs, groups of six What it does:

Meets requirements: 1& 5

This activity takes the group on a fantasy

Time required:

adventure to another planet. On the way they need to write the rules for where they are going. When they get there they discover

requirement 1)

You will need:

Pen and paper

the people of UNCRC already have rights that might be strangely like the rules they

A whistle

have already written. The groups then have

UNCRC posters for each participant

to decide who else they need to join them to

Large sheets of paper

make sure everyone gets the help they need to ensure these rights are met. It enables the group to think about rights they want, the rights given to them by the UNCRC and how to

45 mins (30 mins if just for

Hat

2 leaders if possible

get help in achieving these rights. To facilitate the adventure one leader needs to be ground control and one leader needs to be an alien.

The activity can be cut short to fulfil only requirement 1, and terminated at the end of Part A.

How to do it: Distribute pen and paper to each pair or six then the ground control leader sets the scene by reading out the story on the following pages.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales The journey to planet UNCRC Instructions to leaders are in CAPITALS read out the sections in normal font.

Part A (30 Minutes) A group of Brownies/Cubs hasve been chosen to go on an adventure to explore a new planet, Planet UNCRC (pronounced Unkirk). This is an Earth-like planet in the Gamma quadrant. You are lucky to have been chosen for this exciting trip!

Each group will travel in their own spaceship. Prepare your space ship for take-off by sitting in a tight circle in your group. If on your journey you hear the sound of a whistle, please go silent and await further instructions. As you travel to this new planet you need to think about the rights that you will all need to have to make sure you are safe, happy and healthy for the 3 months of your stay.

Your journey there will take about 10 minutes. Use this time usefully to write down your rights. We will now begin the countdown; 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5.4.3.2.1 Take off!

Encourage them to roar like engines.

When you want them to stop blow the whistle and say:

Attention crew members this is ground control: Time to get writing your rights, to make sure you can all agree what you need in order to be healthy, happy and safe.

Whenever they seem to have stopped writing (no more than 10 minutes), blow the whistle and say:

Attention crew members this is ground control: There has been some disruption in the planet’s magnetic field as we are coming in to land at Planet UNCRC (Unkirk). Please steer your spaceship to pull alongside another space ship so that you can join together to have a smoother ride into landing.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales Once they have manoeuvred, blow the whistle and say:

Attention crew members this is ground control: Now you are in place alongside another space-

ship, please use this time to compare your rights with the other crew and see if you can agree. Add new rights to your list if you think these will be useful.

Once conversations have ended, no more than 5 minutes, blow the whistle and say:

Attention crew members this is ground control: There appears to have been an error in our calcu-

lations. We are about to land on planet UNCRC, but it is not uninhabited. Prepare for landing by getting into a crouching position. When you land please jump into the air then proceed to the meet the leader of the aliens, who looks very much like a human but is wearing a rather strange hat. Countdown to landing, crouch, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 JUMP. Alien leader(s) in strange hat(s) should proceed to the centre of the room. If there is no second leader, put on a hat yourself (!) and say: Welcome to Planet UNCRC. We are happy to greet you as new visitors to our planet. We have been observing you as your space ships approached our planet and we understand that you are very interested in rights. We on planet UNCRC agree with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is the list of rights that you have on planet earth. Are these the rights that you want?

Alien distribute UNCRC posters. Then ground control leader blow the whistle and say:

Attention crew members this is ground control: please return to your space ships and decide

whether you are happy with the UNCRC rights. And choose the 3 that are most important to you. You have 10 minutes to decide, or else we will lose our last opportunity for orbit.

After 5- 10 minutes blow the whistle and say:

Attention crew members this is ground control: please join the alien and tell the others the 3

rights that are most important to you.

Get everyone to sit in a circle and Alien asks them what they think of the UNCRC and for their 3 most important rights.

End the activity here if you are using this activity only to meet requirement 1. Skip to ‘at the end of the acitivity’

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales Part B (15 Minutes) If you are continuing with the space adventure, ground control person blow whistle and say:

Attention crew members this is ground control: We have detected a problem with the atmosphere on planet UNCRC, there is not enough oxygen, please return to your space ships.

Once they have returned to their sixes blow the whistle and say:

Attention crew members this is ground control: you can breathe safely now, but you must re-

turn to earth. Countdown to take off, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, TAKE OFF. The rights you have learned about on planet UNCRC are the same rights that children have on earth. Before you land back on Earth, please think about the rights you have learned about and make a list of all the people who can help you make sure you and other children get their rights. It might help to think about people who help you grow, be healthy, happy and safe, Once they have stopped writing, blow the whistle and say:

Attention Brownies/Cubs this is ground control: Prepare to land. Please bring your rights posters and your list of people who can help you get your rights to your leader.

Once they have assembled with their leader. Ask them all to write a right on the big piece of paper. Then around the right, write the names of people and organisations who they have thought of that can help them get their rights.

At the end of the activity: Ask the participants in addition to Article 12 to choose 3 rights to go home and tell other people about.

Ask them to fill in Section A of their individual learning record.

If they have also completed section B of this activity also ask each participant to write some names of people who can help the get their rights on Section D of their individual learning record.

Further things to think about: This activity can be followed by Activity 4 - CCfW Guessing Game, and the CCfW can be added to the group poster showing who they can go to for help with their rights.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales Right on Target

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Size of group: small groups

Meets requirements: 1,2 & 5 if extension

What it does: This activity provides a fun and active way for participants to learn their rights as described in the Articles of the UNCRC and the name of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales. They will crawl through a tunnel, having to memorise what they see in there, be tested on their observation skills and use a ballista you have created. The activity can also be developed (see section b) to become an opportunity for participants to create posters from their rights targets

activity used

Time required:

40 minutes

You will need:

Posters relating to UNCRC, picture of the Children’s Commissioner and question sheets (these are available as a separate download ‘right on target’) Rubber bands Plastic cups Balls 12 x 1.3 garden canes Flipchart paper

A tunnel

Question sheets

How to do it: Part A Make two ballista from canes, cup and rubber bands, as shown in the pictures below.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales •

Using rubber bands form a triangle from three canes (shown in yellow)

•

Support the triangle to remain upright and slightly inclined, by adding three further supporting canes (shown in red)

•

Then connect elastic bands together to form three strands from each corner of the triangle that join in the centre of the triangle (shown in blue)

•

Connect the cup to these elastic bands (shown in green)

Each group to make their own ballista. Set these up a in part of the room where the ballista can be used to fire balls at targets.

Ask each group to draw on a sheet of flipchart paper a target, that is a big circle, then 4 smaller circles inside each other. In the smallest circle they should write the words ‘Our Rights’. Ask the first two groups to finish to draw 2 more targets. When they have finished, they should stick the two extra targets on the wall behind the ballista’s.

While the groups are drawing their targets, set up the tunnel with different articles of the UNCRC and the photo of the Children’s Commissioner stuck inside. If you have more space, add extra obstacles and articles.

When you are ready, tell the participants they need to go through the tunnel, look at the pictures inside and remember them. Each group should take it in turns to send someone through. As they come out of the tunnel they go to the ballista and have to hit the target.

Once they have hit the ballista target they answer the questions on the question sheet. Each group should then go to the target they drew at the beginning of the activity to write as many of the rights as they can remember on it.

Part B To extend this activity so that it fully meets criteria 5, ask the participants to write ‘Who can help us get our rights?’ on the paper outside of their target. Then around the target they should write the names of people, including the Children’s Commissioner, who could help them to get their rights.

At the end of the activity Ask the participants to choose 4 rights to go home and tell other people about. One of these should be Article 12. They can choose the other 3. Ask each participant to fill in Section A of their individual leaflet/ learning record.

If you have also done Part B of this activity, ask each participant to write some names of people who can help them get their rights on Section D of their individual learning record.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales 5

CCfW Guessing Game Size of group: Any size

Meets requirements:

What it does:

Time required:

This activity uses a quiz about the Children’s Commissioner as a way of learning about his role. It starts as a game in which the participants try to guess correctly from the multiple choice answers you read out. By the end the goal is for every participant to know all the answers. There are a variety of ways in which they can guess the answers, they can be still or running about, quiet or noisy.

You will need:

2,3, & 4

20 minutes

Quiz sheet A, B and C cards for each team of

participants OR Ball or bean bag for each participant OR Bluetac or sticky tape and A,B,C written large and stuck in 3 corners of the room

How to do it: 1. Still and quiet :

Split the participants into groups of between 3 and 10. Give each group 3 sheets of paper or card and ask them to write A, B and C on them. Read out the first question and 3 possible answers (see attached for questions and answers). The groups must then decide what the correct answer is and hold up the corresponding card. Give the correct answer and supporting information written on the quiz sheet and then read out the next question.

B. Slow movement:

Rather than answer cards place three buckets with A, B and C written on them and give each group 3 balls or bean bags to vote with. Once they have decided on which is the correct answer, each individual or one member of the team comes forward and puts the ball or beanbag in the corresponding bucket to vote for their answers.

C. Fast and noisy:

Designate three corners of the room as a different answer and stick up the pieces of paper A, B and C. Ask the pack to come and stand with you in the remaining corner. You read out the question and they run to the corner they think indicates the correct answer When you read out the right answer, if they are in the right corner they cheer. After each answer it may be best to bring the group back to your corner before they answer the next question. NB for question 4, everyone will be right, so everyone will cheer.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales Quiz: 1. WHO is the Children’s Commissioner for Wales?

a.

Someone who works for the Welsh Government

b.

Someone who plays football for Wales

c.

Someone who makes sure everyone knows about children’s rights

A: Keith Towler is the Children’s Commissioner for Wales. Some people think he works for the Government but he’s not a politician. Although he enjoys playing football, he doesn’t play football for Wales! He supports children and young people to find out about children’s rights. He also speaks up for them nationally on important issues – being the children’s champion in Wales.

2. WHAT does he do?

a.

supports children and young people to find out about children’s rights

b.

provides counselling for children and young people

c.

runs a marathon every morning before work

A: It’s Keith’s job to make sure that children and young people know about their rights. Although he can give advice and information, he doesn’t provide counselling. And although he walks his dog every morning, he doesn’t run a marathon!

3. HOW does he do it?

a.

By magic

b.

Lots of ways like:

•

listening to children and young people to find out what’s important to them

•

advise children, young people and those who care for them if they feel they’ve got nowhere else to go with their problems

•

telling important people what you think and how to make things better

c

by building schools and clubs for young people

A: The right answer is ‘b’. You can find out more about what Keith and his team do on their website: www.childcomwales.org.uk

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales 4. WHERE can I find out information about the UNCRC?

a.

The website of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales: www.childcomwales.org.uk

b.

From teachers at your school

c.

By writing to or phoning the Children’s Commissioner for Wales

A: All of your answers are correct! .

5. WHY would you call the Children’s Commissioner’s freephone number?

a.

To win a prize

b.

To order a pizza

c.

To get advice about a problem if you haven’t got anywhere else to go

A: The Children’s Commissioner has a freephone advice and support line for children, young people and the people who care about them, to have someone to turn to when they run out of all other options when dealing with a problem. You can phone, text, email or write to our advice and support team. The phone number and text is free and won’t show up on your phone bill. The phone number is 0808 801 1000 and the text is 80800, start your text with COM. Our advice and support team are not counsellors, they work with children, young people and adults who are involved to help them find a solution. If you just want to talk to someone you can call ChildLine on 0800 11 11.

At the end of the activity Go over the correct answers to make sure everyone remembers them and ask each participant to fill in the correct answers on Section C of their individual learning record.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales Here to Help Poster or Quilt

Size of group: Individually or in pairs

Meets requirements:

What it does:

Time required:

This poster making activity draws on

You will need:

knowledge of the UNCRC already developed in previous activities, to help participants think about who they could go to for help to make sure their rights and other children’s rights are

6

5

20 minutes

Poster with articles on them Art materials depending on what variation of activity you decide on

respected.

How to do it: Give every participant a small piece of paper, or card (or other material see below). Ask them to draw a picture to show a right that they think is important. Then get them to pair up with someone else, doing the same right or a different one. Stick both their pictures together and around the edge of these ask them to write the names, and the phone numbers or website addresses if they know them, of people who can help get these rights respected.

If you want to make a ‘here to help’ quilt, and join everyone’s ideas together, get the pairs to meet up with another pair and to suggest to each other extra names to add.

At the end of the activity: Ask each participant to write some names of people who can help them get their rights on Section D of their individual learning record.

Variations: •

Paint on tiles, on silk with gutta or outliner and fabric inks

•

Sculpt in clay or plaster

•

Make a collage of fabrics or embroidered squares

•

Making linocut prints 19

Children’s Commissioner for Wales Post-it Storm and Voting Size of group: Any size

Meets requirement: 6

What it does:

Time required:

The aim of this activity is to enable participants

You will need:

to get a positive experience of achieving Article 12 - the right to express their ideas and be listened to – in a safe environment. The

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20 minutes

Paper of varying sizes Post it notes

activity requires that you take on some of the

Pens

suggestions for future activities that your pack

Balls or beanbags or sticky dots

will make to you. You will need to think before

Sticky tape.

the activity, about any limits you might have on what you are able to do, so that you can explain these if need be.

How to do it: Ask each six to write a list of ideas for activities that your Brownie/Cub pack could do in future weeks. Each idea should be written on a separate post-it note.

After 5-10 minutes, ask everyone to bring their suggestions together and to stick their post it notes on the wall. If suggestions are about the same idea, group them together.

When the ideas are grouped together, move each idea to a different space around the room.

If there are any ideas that you really can’t follow through on, tell them and explain why, take this idea down from the wall. If there are ideas that will take lots of work, money or other resources, but you are willing to do it if they get involved ask them if they are willing to help make it happen. If they say yes, leave the idea on the wall.

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Children’s Commissioner for Wales Once you have sorted through all the ideas in this way, give each participant a ball, beanbag, sticky dot or other object and (while the leaders turn their backs and count to 10) ask them to vote by placing the objects by the idea they most want.

Write down the least favourite option on a flip chart or board, making a list for them all to see.

These are ideas for another time, then take this idea off the wall. Turn your back again and count to 10 asking them to vote again on the remaining ideas.

Carry on in this way until there is only one idea left.

At the end of the activity: When the top idea has been chosen, tell the group when it is going to happen and plan with them what you all need to do to make it possible. Ask each participant to fill in what you are all going to do in section E of their individual learning record.

Variations: Participants can work in pairs or small groups to write their post it notes. This can be helpful if there are nervous or shy participants in the group or if younger ones need help with writing.

To make it faster (if there are a lot of ideas) take down two ideas each time.

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