Cubs Supplemement Dec Jan 2011-12

eaders Cub Scout aLry 2012 r fo e in z a g The ma ecember 2011/Janu D

Outside in

Activities for winter evenings

'I don’t have the map'

Getting out and about with the Local Knowledge Activity Badge

S K R A P S BRIGHT eate bs cr u C r u o y p l He fire the perfect

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e h t r o Up f ? e r u t n e Adv • Residential experiences, from camping to indoor lodges.

• Over 50 activities across our centres • NEW for 2012 – badge, award and training courses for young people and leaders Visit the website for centre contact details and to request a brochure.

Great location s Amazing staff Right choice

scouts.org.uk/sac Tel: 0845 300 2549 Operated by The Scout Association Registered Charity Number: 306101 (England and Wales) and SC038437 (Scotland)

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Published by: The Programme Team The Scout Association, Gilwell Park, Chingford, London E4 7QW Contributions to: programme@scouts.org.uk ADVERTISING Richard Ellacott richard.ellacott@thinkpublishing.co.uk Tel: 020 8962 1258 This issue’s contributors: Nicola Gordon-Wilson Austin Lill Dave Wood For ease of reading, this supplement refers to all variations of ‘county’ groupings simply as County.

You can read all the section supplements as well as the main magazine online at www.scouts.org.uk/magazine Cover photo: Chloë Chapman

Intro

A year of achievements Graeme Hamilton reflects on a very successful 2011 and casts an eye towards the future

What a year it’s been. Many Cub Scouts have been joining their local Beaver Colonies in celebrating 25 official years with events and picnics across the UK. In this issue our Explorer Scouts and Scout Network celebrate ten years with some fascinating features in their supplements. Let’s see these celebrations translate into increased growth and retention, with even more fun and adventure for everyone in all five sections in the year ahead.

It’s been almost a year since we changed the HQ support structure for Programme and Activities. I think it’s worth looking at what we’ve achieved so far to offer improved support to you: • A focused core team addressing the issues that are raised regularly by leaders and supporters • Project teams with a range of internal and external people to provide the best outcomes for successful programme support • A team of people who can provide HQ support for you locally when it’s needed • A project management focus, allowing us to work more effectively across sectional boundaries • Increased opportunities to meet and hear from leaders and young people from across the country I used to say that sorting the programme was like painting the Forth Bridge; a seemingly never-ending and repetitive job. You have to keep at it, enthuse leaders new and old, embrace the changing social and cultural styles, and remember that for everyone who is happy with a change there will be someone else who doesn’t like it.

However, as you read this, the painting of the Forth Bridge is about to come to an end for 25 years. Perhaps there’s a lesson in that for all of us – that there is no such thing as a never-ending task when it is done well.

The core team, under Alex Minajew’s leadership, has set a course to offer the best programme support possible to leaders and, in this Olympic year, the support will be right on track.

Contents 5 News Updates from around the UK

6 The great indoors Things to make and do on a cold winter evening

9 ShelterBox goes Global

10 Fitness first A Fitness zone programme in pictures, featuring the 21st Leyton Cubs

16 Local heroes Ideas to achieve the Local Knowledge Activity Badge

17 Partners 14 Love me tinder

Great offers and resources

An easy device to get your Cubs lighting fires

A fantastic new resource from our charity partners scouts.org.uk/pol

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23-24 June 2012 www.scouts.org.uk/fundays 4

Cubs August/September 2010

Copyright Š 2010 The Scout Association Registered Charity Numbers 306101 (England and Wales) and SC038437 (Scotland).

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News

News

News and views in Cub Scouting. ions Email your stories, reports and opin k to scouting.magazine@scouts.org.u

Rise up Rise to the Challenge is a resource that helps all leaders incorporate spiritual development into their programme.

As we all know, supporting young people in their spiritual development is an important part of our purpose, and the best way to do this is through our programme.

The resource, which contains activity ideas covering all aspects of spiritual development, can be found online at scouts.org.uk/faith. You will also find resources to help you cover the Faiths and Beliefs zone.

Faith and awareness events February/March 2012 February

March

2 Candlemas Day (Christian) 4 Milad un Nabi (Birthday of Prophet Mohammad) (Islam – Shia celebrate five days later) 8 Tu B’Shvat (Jewish) 8/15 Parinirvana Day (Buddhist) 21 Shrove Tuesday (Christian) 22 Ash Wednesday (Christian) 27 Feb – 11 March Fairtrade Fortnight

1 St David’s Day (Christian) 8 Holi (Hindu) 8 Purim (Jewish) 8 International Women’s Day 9 Hola Mohalla (Sikh) 17 St Patrick’s Day (Christian)

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t a e r g e h T indoors e most of There are many ways to make th ve Wood the dark winter evenings, says Da

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Cubs December December 2011/January 2008/January2012 2009

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Activities

M

y son’s Pack spent the entire summer term away from the meeting place on a wide range of outdoor activities. No doubt they’ll feel a bit constrained with the winter months confining them indoors, but that needn’t stop the excitement and fun of Cub Scouting. Here are some ideas to help you.

Glow-in-the-dark art Using glow-in-the-dark glue or paint, Cubs either draw pictures or bedroom door nameplates onto black card. Even better, why not get them to create star constellation cards using the paint?

Raptastic Each Six is challenged to compose a rap to advertise Cub Scouting, promote recycling or encourage road safety – perhaps tying it in with a badge the Pack is working towards. They then perform it to the Pack.

Indoor games evening Set up six games bases, each staffed by a leader or Explorer Scout, and divide the Pack into small groups. The bases should each last for ten minutes and teams move from base to base at the end of each session. Have a mix of modern and old-fashioned games and, at the end, see which team had the best scores at each base and what the most popular game was. Here are some that have gone down well in my Pack: • Simple or ‘demo’ Playstation or computer game (using a projector and screen) • Pass the pigs (traditional pocket game) • Cheat (speedy card game) • Uno (popular card game) • Playing cards flicked against a wall (a flicked card that covers other cards wins those cards back for the flicker) • Twister • Darts • Buckaroo.

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Fashion challenge Cut head and armholes in a black bin bag. Divide the Cubs into pairs. Each pair is given one bag.

Give them scissors, sticky tape and a second bag (for additional material). The task is to make a stylish, multi-pocket waistcoat that could be used on a day hike (if it was made of fabric).

The finished garment must be capable of holding a named selection of articles, such as a map, compass, water bottle, banana, bag of crisps, woolly hat and so on. Award points for style, comfort and strength. You could also provide fabric or plastic flowers etc to help their garments look extra special.

Pillow fighting Cubs sit at either side of the hall and are numbered off. Two light foam pillows are placed in the centre of the hall. The leader calls out a number and the two players with that number run to the centre, grab a pillow and stand on one leg. They must hop around using the pillow to wallop the opponent. The first person to become unbalanced and place two feet on the ground loses, with a point going to the victor’s team.

Alphabetti Promisey Each Six has a tin or two of alphabet spaghetti, a couple of plates, a fork or two and a piece of stiff card. They have ten minutes in which to spell out the Cub Scout Promise onto the card using spaghetti letters. This will be messy but it’s a great test of teamwork (usually the younger Cubs are better at remembering the Promise so they can help the older ones).

Dark square football Divide the hall into quarters using chalk or masking tape. One Six stands in each quarter and must not leave it. Tell each Six that they have ten points at the start of the game.

A soft sponge football is thrown into play and Cubs must try to throw it out of their quarter.

After 30 seconds or so, a Leader turns all the lights off for around 20 seconds. When they turn the lights back on, the Six in whose quarter the ball is, loses a point. Also, any Cub in another Six’s quarter loses their team a point.

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Sense bases Here are four bases which should each last up to ten minutes. Sixes can move around them.

• Sound: Record 15 sounds from around the house and play them to the Cubs. See how many they can identify. Alternatively, record 15 short bursts of songs and see who can identify them (hint: iTunes plays 20-second sections of songs for free, so you don’t have to find a suitable record collection).

• Taste: Find ten different flavours of crisps and put them in plain, numbered food bags. Cubs are given a bit of a crisp to taste and identify.

Remember to check for allergies/dietary requirements.

• Touch: Wrap ten everyday items (plug, cork, spoon and so on) loosely in part of a strong black plastic bag (I used cut-up rubble sacks).

Can they identify each object?

• Sight: Prepare ten cards, each with a picture of a well-known product, but which has the name/logo cut out (Mars bar, Shreddies, Pepsi, etc). Can the Cubs identify the brands?

Cubs December December 2011/January 2008/January2012 2009

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Partners

ShelterBox goes Global An exciting new activity pack will help you to deliver Global zone requirements and interest your Cubs in international issues

S

ince 2010, international disaster relief charity ShelterBox, an official partner of The Scout Association, has run The ShelterBox Challenge – a resource pack that focused on the organisation’s work.

Over 750 groups from across the UK took part in the challenge, with young people exploring a number of themes including water conservation, photography and faith.

Cub Leader Steve Smith is just one of the many volunteers who has made good use of ShelterBox resources. ‘Thanks for helping out with great downloads that fit our Global Challenge and fire our Cubs’ imaginations,’ he said.

The charity is now ready to release their next resource pack – Go Global.

Go Global is designed to help you cover the Global zone with your section. It’s crammed with fun activities that enable young people to explore the themes surrounding ShelterBox’s work.

‘Thanks for helping out with great downloads that fit our Global Challenge and fire our Cubs’ imaginations'

Activities and resources As well as activity ideas, there are loads of extra resources that make covering global issues easy for leaders. Some of the activities are ideas that can be adapted and expanded to suit your Pack, while others have easy-to-use ‘How to run’ guides and a series of extra resources on the Scout Leaders’ section of the Young ShelterBox website.

‘We’ve always understood that many leaders find it difficult to explore international issues with their groups.

We have created Go Global to give them a helping hand,’ says James Webb, Young ShelterBox Officer.

How to get involved Go Global will be available from the Scouts’ area of the Young ShelterBox website, www.youngshelterbox.org, this winter. To discover more and register your Pack for the programme, visit the website or email youngshelterbox@shelterbox.org. Include your name, address, section, Group name and the number of Cubs taking part.

Packs that register for Go Global will also receive a special pack of goodies to further help cover the Global zone. scouts.org.uk/pol

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Fitness first

Leytonstone in London was the setting for a fun-filled evening of fitness activities

You can test your Cubs’ agility and sporting prowess with this interesting programme. ‘We had a bit of an Olympic theme which really caught their imagination,’ said Alan Hodge, Cub Leader, 21st Leyton.

With London 2012 fever continuing to grow this programme is also the perfect accompaniment to the Our Sporting Adventure challenge, which you received with the October/November issue of Scouting magazine.

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10 Cubs December 2011/January 2012

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Programme in pictures

Two ball circle game 10–15 mins The Pack stands in a circle and name themselves alternately ‘a’ and ‘b’. Give a ball to one of the ‘a’ group and another ball to one of the ‘b’ group on the opposite side of the circle.

Each team must try to pass the ball around the circle, passing through each of their team, so that their ball overtakes the ball being passed by the other team.

Leg goal 10–15 mins The Pack stands in a circle with their legs spread apart so that their feet touch the feet of the Cub Scouts standing on either side of them.

The aim is to protect their ‘goal’, which is the space between their legs, from the ball by using their hands. The Cub Scouts must keep their legs as straight as possible at all times.

Start by throwing a ball into the circle and allow the Cub Scouts to attempt to get the ball through each other’s legs. If you wish, you can add one or more extra balls into the circle.

To hold the interest of the Cub Scouts, it is useful to offer them a couple of chances. You can do this by declaring that once the ball has gone through a Cub Scout’s legs, they must put one hand behind their backs and once the ball has gone through their legs again, they must sit cross-legged, but can still try to hit the ball through the legs of those still in play.

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Points down 15–20 mins Explain to the Pack that there are nine points of the body that can touch the floor: two feet, two hands, two elbows, two knees and one forehead.

The Cubs spread out in the middle of the room. Call out a number between one and nine and tell each Cub that they must touch the floor with that number of points. Repeat twice more.

Tell each Cub to find a partner. Call out a number between two and eighteen. The pairs have to work together to put the correct number of points down. Repeat twice more.

Repeat the round with Cubs working in groups of four, then eight and then sixteen until everyone is working together.

To make it more interesting, you might only allow them to communicate without speaking When four Cubs play, the lowest practical number is probably four (the highest number will be thirty-six – four multiplied by nine). In each round, the highest number called may be no more than nine times the number of people in the group.

Chair relay 20 mins This game is a race up and down the playing area between two Sixes. The Sixes line up at one end of the room/playing area, with one chair per Cub. The aim is to move from one end of the area to the other as many times as possible in the time allowed (15 minutes).

The Sixes must stand on the chairs passing one from the back to the front to move forwards. As there is only one chair each, there will be three feet to a chair in some cases.

Keep count of how far each Six manages to travel.

12 Cubs December 2011/January 2012

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Programme in pictures

How did it go?

Alan Hodge, Cub Leader 'The two ball circle game worked well once the Cubs got the idea – it often takes a while with a new game but they got the hang of it.

The leg goal game is already a Pack favourite. We usually play it at the end of a meeting. The Cubs who are out get their uniforms back on and then act as ball boys and girls collecting the stray shots.

The points down game was a bit of a struggle for most our Cubs. I think they might do better if it was played regularly.

The chair relay is also an established Pack favourite. It’s a really good team builder.

Overall a good selection of games and a successful evening.'

Our Sporting Adventure – have you registered?

Our Sporting Adventure is a resource inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It’s packed with activities to help you and your section strive for excellence and compete with Scouts, from all sections, from all over the UK. Start planning your assault on the medal table for when the competition begins on 1 January 2012 by registering now at www.scouts.org.uk/oursportingadventure

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Love me tinder s a look Bushcraft expert Austin Lill take ill help w ch hi w ce vi de e us o-t sy ea an at e your Cubs to create the perfect fir

14 Cubs December 2011/January 2012

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Scouting skills

I

do like my shiny, shop-bought outdoor gadgets and I think one of my favourites has to be the tinder-o-matic. It’s easy to find in the shops and has a secondary use as a pencil sharpener. It really comes into its own though when additional tinder is required to start a fire.

One of the best things about the tinder-o-matic is that it is light, compact and easy-to-use. More importantly, it is a simple device so Cubs can understand how it works and get the hang of it with little or no effort.

Wood shavings The one pictured is the deluxe, two hole metal model which is more robust than the plastic ones. I would recommend that you go for a metal model.

The beauty of the tinder-o-matic is that pencil-sized pieces of seasoned wood aren’t that hard to come by and a decent pile of shavings can soon be knocked up by someone of any age.

The shavings will readily light on their own if a match is used but they tend to be just a little too thick if you’re using a firesteel. However they are great when added to things like thistledown or thin silver birch bark.

Damp day, dry wood Another advantage is that on a damp day the tinder-omatic shaves the wood in a circular motion and reveals the dry inner wood of a stick as long as it isn’t saturated.

If you have one with two holes it’s very easy to slip a small piece of wire through it to make a loop and attach it to a rucksack because they are unobtrusive and lightweight.

Light ‘em up In these pictures the shavings were mixed with some thistledown and lit with a firesteel. They burned for about two minutes. This is a very easy task to do with your Pack, but they will feel like real bushcraft experts once the fire gets going.

More tips We set our team of volunteer editors the task of getting to grips with one of Austin’s bushcraft activities. Find out how they got on ­– see page 34 of Scouting.

Have you tried these?

If you and your Pack have tried this or any of Austin’s bushcraft activities, drop us a line and let us know what you thought at programme@scouts.org.uk

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Badge page

Local heroes The criteria to gain this badge states that Cub Scouts must complete three of the following:

1. Either: a. Find out about a famous person, past or present, who lived in or near where you live. Or: b. Visit and find out about a famous old building, monument, earthworks or other place of historical interest.

In either case, discuss what you have found out with your leader and/or other Cub Scouts.

2. Find out the meaning of, and collect pictures of, your county, borough, district, town or village coat of arms. Tell a leader in how many different places you have seen the coat of arms displayed.

3. Talk to someone who has lived in your local area for a long time. Find out about what life was like when they were young and what changes they have seen in your local area over the intervening years.

4. Draw a map of your area and mark on it places of interest.

5. With other Cub Scouts, go on a short walk in your local area. Point out to the leader any features of interest.

6. Visit a local emergency services station such as police, fire, ambulance, coastguard or mountain rescue. Find out how the station is run.

The following activities will concentrate on points 2, 4 and 5

Getting out and about in your area can help your Cubs discover some the hidden treasures while achieving s Local Knowledge Activity Badge, say Nicola Gordon-Wilson

Take a walk Organise a short walk around your local area one evening. This is a perfect activity to get parents involved.

Having run this badge in the both the suburbs of London, and in the middle of nowhere on the Essex/ Suffolk border, I know where I would rather walk, but you may be surprised at the enthusiasm some Cubs have for just getting the opportunity to get outside.

Send each Six out in a slightly different direction so that you can map a greater area as a Pack. Make sure that each Six will pass a place of interest – it’s worth remembering that their definition of interesting probably varies greatly to yours.

Maps and legends The following week show the Cubs some different types of maps of your local area. OS maps are always useful, but have they ever seen geological or ancient maps? Give each Cub a chance to look at a map and then let them each draw a map for the route they walked the previous week, highlighting the points of interest they passed.

Many locally-produced maps will have a coat of arms on it somewhere. Ask the Cubs where else they may have seen it. Did any of them notice it on signs for example? Have they seen it on any noticeboards, publications or letterheads?

Let the Sixes swap their maps and follow a different route, checking that the points of interest have been correctly mapped – and that nothing was missed. See if they can record how many times they see the coat of arms on their new route. Have any of them discovered anything new in the area?

16 Cubs December 2011/January 2012

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Open up the

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Pets friends forever Partners

of free Pets at Home stores offer a variety rn about fun activities to help Cub Scouts lea rk towards responsible pet ownership and wo their Animal Carer Activity Badge

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our Pack can learn about responsible pet ownership while enjoying themselves. They can also attend Picnic Time every weekday at 4pm and 2.30pm at weekends to watch the pets enjoy their healthy snacks.

Cubs attending these activities at the Pets at Home stores will receive advice from trained in-store advisers on how to care for pets responsibly to achieve part of their set badge criteria.

Learn about animals To obtain their Animal Carer Badge, Cub Scouts will learn how to care for small animals, fish or reptiles and the correct types, varieties and quantities of food to

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feed them. They will also discover the right habitats for small animals, where they sleep and how to ensure they get the appropriate level of exercise.

Pets at Home offers great products, tips and advice to keep your pet happy and healthy. From specialist pet food to toys and training aids, there is everything a pet owner could wish for and more.

Visit your local outlet There are over 290 Pets at Home stores across the UK. To find your local store visit www.petsathome.com/storelocator

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We have many more adrenaline activities to suit all ages

Mobile High Ropes Climb up to the 4m platform to complete the 12 testing elements

To find out more go online: www.extreme-adventure.co.uk or call us: 01829 261 313/07807 189 330

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