cubs

NEW BADGE

SCIENTIST IES ACTIVIT

aders ub Scout Laey 2009 C r fo e in z a April/M The mag

Waiting list woes?

Meet the man who banished his

Puppet masters

Making shadow puppets

R E M M U S O T N I TEames and ideas to get you ready SKtA ivities, g Ac

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Editors: Graeme Hamilton, UK Adviser for Cub Scouts Nicola Ashby, Programme and Development Adviser for Cub Scouts programme@scout.org.uk Published by: The Scout Association, Gilwell House, Gilwell Park, Chingford, London E4 7QW Contributions to: scouting.magazine@scout.org.uk This issue’s contributors: Nicola Ashby Charlie Dale Graeme Hamilton Dave Wood ADVERTISING Tom Fountain tom@thinkpublishing.co.uk Tel: 020 8962 1258

Packs that have grown: 1st Dolton Cubs star ted with 15 Cubs in February. It has already expanded.

Cheltenham has seen a resurgence in popularity and a second Pack is being set up.

A recently revived Pack, 1st Malvern Wells Cubs, launched in February with 10 Cubs.

Intro

A youth issue When should leaders retire?

Graeme Hamilton poses the age-old question

I had a conversation recently with some Scout Leaders from one of the four Belgian Scout Associations – FOS Open Scouting. There, you ‘retire’ from front line leadership when you reach 25, and you cannot be a commissioner beyond 40. Part of their funding is based on demonstrating that they are truly a youth organisation.

Now that doesn’t mean I think half of us should run off and retire. I do, however, think it offers an opportunity to reflect on what we do as we get older and how much more responsibility we should give to Young Leaders while still being there to offer knowledge, experience and wisdom. I strongly believe in learning by doing, and learning from your mistakes. Without error, there is never improvement.

I also firmly believe that there is a role for everyone in Scouting, regardless of age or experience. Our job is to nurture the emerging talents of Young Leaders, step in to the background from time to time and allow them to take the lead, and be on hand for support and advice.

The model of Scouting in one country won’t automatically fit in to the culture or structure of another – but in every case there will be some little nugget that we can adapt and adopt to make our own even better.

Your top tips During the Your Programme Your Voice survey, we received a number of top tips from leaders. Here’s the first three: • Always have a plan for the evening.

• As long as the children are safe and happy then you are doing something right.

• Build a strong relationship with parents and ensure they get involved – Cubs is not a babysitting service.

Share your ideas at programme@scout.org.uk

Contents 4 Stand out Games to get outdoors

8 Ready to expand?

Find out how one leader succeeded

15 New science Activity pack for young Einsteins

16 Packs of supporters 10 POP Jurassic adventures

7 Try something new today Active Kids is back!

12 Master of puppets A theatrical make and do

Are you getting enough support from your managers?

18 Power of action The Home Safety Activity Badge

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Stand out

Summer’s coming, so make the most of lighter evenings and warmer weather.

By Dave Wood

Alphabet soup Bucket moving challenge you will need:

• tables • water • one bucket (per Six).

1. Give each Six an identical bucket containing the same amount of water.

2. Place each Six’s bucket next to a table of the same height (Sixes can share a table).

3. On the word ‘go, Sixes must attempt to work as a team to move the bucket of water to the table using only their bare feet. Hands must not be used.

4. The first Six to get their bucket onto their table without using their hands wins.

5. If a bucket is knocked over, or if hands are used, the Six must start again.

6. Note: Bear in mind the ground may start to get nice and wet and muddy!

4

you will need (per Six): • one tin of alphabet spaghetti • one bowl • two slices of bread.

1. Give each Six a bowl of alphabet spaghetti and two slices of bread.

2. Their mission is to create words on the bread using the spaghetti. Only fingers are allowed – no spoons.

3. Points will be awarded for the number of letters in a word, for example: a 3-lettered word earns 3 points; 4 letters = 4 points; 5 letters = 5 points. They only have 1 tin and points are scored at the end of the 15-minute period or when all letters have been used.

Bonus points could be awarded for Scoutingrelated words or badge names.

4. Alternatively, challenge them to try and write the Cub Scout Promise or Law (or other sentence chosen by you.) An indoor version could use alphabet cereal.

Cubs April/May December 2008/January 2009 2009

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Programme ideas Intro

Photo treasure hunt Instead of written clues for a treasure hunt, prepare a series of photographs that lead Sixes along a route to a finishing point where the ‘treasure’ is hidden. The photographs can be annotated with arrows to help the walkers.

Try to take the pictures as close to the date of the event as possible. Trees can look very different with full leaf growth and can obscure landmarks.

Animal tracks you will need (per Six): • silver foil • one candle • matches.

1. Take a sheet of silver foil and hold the shiny side a few centimetres above a candle flame.

The silver will turn black with the soot.

2. Lay this on the ground out of doors, weighted down using sticks or rocks, ideally under cover to protect from rain or falling leaves etc.

3. Place a small item of food in the middle, such as bread, ham, peanut butter, seeds.

4. The next day/week, check the silver foil and see if you have had any animals visiting to get the food – their footprints will be quite clear.

Wide game – combat you will need (per player):

• one card with one of the following: general (10 points); major (8 points); captain (6 points); sergeant (5 points); corporal (4 points); private (3 points) and spy (1 point).

There should always be two spies and one general, quantities of other ranks may vary.

1. Players divide into two teams and each make their way to a base (a tree or post) at opposite ends of the playing area. The playing area is divided in two – players are safe in their own half.

2. Each player is issued a card.

3. On the starting whistle, players must try to enter the opposing team’s half and tag one of their players. They compare their two cards and the holder of the lowest card becomes prisoner of the other (matching cards represent a draw and both are free). The higher rank always wins except that a general is beaten by a spy.

4. The prisoner must be escorted to the victor’s base where they must stay with their hand touching the team’s base. New prisoners hold hands with the others to form a chain.

5. Prisoners may be freed by a fellow player managing to touch the prisoner on the end of the chain (ie: farthest from the base) without having been tagged by a member of the defending team.

6. The winning team is the one that takes all of the opposing team prisoner or which, at the end of the given time, has the greatest number of points among its prisoners.

7. As an alternative, use Scouting ‘ranks’ or Group/District structure.

TIP: Use different coloured card to denote the two teams, and a dab of coloured poster or face paint on a player’s nose helps to identify which team they’re on.

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Spud-u-bowl you will need: • potatoes • tomatoes.

1. Playing in their Sixes, each person has a baking potato – perhaps players could use indelible pens to decorate their potatoes to aid identification, or even carve identification marks into them using standard eating knives (carefully!).

2. One player starts by rolling a tomato a few metres away.

3. Players take it in turns to roll their own potato, trying to get it to end up as close as possible to the tomato.

4. Repeat several times to discover the champion spud-bowler.

Marshmallow Olympics you will need (per Cub Scout): • four standard round marshmallows.

Potato race you will need (per Six): • four large potatoes • four metal forks • four plates.

1. Players sit in relay form in their Sixes.

2. At the far end of the hall, on a plate, lies their fork and potato.

3. On the word ‘go’, player one in each team runs up, grabs the fork and potato and throws the potato into the air and tries to catch it by skewering it onto the fork.

4. If they drop it, they must pick it up and try again. (They will see that throwing it a height of about 1m is enough to retain accuracy of catching while providing enough momentum to impale it on the fork.)

5. When done, they remove the potato, place the items on the plate and return to set off player two.

6

1. Set four bases up outside, Sixes will rotate around these bases (allow 5-7 minutes per base).

Base 1: Cubs place their marshmallow on a marked position on a piece of board on the floor and kick it as far as they can – two practise attempts are allowed. Measure the distance each marshmallow is kicked and work out the average for each Six. Base 2: Cubs stand behind a line and throw the marshmallow as far as they can. Same rules as above.

Base 3: On a flat surface, Cubs stand behind a line and roll (not throw) their marshmallows as far as possible. Same rules as above.

Base 4: Standing on marked point, Cubs take a deep breath, put a marshmallow in their mouth and blow it as far as possible. Scoring as before, but no practise attempts allowed!

Players with allergies/dislikes can nominate someone to play on their behalf.

2. Add up the average scores to find the winning Six for each game and award medals as appropriate.

Cubs April/May December 2008/January 2009 2009

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Intro Promos and resources

y a d o t w e n g n i h t e m o s y Tr ces what’s Sainsbury’s Lindsay Evans introdu 9 new in the Active Kids scheme for 200

S

ince joining the scheme in 2007, Scouts have redeemed up to £1m of equipment, providing free sports equipment, cooking resources, active experiences and coaching. And this year we hope you will claim back even more.

For Active Kids 2009 (AK09), Sainsbury’s have sourced the latest equipment and experiences which will be relevant to your Group. New resource packs have been produced building on the ideas and activities from previous years, designed to help promote healthy eating and an active lifestyle. This year Sainsbury’s Active Kids have added many more outdoor activity equipment to the catalogue, from a stainless steel flask to walkie talkies, even a Vango six-person tent!

Equipped for adventure We’re especially proud that many AK09 items can be used to support specific badges and programme initiatives, as well as providing outdoor and recreational equipment.

As ever the success of your AK09 efforts depends on how enthusiastic, organised and inventive you are.

Setting goals will help to keep you motivated and focused. It’s the ideal chance to get everyone involved and excited about what can be achieved.

To help you set targets and goals you can create an online wish lists of all the items that you are aiming to collect for, these can be edited and updated as often as you like.

Parents and other collectors can review your wish list and check your progress to date to see what’s left to collect!

Collecting vouchers Taking part is simple; you can earn Active Kids Vouchers when you shop at Sainsbury’s until 3 June. For every £10 spent in Sainsbury’s supermarkets or every £5 spent in Sainsbury’s Locals you’ll earn 1 Active Kids Voucher.

Not signed up yet?

Then check in to www.sainsburys.co.uk/activekids

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Ready to expand?

If the Cub Packs in your District are full to bursting and have a lengthy waiting list, what’s the solution? Set up another Pack, of course.

By Jennifer Campbell

I

t’s hard to turn a potential new Cub Scout away, but if a Pack’s full, leaders have little choice.

Of course, leaders can refer eager would-be Cub Scouts on to other Packs in the area. But what happens if all the Groups in the District are oversubscribed?

Then it might be time to think about setting up a new Pack to cope with the demand.

That’s exactly what Russell Mason did in early 2008 when he found out there was a long waiting list to join the only Cub Pack where he lives in Ditton, near Maidstone in Kent.

‘There were two Beaver Colonies in Ditton, but only one Cub Pack,’ explains Russell. ‘That was obviously creating a bottleneck when the children reached Cub Scout age, and there just weren’t enough places. There were still some in Beaver Scouts who were eight and a half.’

Taking the lead So Russell took the lead in establishing a second Pack in the town, the 1st Ditton Tiger Cubs. Russell’s wife, Amanda, runs one of Ditton’s Beaver Colonies, and although he had helped her out, he hadn’t been officially involved in Scouting before. He was encouraged to lead a new Pack by the Group Scout Leader, who felt he would fit well into Scouting because of all the outdoor training he’d done in the military.

Twelve boys and girls came along to the first Tuesday night meeting of the Tiger Cubs. Now, the Pack has 8

around 24 members.

‘Without the new Cub Pack, a lot of the Beavers probably would have left Scouting altogether,’ says Russell. ‘If they can’t go to Cubs after Beavers, it’s a lot less likely they’ll keep up their interest and come back to Scouts later.’

Russell is right to highlight the importance of keeping children in Scouting. Although the number of young people involved in all sections of Scouting is increasing, the number of Cub Scouts in the UK has almost halved over the past 20 years.

Setting up a new Pack So, how can you do what Russell did and set up a new Pack to cope with high demand in your District?

Whether you’re already involved in Scouting, perhaps helping out with an existing Group, or, like Russell, you’re a bit of a newcomer, it’s not difficult to volunteer yourself.

You should start by carefully considering whether a new Pack is really needed, and if there’s going to be enough members to sustain it in the long term.

Any new Pack has to be developed in partnership with the District Commissioner and District team, so once you’re sure it would work, the next step is to approach them to discuss the idea.

If you’re given the go ahead from the District Commissioner, then you need to get a team of adult leaders and helpers in place. Somebody has to be willing to act as Cub Scout Leader, and wear a uniform,

Cubs April/May 2009

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Feature

and others can help more informally. Russell, for example, has two helpers, Lynn and Abbi, for his Pack. All leaders and helpers have to have a CRB (criminal records) check and leaders will have to complete some training.

Once you’ve gotten that far, you should contact the Development Grants Board and the Fundraising Team at The Scout Association to apply for funds to cover the initial cost of starting up the Pack. Then you’re ready to go!

Support Russell’s main advice for setting up a new Pack is to make sure you have the full backing of the District team and the other Groups in the area. ‘I got a lot of support from my Group Scout Leader, the District Commissioner and the leaders of the other Scouting Groups in Ditton too – without that you’ll fail. For me, who didn’t have much experience with Scouting, the benefit of their experience

and being able to ask them questions was invaluable.’

While he admits learning how to run a Cub Pack wasn’t always easy, Russell is glad he made the decision to set up his Pack. ‘You hear people say “it’s only an hour and a half out of your week”, but there is quite a lot more involved than that. But I love it. The kids are brilliant, not all perfect, but if they were, it would be boring!’ more info Contacts In England: the Regional Development Service / local Regional Development Manager.

In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: your country headquarters.

Also see www.scouts.org.uk/startup www.scouts.org.uk/cubdevelopment

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Top 5 Programmes on POL (February)

Ref

Activity name

39020

Comic Relief ‘09 - Eat Something Funny for Money Chopstick Challenge

39393

Human Dominoes

41097

The Golden Rule

41598

Points Down

28815

Get the prisoner

Jurassic Adventure, compiled by Nicola Ashby

Activity/Game POL ID

Time

Opening ceremony

24640

10 mins

Jurassic Adventure

8997

1 hour

Evolution

24314

15 mins

Closing ceremony

24641

5 mins

POP Programmes on a plate

10 Cubs April/May 2009

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Zon

Zone

Method

Instructions

ns

Beliefs and Attitudes

Themes

Discuss the theme for the meeting.

r

Fitness; Outdoor and Adventure

Activities with others; Outdoors; Team challenges Themes

- Purchase a large melon per group and hide them around the playing area. These are the ‘dinosaur eggs’.

- Supply each group with a selection of canes (or suitable wood if available) and rope, along with clues where to find their dinosaur egg.

- The groups locate their egg and build a carrying device which will transport the egg safely to base without them holding it.

- Once ready, with at least two holding the device they negotiate an obstacle course ensuring that the ‘egg’ does not fall off until they reach the end.

- The melons can then be cut up and eaten as a refreshing reward!

ns

Global Community; Outdoor and Adventure

Activities with others; Games

- Everyone begins life as an amoeba and carries out an action and sound to match the species they represent.

- The evolution chain is amoeba, crocodile, giraffe, higher being.

- In order to move up the evolutionary chain, one species must meet another of the same species and play ‘rock, paper, scissors’.

- The winner of the match moves onto the next species (eg crocodile) in the chain and carries out an action and sound to match the species they represent until they find another of the same species, while the loser stays an amoeba.

- The two crocodiles play ‘rock, paper, scissors’ and the winner becomes a giraffe but the loser returns to an amoeba and must start again.

- The game ends when someone becomes the higher being and shouts ‘stop, I am the higher being!’

s

Beliefs and Attitudes

Themes; Prayer, worship and reflection

Ask the Cubs what they have learned.

For more great ideas visit www.scouts.org.uk/pol

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Master of puppets Perform a show with your own shadow puppets. By Charlie Dale

T

here is a tradition of shadow puppetry as a way to tell stories in many cultures. The shadows are created by erecting a screen with a strong light shining from behind and slightly above. The puppets are then held up to the screen – not quite touching it – from below to make sure the puppeteers don’t also cast a shadow. The stories told are often morals, ancient mythology or legends. Sometimes these performances are accompanied by music, the puppeteers saying lines, a narrator telling the story or a combination of all these.

What story will you tell?

You need to decide the story, so you can make the right puppets. You could choose a famous story or myth, or do you know a local tale? Be careful about the number of characters in your story. If you have too many you may find it difficult to use them all, or have trouble finding the right puppet at the right time.

12 Cubs April/May 2009

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Make and do Intro

To make the puppets you will need:

• card, cardboard or thick paper • thin dowelling rods or thick wire • Blu-Tack • modelling clay • glue • scissors • split pins • pencil • paper.

1. Sketch out your characters first. Note: your puppet will be flat so you may need two or more puppets for the same character (eg one side on, one face on).

2. You should also remember that the audience will only see a block shadow, so the only way to show details will be to use cut out areas in the body, for example for the eyes.

3. Once you’re happy with your characters you can start to make the puppet. If you just want a puppet that is fixed in one position you can simply draw the outline onto your card or cardboard and cut it out as is. A puppet that will move its arms will need a little more work: • As above, draw the outline of the body (and legs) only and cut that out.

• Draw the arms, allowing a little extra on the end of the upper arm for where it will attach to the body. Cut this out.

• You will need a flexible way of attaching the arm, so that it can be moved up and down. This is best done with a split pin, pushed through a hole carefully made in the upper arm and a matching one at the shoulder of your puppet. Pushing a pencil

through the card into modelling clay will make a good even hole, otherwise a responsible adult can use a craft knife.

• Repeat this process for the other arm, or for legs that move. You can even put a double joint in to give your puppet jointed elbows or knees using the same method but splitting the arm or leg into two parts.

4. Now we come to attaching the rods which allows you to hold the puppet up to the screen. If you have a simple, un-jointed puppet you will probably only need one rod, unless it is a very large or heavy.

5. Put a good blob of Blu-Tack on the back of your puppet, higher up is better. This will let the puppet hang naturally and not droop. If you are finding that your puppet does droop, re-enforce it by sticking drinking straws to the back.

6. Top tip: If the Blu-Tak doesn’t stick well, put a small amount of sticky tape on the puppet where you will attach the rod.

7. Push the rod (or wire) into the Blu-Tack at an angle of about 45 degrees from below (where the feet are). Make sure the rod is firmly in, but not so far as to push through the other side of the puppet.

The angle allows you to control the puppet from underneath, so make sure you allow plenty of rod or wire to reach with.

8. For jointed puppets simply repeat this step for each arm or leg that will move, placing the blob of Blu-Tak at the end of the limb – be it the hands or feet of the puppet. This is very important as it gives you maximum control over the puppet’s movement.

9. To help you remember which puppet is which, write their name on the back, and if you have more than one puppet for the same character, also write which scene or point in the story they appear.

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To make the screen you will need: • a large, white sheet or cloth • a strong source of light – a couple of lamps are good, or some other directional beam of light you can make shine onto the cloth from behind and above – even a number of powerful torches will do • a frame to hang the sheet or cloth from. The two uprights (and possibly the ridge pole) from a tent are ideal • some string, sisal or rope to tie the ‘screen’ onto the frame.

• a table or something else to make a barrier with.

1. Erect your frame and ensure that it won’t fall over – you could use guy ropes or just prop the pole up. Bases for garden umbrellas or parasols work well.

2. Make sure your puppeteers won’t be seen by placing a table on the floor for the puppeteers to hide behind while performing.

3. Put your sheet between the poles and tie it on so that it is reasonably flat and tight. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but the flatter the better. The simplest way is to gather the corner of the sheet and tie a thumb knot in it, then tie your string, sisal or rope behind the thumb knot and then tie the other end to the poles.

4. Make sure there is no gap between the barrier (the table) and the screen.

5. Lastly, fix up your light source. Shine it directly onto the back of the screen, but from above and behind.

6. Turn off all the other lights (or wait for it to get dark if you’re outside), illuminate your screen and tell your story.

Rehearsals Rehearsals allow the puppeteers time to work out the best way to arrange their puppets, what works and what doesn’t, and gives you time to do something about it! You can also adapt your story or lines if needs be, and even make a new puppet if you discover you haven’t got it quite right.

The performance Perform to the rest of the Pack, or invite parents and the whole Group. If you’re having your Group AGM around this time of year, you could even perform it then. It might be an idea to perform for your Pack first as a dress rehearsal. Why not go the whole way and make programmes? If you’re performing at your AGM why not use it as an opportunity to tell all the parents and the rest of your Group what you’ve been up to this year? How about selling tickets for group funds? Or having ushers with torches to show the audience to their seats? You can even have an intermission with ice cream, drinks and sweets!

If this has inspired you, why not visit a theatre? See if you can get a visit backstage and watch how the magic is made; talk to the actors about learning their lines, the producer about putting it all together and the technical people about the sets, props, lighting and sound. Even if you don’t have a professional theatre nearby, there’s bound to be an amateur group in your area.

December 2008/January 2009 2009 14 Cubs April/May

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Packs of supporters add at the How much value do your managers eme Hamilton front line of Cub Scouting, asks Gra

L

ast year May Castrey, Cub Scout Commissioner for Wales and Val Thomason, Deputy County Commissioner, Cheshire started a project on behalf of the Cub Scout Working Group called ‘Supporting the Cub Scout Leader.’

The project started out with three objectives: to establish regular development and briefing sessions for all relevant Commissioners; to work with others in re-defining the key role and main activities of Assistant Area/County and District Commissioners and to provide an effective and welcome introduction to the role of all sectional Commissioners. May and Val began with consultation across Wales and Cheshire before expanding out across England.

Rank

Task

1

Developing the Cub section

2

Organising events

3 4 5 6 7 8

What did you tell us about the role of ADCs & ACCs?

Responses were quite mixed. In one of the Meeting with the District team questions, participants Holding meetings were asked to rank by Organising training events importance, a list of Meeting with other ADCs in County tasks which may be undertaken by Creating a District Newsletter Assistant District Commissioners. This results table above shows that Cub Scout Leaders clearly feel that it is most important for Assistant District Commissioners to develop the section, followed by organising events and visiting Cub Packs.

Visiting Cub Packs

In another question we asked who normally organises events in the District. The graph opposite shows that it is generally either the Assistant District Commissioner or a group of Cub Scout Leaders. Other members of the District Team sometimes take on the responsibility for organising events, but this is less common. It is unusual for members of the County Team to organise a District event. It would be a considerable challenge for any Assistant District Commissioner to both develop the section, as well as organise the number (and quality) of events expected. Based on these results, it was felt that the role of Assistant District Commissioners should be more widely reviewed.

What next?

• A CD-rom toolkit will be issued during 2009 to all sectional support Commissioners.

• A revised welcome letter will be sent to every new ACC or equivalent on confirmation of their appointment.

(We’ll be recommending a similar introduction and follow through support from ACCs to ADCs).

• We’ve just started a review of the role profiles and key activities of these support functions and will be consulting widely during 2009.

• We’ve engaged with Assistant County and District Commissioners at Development, Advice and Support days across the whole country, including one in Scotland.

During 2009 the working group will continue to consult, reflect, and gather information and ideas from leaders

16 Cubs April/May 2009

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Home Safety Badge

n Power ofScaocuttsio safe - Keeps Cub

N

ational Grid, sponsors of the Cub Scout Home Safety Badge are asking Cub Leaders: “What is the link between the proposed Olympic Stadium, Heathrow’s Terminal 5 and Cub Scouting? “ The answer is 80,000.

This is the number of both the planned seating capacity at the new Olympic Stadium, the tonnes of steel in Terminal 5 and as at January 2009, the quantity of Home Safety Badge Activity Packs issued since National Grid began its sponsorship in 2007.

Free activity pack The pack is available for every Cub Scout interested in gaining the Home Safety Badge, and it can be ordered from www.scouts.org.uk/nationalgrid It takes the form of a poster and has eight activities to complete, including a wordsearch, a spot-the-errors picture along with lots of home safety advice. Also included is a scratch and sniff card so Cub Scouts can learn what gas smells like. The activities are designed to be completed at Pack meetings and at home and they are also fun to do.

We all take our domestic electricity and gas supply for granted, but not everyone is sure what to do in an emergency if the lights go out or to call the National Gas

Emergency Services on 0800 111 999 if there is a gas escape. National Grid believes it is important that we are all aware of the simple safety measures we can take to keep our homes and ourselves safe.

Sponsorship extension Following the roaring success of our first year’s partnership, National Grid have extended their sponsorship of the Home Safety Badge until 2010. In July 2008 National Grid joined forces with Chief Scout Peter Duncan to announce our continued sponsorship - he was joined by Cubs from: • 16th Barking and Dagenham • 4th North Watford/1st Bricket Wood • 1st Hopwas • Horsell Scouts & Guides • 4th Hinckley St Marys Scout Group Julian Buttery, National Grid’s Head of UK Community Relations said: ‘We are delighted to extend our sponsorship of the Home Safety Badge. Safety is core to our business and helping young people become aware of the importance of safety in their home environment is a very good place to start. This is an example of our commitment to the power of action showing that everyone including children can take steps to make the world around them a safer place.’

To find out more about National Grid visit www.nationalgrid.com

18 Cubs April/May 2009

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Intro Scientist Badge

New Science If you are looking for new activities a and games for Pack meetings, take ge Bad t look at the Cub Scout Scientis

T

he Scientist Badge activity pack has 19 activities to choose from (Cubs have to complete six to gain the Scientist Badge) including games and activities the whole Pack can enjoy.

Why not try making a human model of the earth’s orbit of the sun? This can be done either indoors or outside, takes about 15 to 30 minutes, and requires only a pin, a football and a long piece of string. The whole Pack can take part, and they will have completed one activity towards their Scientist Badge by the end.

Another activity for the whole section involves learning about pulse rates and how this is affected by exercise. It is also a great opportunity to discuss general health and how the effect of exercise on your pulse rate can show your level of fitness. First, Cubs learn to measure their pulse rate. Then, they take their resting pulse rate. This is the hard bit as they have to sit still for five minutes, so try doing a word search or asking them to draw a picture to help keep them busy

POL Log on to Programmes Online www. scouts.org.uk/pol and search ‘scientist’.

and quiet! Next, they do some exercise for five minutes – try skipping or star jumps – before taking their pulse rate again. They then take their pulse rate at fiveminute intervals to see how long it takes to slow back down to normal.

There is a leader’s pack and worksheet which can be downloaded from www.scouts.org.uk/rollsroyce The Scientist Activity Badge resources now include: - The badge activity pack, containing six activities and a certificate for Cubs who’ve completed the badge. To order your copies visit www.scouts.org.uk/rollsroyce - Seven 30-minute activities to download, including worksheets for Cubs and all the science explained for leaders.

- Step-by-step instructions for all 19 Scientist Badge activities, which include things to make, explore and discover. Find all activities at www. scouts.org.uk/pol by searching ‘scientist’.

Rolls-Royce would welcome your feedback on these resources and to hear about the activities your Cubs completed.

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Project focus

and commissioners around the country.

1. We’ll develop final proposals to gather views.

2. We will speak with Assistant County and District Commissioners during the next round of Development, Advice and Support days and in local visits and events.

3. We’re developing our overall work plan for the next three years. It is based mainly on feedback from leaders from the Your Programme Your Voice and regular communications we have around the country. See below for more details on the survey results.

4. Finally, we aim to introduce an old but simple method of directly supporting newly appointed ACCs or equivalents. In doing so, we will build up a stronger connection between the work of the UK Support Team and that of individual Counties and Districts.

Nicola Ashby rounds up the latest results from our online survey Since February 2008, we have been collating your views, opinions and top tips on being a Cub Scout Leader via the Your Programme, Your Voice (YPYV) questionnaires.

Between 250 and 350 leaders and Assistant Leaders have participated in the three Cub YPYV questionnaires. The section was chosen for two initial pilot surveys due to the need to support the Cub Scout Development project.

The first questionnaire was made up of 15 mainly multiple choice questions. The topics covered included: • Personal information • Length of time in the section • Time the role takes up each week • Pack management • Number of adult leaders/helpers • Size of Pack and

determining factors • Programme planning • Pack forums • Moving-on • Programme • Recent changes to Programme Zones, Challenge Awards and Chief Scout’s Silver Award • Use of zones and methods.

We also wanted to know what two things you would like the Cub Scout Working Group to do over the next 12-18 months. The general call was for more resources for both leaders and Cubs to support the programme, and ideas for promoting leader recruitment. The results from this question were directly fed into our recently updated work plan.

All of this information helps us to help you. The survey has been so successful that the Beaver and Scout sections issued their own questionnaire in October, and Explorers and Network are taking part this year. Thanks to everyone who’s participated so far, your help has been invaluable, and for those of you that are keen to have your voices heard – keep your eyes open for further opportunities to join in with YPYV!

Cub Pen

Item code: 1026505

£1.50

A new pen with Snaggle printed on the barrel of the pen.

scouts.org.uk/shop 01903 766 921

The Big Adventure Uniform Badge 09 Item code: 1026680

Cub Drinks Bottle Item code: 1024946

£3.75

Cubs Tote Bag

A stylish drinks bottle. It has a flip dust protector cap. Capacity is 750ml and it has a rubberised and shaped grip that makes it easier to hold on to.

£3

Item code: 1026565 Size: approx. 30x42cms

A sturdy tote bag for putting your various bits and pieces in.

£1 This year’s big event is The Big Adventure.

The badge has been endorsed to wear on uniforms in the usual top left chest pocket event placement. It can be worn by anyone involved in The Big Adventure and is unrestricted.

All profits go back into Scouting. The Scout Association Registered Charity Numbers 306101 (England and Wales) and SC038437 (Scotland).

cubs aprmay09.indd 17

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