WIN The magazine for Beaver Scout Leaders

June/July 2009

Family friendly Four mums making a

difference

Recipes for successBackwoods cooking

SUNNY SIDE UP Adventures for the

summer months

48 HOT

WHEELS CARS

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INTRO

Programme pick-me-ups

Even the most experienced Beaver Scout Leaders need a little inspiration at times and this issue is

packed with them, writes Karen Jameson

In your Beaver Scout magazine we continue to look at ways to help you plan

your programme. If you are a new leader or if you are looking for new ideas

to spice up your tired old programmes then this is the issue for you.

Emma Wood is looking at ways to brighten up your summer days while

Maggie Bleksley will help you get creative when it comes to planning

your programme. And on page 16 you will find some tasty recipes for

backwoods cooking. There is also the regular Programme on a Plate (POP),

designed as a ready-made meeting from start to finish, including games and

ceremonies. Do bear in mind that with POP the timings and amount of

activities achievable may vary from one Colony to another depending on

many factors, like Colony size, venue and adult helpers.

Success storyYou’ve hopefully seen the national news coverage about our census results.

Scouting has grown for the fourth year running. Adult volunteering is

increasing at the fastest rate for 23 years and there are now just as many

girls as boys joining the Movement. And in the Beaver Scout section, it’s also

positive news. Once again our numbers have shot up. We now have just

over 103,226 Beaver Scouts in the UK, up 2,000 on last year.

Big AdventureDon’t forget to let us know if you are taking part in a Big Adventure event

this summer. Email us at scouting.magazine@scout.org.uk and we will try

and feature a selection of the best in future issues.

Beaver Scout Team:Karen Jameson (UK Adviser for Beaver Scouts)Jenny Winn (Programme and Development Adviser for Beaver Scouts)

Contact them at:programme@scout.org.ukTel: 0845 300 1818

Published by: The Scout Association, Gilwell House, Gilwell Park, Chingford, London E4 7QW

Contributions to:scouting.magazine@scout.org.uk

This issue’s contributors:Maggie BleksleyAlison ChapmanCharlie DaleRuth HubbardKaren JamesonEmma Wood

ADVERTISINGTom Fountaintom@thinkpublishing.co.ukTel: 020 8962 1258

What you’ve been up to over the last few months:

Thomas of Waverton has achieved

all the Beaver Scout activity badges.

He has just moved up to Cubs and is

currently busy trying to get all the

Cub badges.

Eighteen of the 1st Teynham Beavers

achieved their Chief Scout’s Bronze

Award at the one time. They’ve been

on nature trails, finding out about

Fairtrade, experiments, and much

more. Well done!

St John’s Beavers went litter picking

for Rochdale Borough Council’s Big

Clean campaign. They donned high vis

jackets and helped clean up the area for

their Friendship Challenge.

4 A perfect day Adventures for a summer’s day

7 Easy ridersWin 48 Hot Wheels cars

8 Under pressureMeasure the weather

10 POPA sporty programme on a plate

12 Mothers’ prideFour mums and one big idea

14 6 steps to stress-free programme planning

16 Recipes for successBackwoods cooking for Beaver Scouts

18 ‘Draught’ as a brushThe Imagination Activity Badge from Jetix

Contents

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4 Beavers June/July 2009

A perfect dayJoin Emma Wood for a summer adventure

T o make the most of the better weather,

hold a day of activities for the Colony. This

could be on the weekend or even a holiday

weekday. Invite Scouts or Explorer Scouts

to come along and help out. The following ideas could

all be incorporated into such an event or into your

weekly programme…

Tent pitching

you will need• two/three person tent(s)• a Patrol Leader from your local Scout Troop.

1. In groups of three or four, Beaver Scouts

attempt to put up the tent under guidance

from the Scout. Perhaps they could then see if

they can put it up without any instruction?

2. Use the erected tent as a base for a wide

game, a venue for a picnic tea or a story

telling session.

Target practice

you will need• two staves• guy ropes• thick elastic bands or bungee ropes• empty 400g tin (soup) or similar with a hole drilled in opposite sides• tennis ball.1. Hammer the staves into the ground and

secure to the ground using the guy ropes.

2. Loop lots of thick elastic bands together to

form two elastic ropes and attach one end of

each to the top of each pole as shown.

3. Attach the other ends to the tin, through the

pre-drilled holes.

4. Beaver Scouts take it in turn to put a tennis

ball in the tin, pull it back and fire it towards

a target.

5. How far can they catapult the ball?

elastic

Side view Front view

cupguy rope

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PROGRAMME IDEAS

Marksmanship

you will need• water pistols – ideally the large high

pressurised ones • water supply• pieces of card• washing line• paint (optional).1. Beaver Scouts practise their accuracy by

shooting at card targets suspended from a

washing line.

2. Alternatively, let them paint their own

targets using water-based paint. When shot,

the paint will run and the picture will look great!

Relay game: Dry skiing

you will need (per team)• a pair of wooden skis

(two teams will be enough).

To make the skis1. Take two lengths of wood, approximately

1m x 15cm x 30cm.

2. Nail two strips of webbing or thick material

to the plank as shown – these have to be big

enough for a child’s foot to slip into.

To ski1. Players line up in two teams.

2. The first two players put the skis on and

must shuffle to the end of the playing area and

back, passing the skis onto the next two players.

3. First team to complete wins.

Mud modelling1. Find an area with a supply of soil and

liberally soak it with water.

2. Dig it over to remove large stones and lumps.

3. Give Beaver Scouts plastic gloves and let

them mould lumps of the soil to form castles

and other shapes, similar to what they’d make

on sandy beaches… only much messier!

4. Finish with a water fight.

Obstacle courseCreate a simple but challenging (and safe!)

obstacle course using chairs, tables, planks and

groundsheets. Along the way, suspend

water-filled balloons from branches or washing

lines. Beaver Scouts attempting the obstacle

course have to burst one, using a provided

sharpened stick.

Shelter building

you will need• a double bed sheet• rope• string and pegs• poster paint and some paintbrushes.1. Tie the rope horizontally between two trees and drape the sheet over it.2. Secure to the ground with pegs. 3. Beaver Scouts paint the sheet. 4. They can then use their shelter as a den or a base in a wide game.

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6 Beavers June/July 2009

Alphabet scavenger huntIn Lodges, Beaver Scouts need to find one item

to represent each letter of the alphabet – or as

many as they can manage. They will probably

need a leader with each Lodge to help. Allow

20-30 minutes for this, and let them go inside

the hall and outside. What letters do they get

stuck on?

VisitsGood venues for visits with your Colony over

the coming months can include:

- swimming pool (leisure centre or local school)

- campsite (climbing wall, wide games,

archery etc)

- skating rink

- farms

- garden centres (behind the scenes).

DIY caving

you will need• tables, sticks or trees • blankets and/or tarpaulins • fairy lights• MP3 player and speakers with spooky sound

effects (optional).

1. In advance construct a dark, narrow

covered maze.

2. Add a few fairy lights inside and, perhaps,

some spooky sound effects.

3. Beaver Scouts will love crawling through this!

Be sure to have escape points and helpers

positioned outside the tunnel at regular

intervals in case anyone needs to escape.

Meteors

you will need• balloons• rice • funnels• sticky tape• crepe paper cut into two-metre strips.

1. Fill the balloon with rice using the funnel.

2. Tie it off and, using the sticky tape, attach

the crepe paper strip to it.

3. Throw from one end of a field to the other

– how high or far can they throw them? The

meteor’s tail will rustle in the wind and look

quite impressive.

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CREATIVE ACTIVITY BADGE

Easy riders Hot Wheels will be on hand once again at the Beaver and Cub Fundays to bring some high

octane fun to the proceedings

C ontinuing our theme of Formula Hot

Wheels, The Lid will be packed to the

rafters with exciting games. Beat the Clock

on the Team Rapidz Raceway, or show

some attitude with a funky pose in the Team Boltz

zone. Visitors can try their hand in all kinds of events

to get cool Hot Wheels goodies to take home, win

exciting prizes or even have their picture taken on the

Formula Hot Wheels podium!

If you haven’t got your tickets yet, do book as we’d

love to see you there.

More good news too: our brand new Creative

Activity Badge Pack is now available, and is filled with

creative ideas to inspire your Beaver Scouts. Included

in the pack are details of this year’s major

competition – one Colony will win an action-packed

Hot Wheels party and lots of Hot Wheels goodies

and there are runners-up too. Find out more by

downloading your free pack.

Win 48 cars!To get you in the Hot Wheels mood, the first

10 leaders to email ukpress.office@mattel.com

quoting ‘Beaver Colony Competition’, will win

a box of 48 Hot Wheels die-cast cars to share

with their Beaver Scouts (yes we did say

share!) Please include your address details and

name of Beaver Colony.

Terms and conditions:1. The 10 winners will be the first to email the address stated. 2. Mattel accepts no responsibility for undelivered or missing emails. 3. Prize is as stated, no cash alternatives are available. 4. Competition is open to Beaver Colony leaders and representatives only. 5. The closing date is 30 June 2009.

Beaver and Cub FundaysWhen: 20-21 June 2009

Where: Gilwell Park, Chingford

Book: www.scouts.org.uk/fundays

Visit www.scouts.org.uk/hotwheels

Download your FREE pack

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8 Beavers June/July 2009

Under pressure

All profits go back into Scouting. The Scout Association Registered Charity Numbers 306101 (England and Wales) and SCO38437 (Scotland).

Force Description Specifications for use on land

0 Calm Calm; smoke rises vertical.

1 Light air Direction of wind shown by smoke drift, but not by wind vanes.

2 Light breeze Wind felt on face; leaves rustle; ordinary vanes moved by wind.

3 Gentle breeze Leaves and small twigs in constant motion; wind extends light flag.

4 Moderate breeze Raises dust and loose paper; small branches are moved.

5 Fresh breeze Small trees in leaf begin to sway; crested wavelets form on inland waters.

6 Strong breeze Large branches in motion; whistling heard in telegraph wires; umbrellas used with difficulty.

A section of The Beaufort Scale. For the full version search ‘Beaufort Scale’ online.

B ritish weather is interesting because it is so

variable; there are plenty of places around

the world where the weather is more or less

guaranteed to be exactly the same every

day. As a group of islands, we have the sea to thank for

our interesting weather, that and our relatively mild

climate. Don’t believe it? London is as close to the North

Pole as Moscow is and think how cold they get in winter!

MEASURE THE WEATHERThere are a number of devices to measure the weather,

and you can make some of them. Mostly it involves

simply looking out of the window and writing down

what you see.

An anemometer This is the technical instrument to measure wind strength

used by meteorologists. The simplest types are usually

made with three small cups, each mounted on the end

of a rod that is attached to a central hub. The faster the

cups rotate, the stronger the wind. Making one of these

is quite difficult and requires lots of calculations.

A wind sockThis is slightly easier. A wind sock is simply a tunnel of

fabric, slightly wider at one end than the other, usually

with a hoop at the wider end to make sure it stays open

and catches any wind. It is attached by a cord to an

upright pole in a way that it can freely rotate around it

without getting caught up. If the wind sock hangs

limply without moving, there’s no wind, if it sticks out

straight sideways you know there’s a very stiff breeze.

The Beaufort ScaleThis is the simplest way to measure wind strength as it

requires you to use only your eyes. The Beaufort Scale is

named after Admiral Francis Beaufort – a British naval

officer in the early 1800s. He was concerned about getting

accurate readings for wind strength at a time when

anemometers hadn’t yet been invented, and realised that

different people had different ideas about exactly what a

stiff breeze was. So, he came up with a chart from 0 to 12

with different, easily identifiable descriptions for different

strengths of wind. Initially his scale was for use at sea, but

was later adapted for use on land.

It is our national obsession. It has started a million conversations at bus stops and parties. It is mentioned in songs and has even affected the very history of the British Isles. It is, of course, the weather. Charlie Dale has the implements for the perfect weather reporter

beavers_6709.indd 8 15/5/09 11:31:21

MAKE AND DO

Make a barometer

you will need• a clean jam jar• a party balloon• a ruler• an elastic band and a pair of scissors.

What you do1. Cut the end off the balloon (about one third of

the way up).

2. Stretch the remaining balloon over the top of the

jam jar. It should be tight, like a drum skin with no

holes for air to escape.

3. Complete the seal by wrapping the elastic band

around the jam jar near the top. The air inside the

jam jar is now fixed at whatever the air pressure

was at the moment the balloon was sealed over it.

So, if the air pressure outside the jar increases, the

surface of the balloon will be pushed into the jar. If

the air pressure outside gets lower, the balloon will

puff out.

4. Measure how high or low the balloon is with a

ruler. To get best results try to do this on a day

when the weather forecast shows that the pressure

is at 1,000 millibars, as this is nicely in the middle of

the usual pressure ranges, and will ensure your

barometer gives true readings.

Beaver Baseball CapItem code: 1025889

£5Protect yourself from the summer sun. A 100% cotton navy baseball cap in a youth size with the Beaver logo embroidered on the front and the Beaver ‘Bs’ printed around the cap.

Really Big Oball Item code: 1026847

£12.50Kick it, stomp it, crush it, and the Really Big Oball bounces right back to a perfectly formed sphere; it is amazingly fun and durable. Easy to grab or catch and in vibrant colours. Can be used either indoors or outdoors. Wipe to keep clean.

Beaver Pen Item code: 1026504

£1.50A fun pen for Beavers with a wrap-around action print of a Beaver.

Vango Skip 10-litre Daysack Item codes: 1026363 and 1026875

RRP £11 Our price £10 A versatile kids’ bag, useful for hiking, days out or shopping. Padded foam back ventilation channels for maximum comfort and breathability, with a zippered entry to main compartment gives easy access to pack contents.

scouts.org.uk/shop01903 766 921

SCOUTSHOPS

EQUIPPED FOR ADVENTURE

N

S

All profits go back into Scouting. The Scout Association Registered Charity Numbers 306101 (England and Wales) and SCO38437 (Scotland).

beavers_6709.indd 9 15/5/09 11:40:17

Opening ceremony 5 mins N/A Follow themes Introduce the theme for the evening. Talk about different sports.

Game: Tadpole 15 mins Fitness Play games You will need: a football.•TheColonyisdividedintotwoteams.•Oneteamformsacirclearoundtheleader.•Theotherteamlinesupnexttothecircle.•On‘go’theleaderthrowstheballtoeachBeaverScoutinthecircle

in turn; they catch it and return it to the leader. The leader keeps a count, out loud, of how many are caught. If any are dropped, continuefromthenextnumber.

•Meanwhile,theBeaverslinedupstarttorunoneatatimearoundthecircleandbacktotheline,touchingthehandofthenextrunner.Thiscontinues until everyone has run around the circle. The last person shouts‘stop’whentheygettotheirplace.

•Theleaderannounceshowmanycatchesweremade.•Theteamsswapplacesanditstartsagain.Whichteammadethe

most catches?

Activity: Four sports bases

10 mins per base Creative Follow themes Equipment matching: You will need either actual sports equipment, (tennis racquet and ball, cricket bat and ball) or pictures ofsportsequipment.BeaverScoutshavetosortouttheequipmentso that they match (eg tennis racquet and tennis ball).Target practice:BeaverScoutstakeitinturnstothrowatennisball into a bucket. A leader keeps the score for each group.Racquet skills:BeaverScoutsseehowlongtheycankeepaballinthe air using a tennis racquet or table tennis bat.Soccer skills:BeaverScoutshavetodribbleafootballballarounda set of cones placed in a line. How many times can each team do in the ten minutes?

Refreshments 10 mins Have a break after two bases: healthy snack, fruit with glucose/energy drink or water.

Closingceremony 5 mins BeliefsandAttitudes

Follow themes

Extra Visit your local tennis court, bowling green or rugby/football stadium.DiscussthesportandperhapstheBeaverScoutscouldhave a go.

Activity/Game Time Zone Method Instructions

Top

5 pro

gram

mes

on

Pro

gram

mes

Onl

ine

(A

pril)

29217 TheStoryofStGeorge

43734 SpaceRocket

27575 Dragon’sMask

27573 ChasetheDragon’sTail

16506 StGeorge’sDayCelebration

Ref Activity name

Beavers June/July 200910

POPThis issue’s theme is sports,

written by Emma Wood

Programmes on a plate

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11scouts.org.uk/pol

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

Opening ceremony 5 mins N/A Follow themes Introduce the theme for the evening. Talk about different sports.

Game: Tadpole 15 mins Fitness Play games You will need: a football.•TheColonyisdividedintotwoteams.•Oneteamformsacirclearoundtheleader.•Theotherteamlinesupnexttothecircle.•On‘go’theleaderthrowstheballtoeachBeaverScoutinthecircle

in turn; they catch it and return it to the leader. The leader keeps a count, out loud, of how many are caught. If any are dropped, continuefromthenextnumber.

•Meanwhile,theBeaverslinedupstarttorunoneatatimearoundthecircleandbacktotheline,touchingthehandofthenextrunner.Thiscontinues until everyone has run around the circle. The last person shouts‘stop’whentheygettotheirplace.

•Theleaderannounceshowmanycatchesweremade.•Theteamsswapplacesanditstartsagain.Whichteammadethe

most catches?

Activity: Four sports bases

10 mins per base Creative Follow themes Equipment matching: You will need either actual sports equipment, (tennis racquet and ball, cricket bat and ball) or pictures ofsportsequipment.BeaverScoutshavetosortouttheequipmentso that they match (eg tennis racquet and tennis ball).Target practice:BeaverScoutstakeitinturnstothrowatennisball into a bucket. A leader keeps the score for each group.Racquet skills:BeaverScoutsseehowlongtheycankeepaballinthe air using a tennis racquet or table tennis bat.Soccer skills:BeaverScoutshavetodribbleafootballballarounda set of cones placed in a line. How many times can each team do in the ten minutes?

Refreshments 10 mins Have a break after two bases: healthy snack, fruit with glucose/energy drink or water.

Closingceremony 5 mins BeliefsandAttitudes

Follow themes

Extra Visit your local tennis court, bowling green or rugby/football stadium.DiscussthesportandperhapstheBeaverScoutscouldhave a go.

Activity/Game Time Zone Method Instructions

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12 Beavers June/July 2009

B alancing work with toddlers can at times be

a tough juggling act. But add older siblings

and volunteering for Scouting into the mix,

and organising childcare can require a

military operation. However, the four mums I meet on a

training course at Gilwell Park are no colonels. They’re

not even sergeants. They are simply parents who

wanted the best for their children and for them it was

that their eldest ones could join Scouting.

Shireen Waterer, Pauline Beresford, Jude Edmondson

and Liz Morris all live within one mile of each other in a

small Wiltshire village called Aldbourne. It is a close

community and their children have all been friends since

pre school.

‘We wanted our children to join Scouting but there

was no local Colony,’ says Liz. ‘Because our eldest three

children were reaching Beaver Scout age, we realised

that the only way to let them experience Scouting was

to take action ourselves.’ Jude’s husband is the local

Assistant Cub Scout Leader and he suggested opening

a Colony. ‘It was a big challenge as none of us had

been Beaver Scout Leaders before.’ They knew that

none of them were able to commit fully to the

responsibility of the section leader, so they came up

with an ingenious solution.

All four decided to become joint leaders. They are the

complete leadership team – the leader, the assistant

leader, the parent helper, with the fourth acting carer

for the seven younger siblings. However, it is run on a

rotational basis, so every week they change roles.

How it works ‘The system works on a rotational weekly basis,’

explains Pauline. ‘One person will provide childcare and

feed the younger children at their house while the other

three run the meeting.’ One of the three will then act as

leader every four weeks.’ This means planning activities

and games for the evening. And you act as leader only

once every four weeks.’

‘Our Beaver Scouts meet on a Monday evening,’ adds

Jude, so on the Saturday, the acting leader for the

following week will send round a list of the games and

Mothers’ prideFour mums with a total of ten children aged between two to nine. A desire

to send the older ones to Beaver Scouts only to discover there is no Colony

in their village. Hilary Galloway meets a team of enterprising mums who

decided to take on this challenge and send job sharing to the next level

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feature

13scouts.org.uk/pol

activities, along with jobs for the two ‘assistants’. ‘This

could be anything from buying some crafts to

organising food,’ says Shireen.

And how do they manage what to me sounds like a

very complicated process? ‘Colour coding and

spreadsheets! It hasn’t failed yet,’ says Pauline. ‘We’ve

never had a night where we don’t know exactly what

we are doing.’

‘It works because we all have different skills and not

one of us was keen on being the sole leader. ‘It’s an

easy way to split our time and takes away what we all

felt would be a daunting prospect of being fully

responsible for the role,’ adds Shireen.

Launching the new Colony ‘All the Beavers and the four of us were invested

together in a ceremony by our village pond. It was a

great way to publicise the new Colony!’, says Liz. ‘Our

younger children also love the weekly get-together;

they have tea together and a great time.’

‘We divvy up the different elements of the little

jobs. I do badge work, Pauline does PR and IT,

Jude is our outdoor expert and Shireen manages

all the admin’, says Liz.

Since most of them were new to Scouting, was it

what they expected? ‘Leaders are much younger than I

thought and the support out there is great, both locally

and nationally,’ says Liz. ‘We’ve had an enormous

amount of support from our Executive committee’, adds

Pauline. ‘They raised the funds for us to do our training

course’ (which they obviously all did together!).

I’m heartened to hear that the supplement is also a

regular, useful resource for the new leaders. ‘I use the

Beaver supplements for ideas and inspiration,’ says Liz.

‘The Programmes on a Plate have helped us out on

more than one occasion.’

I leave the bunch of leaders and mums to backwoods

cooking training, something they are already

enthusiastically planning for the next week’s meeting.

If you use an unusual system for running a

successful Colony please let us know at

scouting.magazine@scout.org.uk

more info

From left to right: Shireen, Jude, Liz, Pauline.

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14 Beavers June/July 2009

P rogramme planning can be a daunting task.

Where do you begin? How far ahead should

you plan? One term at a time has normally

worked for me, although outings sometimes

need to be planned further in advance. If you are

fortunate enough to have an enthusiastic leadership

team, arrange to meet with them near the end of term

or during the break. Two or more heads are much better

than one. Here are some guidelines for planning your

programme in six easy stages.

1. Outline the datesBefore your planning meeting, mark up a calendar or

chart for each month of the term. Include meeting

nights and holidays, plus any other Colony, Group or

District events or outings. Also mark dates that are on

or near any special occasions that you may want to

observe in your programme, such as Mothers’ Day,

Bonfire Night and religious festivals. These dates could

also inspire themes for other meetings. For example,

prior to Bonfire Night, you may want to make sure the

Beavers know all about fire safety. A harvest festival

service could be heralded by a fruit and vegetable

theme; Saints’ Days may give rise to learning about the

countries with which they are associated, their people,

cultures, food and so on. You now have something to

work on when your leadership team gets together…

2. Choose your themes As well as the major events and anniversaries, The Colony Programme gives further examples of making

charts for planning your programme. There is no need to

plan every game and activity at this stage. For now, you

can decide on your basic themes. Once decided, you can

break it down by using the tried and tested method of

brainstorming. Simply write the word or phrase in the

centre of a large sheet of paper and draw lines from it,

pointing to all the things it reminds you of. This should

give you a host of ideas for quite a few meetings.

3. Choose the right badges for your Beavers Think about the activity badges the Beavers could work

on. Several badges can be achieved at Colony meetings

and the Beavers could help to choose these beforehand. I

wouldn’t advise working on too many at one time - one

for each half of the term is normally enough and allow

two meetings per badge.

4. Programme ZonesYou should now have several dates filled in. Next, check

out the six Programme Zones, which can be found on

fire safety

Halloween

fireworks

bonfires

kites

windDark evenings Diwali

light

harvest

thanks

fruit & veg.

healthy eating

help others

keeping safe

AUTUMN

changing colours

leaf fall

6 steps to stress-free planningAlready in a cold sweat about next term’s activities

and ideas? Maggie Bleksley shares her tips for

stress-free programme planning

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programme plannıng

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healthy eating

help others

www.scouts.org.uk or in The Colony Programme. Try to

cover each zone at least once during half a term. Some

may give you ideas for more programmes, while others

will fit in with what you have already planned. For

instance, the Community Zone may inspire a trip to the

fire station or a walk around the local town. Another

zone, such as Creative, may be already taken care of if

you have elected to include a cooking or handicraft

evening. If not, a craft or a new song can easily be

incorporated into any theme.

5. Choose your activitiesNow it is time to choose some activities. Tailor these to

suit the needs of your Beaver Scouts. As with the

Programme Zones, some activities will fit neatly into

your planned themes, while others will give you ideas

for some of the blank dates. To discover your Colony’s

needs, check the Beaver Scouts’ record sheets. If you

have recorded their progress towards achieving their

challenge badges, you will see where most of them

have gaps. Remember, each Challenge has three

different areas. Perhaps they have recently learned

about Scouting in another country, but need to do

some work on cultures and environment to gain their

Global Challenge? Stuck for ideas? It is well worth

investing in a copy of The Colony Programme Plus, you

will find lots of excellent suggestions to cover most

areas of all the challenges.

You should now have filled up most of your dates. If

you still have a few blanks, you may like to keep a

couple free for last-minute ideas, or to fill in anything

else you fancy.

6. Create a balanced programmeThis is not as difficult as you may think. The Scout

Association recommends 12 different methods to run a

balanced and interesting programme. You will probably

be using most of them regularly in your programme

already. All you need to do is check that you are

including them all. You will probably need some extra

paper, a notebook or large diary at this stage, so that you

can add some ideas for activities.

Like your programme, the planning meetings should

be fun, not a never-ending chore, so don’t feel you have

to plan every activity in detail before anyone can go

home. Apart from the first few weeks, all you need to

know is who is going to run these activities and check

that they are going ahead nearer the time. Flexibility is

essential in hassle-free planning. There are always

unforeseen circumstances, such as when a leader has to

back out at the last minute. As long as you have a good

repertoire of games and other fillers, it won’t be the end

of the world if you have to have to miss or postpone a

planned activity for one evening. The important thing is

– have fun!

Search ‘community’ on www.scouts.org.uk/pol

Find it online

The Programme Zones • Beliefs and Attitudes• Community• Fitness• Creative• Global• Outdoor and

Adventure

The methods• Help others• Play games• Explore their world• Undertake prayer and worship• Listen to stories• Follow themes• Go on visits• Make things• Meet new people• Act, sing and

make music• Chat• Go outdoors

Order The Colony Programme and The Colony Programme Plus from www.scouts.org.uk/shop

Log on to www.scouts.org.uk/pol for ideas.

You can search for an activity by typing in the

keyword, zone and/or method.

more info

6 steps to stress-free planning

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16 Beavers June/July 2009

Eggs in potatoes To make each one you will need:

a part-cooked potato and egg per Beaver Scout

- Cut a reasonable-sized, part-cooked potato in

half and scoop out a hollow.

- Crack an egg into the hole and put the two

halves together.

- Wrap the spud in a layer of greased foil, then

a layer of wet newspaper (to stop it burning),

then more foil.

- Place in a bed of embers for the traditional

time unit of camp cooking: ‘about 20 minutes’.

Damper bread with jam and butter Makes 20 servings

Ingredients:4 cups self-raising flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp soft butter

1 cup milk

½ cup water

- Give all the Beaver Scouts a chance to knead

everything together into a soft dough.

- Break the dough into handful size pieces and

give one to each Beaver Scout.

- Wrap around peeled, green sticks and toast

over the embers, or wrap ‘loaves’ in foil and

paper as before and bake for ‘about 20 minutes’.

Recipes for successIt’s camping season so give your Beaver Scouts a

taste of backwoods cooking with our bushcraft

enthusiast Ruth Hubbard

C ooking on wood is an art, which children are

never too young to learn. Most Beavers

cheerfully take the Great Fire of London as

inspiration, reducing sausages to blackened,

case-hardened shells around pulpy pink pork but

backwoods cooking (cooking without utensils) is,

easy. There are no flames to control, just a nice bed of

embers to create, and, best of all, there’s no washing

up. The basic equipment is foil, wet newspapers and

stout leather gardening gloves, to handle packages of

food on the fires.

Backwoods cooking has everything needed for a

happy Beaver: the outdoors, fire and food. Add

marshmallows and you have Beaver heaven. Here is a

sample of my Colony’s favourite recipes:

Fire starters Unless confining yourself to marshmallows and perhaps

a pan of bacon, you will need to light your fires about

an hour before the meeting. Have a ready supply of

quick-burning wood to stoke the fires to a decent size

so they can burn down to a bed of embers by the time

the food preparation is complete (broken pallets

are too insubstantial and do not make

good embers).

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17scouts.org.uk/pol

backwoods cooking

Correction to the April/May Firelighting articleIn the last Beaver Scout magazine, Ruth’s article was edited and the steps to firelighting accidently rearranged. Ruth did not imply that Beaver Scouts should be given a tinder box. The editors apologise for any confusion caused.

ResourcesFactsheet The Burning Properties of Wood (FS315001)

www.scouts.org.uk/infocentre

Backwoods Cooking £3.50 from www.scouts.org.uk/infocentre

Safety checklistSafety is paramount. You should have at

least one adult to six Beaver Scouts, plus the

leader in charge, ensuring that there are at

least two adults per fire – one adult whose job

is NEVER to leave the fire unattended and

another to act as gofer. Each fire should have a

bucket of water and a mug, with which to pour

water over any burns and to put the fire out if

it goes wrong. Do not forget the usual food

hygiene rules and your first aid kit.

Savoury mince with vegetablesMakes 6 servings

Ingredients: 450g (1lb) mince (part-cooked)

1 onion

2 carrots

2 medium-sized potatoes

Handful of frozen peas

Jug of ready mixed gravy

On a sleepover, where we have more time,

this is always a huge tea-time hit.

- Mix the mince with chopped onions, carrots,

potatoes, frozen peas and a dollop of gravy.

- Wrap individual portions in foil and paper.

- Cook for about 20 minutes, or until done,

and eat from the packet.

- If the Beavers are going to use sharp knives

they will need 1:1 adult supervision.

Wild foodsWild foods can be a great way to introduce

healthy eating to Beaver Scouts while you are

sitting round the campfire.

In late summer there’s blackberries, crab

apples, elderberries (try adding them like

currants to the damper bread), rosehips and

nuts. Research is essential – you will be amazed

at what you can do (Ray Mear’s Wild Foods book is a great place to start).

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IMAGINATION BADGE

18 Beavers June/July 2009

‘Draught’ as a brush

Lead the charge in the quest to be green, with Jetix and the Imagination Badge

To receive your FREE Jetix Imagination Activity

Badge pack visit www.scouts.org.uk/jetix

Beavers can get plenty of great inspiration to

complete the Imagination Badge tasks by

logging onto www.jetix.co.uk/beavers

more info

‘Draught’ as a brush

Lead the charge in the quest to be green, with Jetix and

K ids TV channel Jetix, sponsor of the

exciting Beaver Scouts Imagination Activity

Badge has been bowled over by the

fantastic interest received in its badge

and the associated dinosaur draught excluder

competition. Feedback from leaders and Beavers has

been hugely positive.

To continue such a fantastic response, Jetix has added

even more exciting characters to its TV line-up this

spring. Tune in to catch all the action with the launch of

three brand new animated shows: Kid Vs. Kat, Jimmy Two Shoes and Total Drama Island.

Kid Vs. Kat sees ten year-old Coop Burtonburger’s

idyllic life turned upside down when his little sister

Millie brings home a mysterious stray cat. Coop soon

discovers Kat is more than just a scrawny, purple,

hairless pet; he’s also a super-smart, conniving

mastermind who dislikes Coop with a vengeance! So

begins the battle as Coop tries to stop the ferocious

feline and tell the world about his diabolical plans, only

to find Kat destroying the evidence every time.

Jimmy, a thrill-seeking optimist lives in Miseryville, the

most miserable place around. Along with his best

friends Heloise (part-time genius, full-time soul-crusher)

and Beezy (lover of adventure once you get him off the

couch), Jimmy is determined to surf past all obstacles

and bring his infectious enthusiasm to the whole town!

Also bringing forth a raft of madcap characters is the

hugely successful animated reality show, Total Drama

Island. The series pits 22 teens against each other in a

‘Survivor’ style contest to win the ultimate prize. Each

week one teen is eliminated and forced to walk the

dreaded ‘Dock of Shame’. With tension, tears, spoilt

and loud-mouthed characters (and every other

personality in between) prepare for the channel’s most

dramatic and hilarious show yet!

A draughty taskThe Jetix Imagination Activity Badge asks Beaver Scouts to

use the power of their imagination to complete a series of

eco-themed tasks, including creating a dinosaur-themed

draught excluder. The activities are intended to demonstrate

that small but simple actions could help reduce our impact

on the planet and protect it for the future.

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