Scout or Youth Ages 11-14
Make sure you look at the next days adventure to make sure you have the right materials! Remember you do not have to finish every days adventure that day, some might take a few days to complete, or you can just mix and match each day up...NO RULES, Just Have FUN!
Every Morning
Wash Your Hands Challenge - Fun way to make sure you are washing your hands enough throughout the day! What you will need; a stamp and ink pad or a washable marker (you may have to re-apply at Lunch), Stamp or Mark the back side of each hand, the challenge is to have the stamp or mark completely gone by the end of the day, depending on the ink or marker you many have mini-challenges throughout the day. Care Givers can have special rewards for the youth who complete the challenge daily.
Week 1
Day 1
Master Chef - A master chef challenge is a cooking contest. Competitors have to prepare a dish or a meal, and judges decide who’s come up with the tastiest creation. Often, the playing field is leveled by requiring everyone use the same key ingredient. This twist can even be a surprise to the cooks. Plan a meal where members of your Family compete against one another to come up with the most delicious and memorable meal. You can work in pairs to impress your Family (Kids against Adults, Farther & Son against Mother & Daughter or any other combination), and come up with a judging system to decide on a winning pair at the end of the meal. You might even want to use a special key ingredient—but it should be something that you’ll be happy to eat …How does everyone feel about spinach? Remember to wash your hands before touching food!
Plan:
• When and where will you plan your menu (in pairs)? • Will each pair do its own shopping or find things already around your house? • What meals are appropriate to the Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner? • Will you have a common ingredient? Will it be a surprise? |
Do:
• Brainstorm and practise great camp recipes • Prepare some awesome meals that will wow everyone’s taste buds! |
Solar Water Still - Build a solar water still to clean dirty water and make it safe to drink. A “still” is used to “distill” the water by separating out dirt and some bacteria. Water evaporates onto a piece of glass or plastic – leaving dirt and bacteria in the bottom. Then, clean water is collected for drinking or cooking.
Plan:
• What do you know about the water cycle? • How do you want to build your solar still? Will it be portable or dug into the ground? • What will you use to build your solar still? • What will you use to collect the clean water? • How will you test the quality of your distilled water? Review:
• What do you know now that you did not know before? • How could you increase the rate at which the water evaporates? • How would a solar still help someone without access to running water? • Is the still portable to take on a backpacking trip? If not, what might you do to make it so? • What elements of STEM did you use in this adventure? Science? Technology? Engineering? Mathematics? |
Do:
• Thinking about everything you know about the water cycle, draw up a design for your still. • Collect all of the materials you will need. • Build your solar still. • How can you increase the temperature inside the still? Safety Tip:
• Never drink water that has not been distilled or filtered in some way. • Always test that water from an unknown source is safe to drink before ingesting. If you are unsure, boil water for five minutes. |
Day 2
Sensory Deprivation Map - Imagine that you have arrived in a new environment. How will you find out more about your new surroundings? Cover your ears with headphones and your eyes with a blindfold. Then, use your hands and nose to explore the world around you. Another member of your family will guide you and help you avoid obstacles. As you go, tell your partner about what you notice. Your partner will keep track of the locations of each observation and transcribe them onto a map. At the end, gather everyone’s observations onto a single map to create a record of your observations.
Plan:
• Where will you do this adventure? What boundaries will you set? • What maps will you use? • What do you know about your senses? • How do you use your senses to explore the world? Safety Tip:
• How can you stay safe when wearing a blindfold? Keep one hand out in front of you to protect you, and the other hand on your partner. Move slowly to avoid tripping or falling. Materials:
• Blindfolds • Earplugs or sound-canceling headphones • Paper and pen |
Do:
• In your pairs, decide who will wear the blindfold and headphones first. • The other Scout will lead his or her partner around the area within the boundaries. • As you move around the space together, tell your partner what you observe using your other senses. What do you smell? What do you feel? Do you taste anything in the air? How do these observations change as you move through the space? • Your partner will record your observations and mark on the map your observation. • At the end of the walk, record all of the observations and locations from each partner on a single map • Each person can create a map as they go! |
Scouts World - Personal Achievement Badge
Objective: I will explore what it means to be an active and contributing citizen of the world.
When planning your adventure, consider including:
Here are some ideas to get you going on creating your own adventures:
Adventure Idea 1: Think Globally, Act Locally
1. Make a list of world issues that are important to you. Find out how Scouting makes a positive difference for an issue on your list. Contact a Service Scouter to find out how you can get involved.
2. Lend a hand to your cause. Organize your Patrol in a service project that can help others in another part of the world. 3. Keep a journal of your effort. With your Patrol, tell the rest of the Troop about what you did for the cause you’ve chosen and why you were motivated to help. You might use a play, a song, a slideshow or a video.
4. Now act locally. How is this world issue connected in your community? For example, we hear of famine and hunger in other countries, but we have people who are in need of food in our own communities. Find a way that you can make a positive impact. Try to get your Patrol to help with your project.
5. Now find a creative way to share what you have learned. How can you encourage others outside of your Troop to follow your example and take positive action on this issue?
Adventure Idea 2: Around the World in Five Courses
1. What are the countries of origin for the recipes and foods your family enjoys? What foods of other ethnic origins have you always wanted to taste or make? Create a list of foods you would like to taste and/or learn to cook. Find recipes for some of the foods on your list and give them a try.
2. Plan and prepare a meal for your family or your Patrol that takes them around the world in five courses. For example, a Caribbean style salad, a Peruvian appetizer, a South African main dish, a dessert based on a recipe from Pakistan and to finish, a plate of Dutch style cheeses. Make sure to include some of the foods you have always wanted to try from the list you made.
3. Arrange a trip to a restaurant, market or someone in your neighbourhood who can help you taste and learn about the foods you want to include in your meal.
4. Prepare and serve your “around the world” meal. With each course, share some fun facts about the country of origin for your dish.
5. Imagine coming from another country and needing to start grocery shopping in your part of Canada (maybe this is your family’s experience.) What foods might be a challenge to find? Visit a local foodbank and find out about “ethnic” foods that are requested but not always available.
Other Ideas! Start with these and develop the five parts to your adventure.
Need some more ideas?Look at the Trail Cards for Rideau Trail (Citizenship), Red Coat Trail (Leadership) and West Coast Trail (Beliefs & Values) to inspire an adventure to try on your own.
Objective: I will explore what it means to be an active and contributing citizen of the world.
When planning your adventure, consider including:
- an aspect that helps you learn about and/or engage municipal, provincial and/or national levels of government
- community involvement or service
- the spirit of the Scout Law or Promise in your adventure
Here are some ideas to get you going on creating your own adventures:
Adventure Idea 1: Think Globally, Act Locally
1. Make a list of world issues that are important to you. Find out how Scouting makes a positive difference for an issue on your list. Contact a Service Scouter to find out how you can get involved.
2. Lend a hand to your cause. Organize your Patrol in a service project that can help others in another part of the world. 3. Keep a journal of your effort. With your Patrol, tell the rest of the Troop about what you did for the cause you’ve chosen and why you were motivated to help. You might use a play, a song, a slideshow or a video.
4. Now act locally. How is this world issue connected in your community? For example, we hear of famine and hunger in other countries, but we have people who are in need of food in our own communities. Find a way that you can make a positive impact. Try to get your Patrol to help with your project.
5. Now find a creative way to share what you have learned. How can you encourage others outside of your Troop to follow your example and take positive action on this issue?
Adventure Idea 2: Around the World in Five Courses
1. What are the countries of origin for the recipes and foods your family enjoys? What foods of other ethnic origins have you always wanted to taste or make? Create a list of foods you would like to taste and/or learn to cook. Find recipes for some of the foods on your list and give them a try.
2. Plan and prepare a meal for your family or your Patrol that takes them around the world in five courses. For example, a Caribbean style salad, a Peruvian appetizer, a South African main dish, a dessert based on a recipe from Pakistan and to finish, a plate of Dutch style cheeses. Make sure to include some of the foods you have always wanted to try from the list you made.
3. Arrange a trip to a restaurant, market or someone in your neighbourhood who can help you taste and learn about the foods you want to include in your meal.
4. Prepare and serve your “around the world” meal. With each course, share some fun facts about the country of origin for your dish.
5. Imagine coming from another country and needing to start grocery shopping in your part of Canada (maybe this is your family’s experience.) What foods might be a challenge to find? Visit a local foodbank and find out about “ethnic” foods that are requested but not always available.
Other Ideas! Start with these and develop the five parts to your adventure.
- Where is the next World Scout Jamboree? Plan to attend and make the preparations for the Jamboree into your World Scout badge adventure.
- Are there nearby Scouts or Scouters who have attended a jamboree in another country who would love to share their experience with you or your Troop? Invite someone who’s attended an international jamboree to come and tell you all about it.
- Be part of international Scouting through Messengers of Peace. Find out more about this program at Scouts.ca.
- Find out about a ScoutsAbroad development project. Details are available on the Scouts Canada website. Get involved in a project that interests you.
- Organize your Troop’s participation in a Pen Pal Program. Register your Troop’s interest on the ScoutsAbroad page of the Scouts Canada website and manage the Pen Pal Program for your Troop.
- Study a new language and learn some phrases that would be useful if you travelled where that language is used.
- Check the country of origin of all the food and materials you use in a week in your household. On a map of the world, pinpoint all the countries.
- What world religions are you familiar with? Have you worshipped with another faith group? Pick another faith and learn more about it. Interview someone for whom this faith is important. Visit his or her place of worship.
Need some more ideas?Look at the Trail Cards for Rideau Trail (Citizenship), Red Coat Trail (Leadership) and West Coast Trail (Beliefs & Values) to inspire an adventure to try on your own.
Day 3
Dreamcatchers - A dreamcatcher is a traditional charm of the Ojibwe people. It is a small decorated hoop that is said to filter out bad dreams, ensuring a peaceful night’s sleep. Making dreamcatchers is a fun activity that you can do at home. You can make your own to show off your creativity. Perhaps best of all, making dreamcatchers is a good way to practise Scoutcraft skills that you can use in all kinds of ways.
Plan:• What materials and tools do you need?
• What skills are required? Who can teach you any skills you need to learn? • How exactly do you make a dreamcatcher? |
Do:
• Take the time to research or learn from someone how to make dreamcatchers. Execute your plan and make your own dreamcatcher. |
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Milk Plastic - How much plastic waste does your Family produce? Explore recyclable materials and use milk and vinegar to make a biodegradable material.
Plan:
• How much plastic waste does your Family produce during the week? How much waste do you produce at home? • What plastics are recyclable in your area? • How will you heat up your milk solution? Materials:
For each Scout: • 200 mL skim milk or enough milk powder for 200 mL milk • 500 mL glass container • 20 mL vinegar • Spoon • Scrap of cloth (to strain) • Hot plate or camp stove • Pot • Oven mitts • Measuring cup • Glass jar • Scale • Optional: Other acids, such as lemon juice or pop |
Do:
Activity#1: How Much Plastic? • Collect the plastic waste produced by your Family, either during a day or over the course of a week. Make sure all plastic waste is clean and dry. • Weigh the plastic waste produced. At this rate, how much plastic waste would you produce in a year? • Which plastics can be replaced by reusable items? Eliminated all together? Which plastics are not recyclable? Take those ones out of the mix and measure the weight again. What difference does it make in your yearly waste production? • Do you know what plastic is made of? What are bioplastics? Activity #2: Creating the plastic • You will need a glass jar and hotplate or a stove. • Slowly heat 200 mL of milk in a pot until it is hot but not boiling. • While the milk is heating, put 20 mL of vinegar in the glass container. • Once the milk is hot, take it off the hot plate and pour it into the glass jar. • Clumps should be forming in the milk. Stir the mixture gently for about two minutes or until clumps stop forming. • Use a strainer to strain the vinegar and milk mixture into a plastic cup. • Squeeze out the excess fluid from the solid left on top of the strainer. • Knead this solid material into any shape you like. The thicker the form, the stronger it will be. • If the solid is left in the sunlight, it will turn hard and become plastic. • Let the plastic dry out over a weekend or a week. What causes the solution to become solid? Extension: • Does the amount of vinegar affect the yield of casein (plastic)? • Does the type of milk affect the yield of casein (plastic)? • Does the type of acid (lemon juice, orange juice, pop, other types of vinegar) affect the yield of casein (plastic)? • Does the temperature of the mixture affect the yield of casein (plastic)? |
Day 4
Spiritual Retreat - As a Family, plan a spiritual retreat. If you Family practices a specific religion, this could be an opportunity to continue to explore your faith together. As a Family, take the opportunity to learn about the beliefs and traditions of other from around the World. If your Family doesn't practices any particular religion, or your Family is Atheist or Agnostic, there are many different activities you can still do on a spiritual retreat. Whatever your beliefs, a break from your day-to-day routine and an opportunity to connect with nature and your fellow human-being can be an enriching way to learn about yourself and your place in the world.
Plan:
• Will your retreat have a specific theme to explore (such as peace, neighbours, compassion, courage)? What theme would you like to explore? • What gear do you need? • What will be the retreat’s agenda? What activities will you do? • How can everyone respect one another’s beliefs during the retreat? |
Do:
• Enjoy your spiritual retreat. If it rains, find meaning in the weather. |
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Day 5
Campfire Host - As Masters of Ceremonies, organize a fun and formal campfire for your family to attend. If you like, invite your Family to contribute skits, songs and cheers.(See Beaver Scout & Cub Scout Day 5 - For Campfire ideas and Songs) Make it one for the record books! From opening to closing, create one blazing evening that will be burned into people’s memories for years to come!
Plan:
• What do you want to include in your campfire program? • How will you light the fire? • How will you start your campfire and end your campfire? • How will you divide up hosting duties if there is more than one MC? • Compose a safety plan. |
Do:
• Take part in a great formal campfire |
Campfire Stories - At a campfire, take turns sharing skits, reliving experiences around a given theme, such as “Best Day Ever” or “The Bravest Thing I Ever Did.” What a great way to learn a little more about your Family.
Plan:
• Decide on your campfire skit theme. • How long will you have to create your skit? • What size of groups will you work in or will you work solo? • This activity will work well as part of a camp, and the theme for the stories might relate somehow to the day you’ve just shared. For example, after a long day of paddling against the wind on a canoe trip, you and your Patrol might reflect on other difficult challenges you’ve faced by dramatizing them |
Do:
• On a camp, take some time at the campfire to share stories on a theme of your Patrol’s choice |
Week 2
Day 6
Mental Health Check-Up!
Bee Hotels - Bees play an important role in nature. They pollinate plants, enabling them to grow fruit and seeds for new plants. While honey bees live in hives, other species of bee are solitary—they live on their own. These bees are still pollinators, however, and are just as important as honey bees. Because of the use of pesticides and the destruction of natural habitat, the overall bee population in Canada is in significant decline. What can your Patrol do to help? Build a bee hotel to create a safe place for solitary bees to stay. These are easy to build, and can be a valuable addition to any garden. Remember—bees help grow food!
Plan:
• What materials and tools do you need for this project? • Where will you get your materials and tools? • When and where will you build your bee hotels? • Where will you set up your bee hotels? |
Do:
• Build your bee hotels. • Set them up in gardens where the bees can help to pollinate the plants. Safety note:
• What safety practices do you need to keep in mind when using tools to build your bee hotel? • Don’t forget to post signs on your bee hotels. People should stay away from them to avoid being stung. • Bee stings can be deadly. People who are allergic to stings should be prepared with EpiPens, even though bees will probably only move into the hotels after they’ve been set up. |
Day 7
Make a Sandwich - Stand, back-to-back, alongside a table. Place supplies for making peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches on the table. The individuals facing the table will be responsible for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Their partners, who are facing the audience, will provide the direction. Sandwich makers should follow these basic instructions: Do literally what your partner instructs you to do. You may not show your partner what you are doing until the sandwich is done, and your partner may not turn around to look. When you have completed the task, your partner may then turn to face the sandwich.
Plan:
• How will you make up your pairs? • What materials do you need for this adventure? • What problems in communication do you forecast? Safety Note:
• While this activity is predicated on removing common sense and only relying on explicit instruction, keep your common sense if you run into anything that could be potentially dangerous. • How can you ensure this adventure is safe for anyone with allergies? |
Do:
• Make a sandwich! |
Scouts Earth - Personal Achievement Badge
Objective: I will explore environment, nature, research and/or leisure pursuits as they relate to the earth.
When planning your adventure, consider including:
- an environmental aspect and/or a leisure pursuit.
- an outdoor activity or research
Here are some ideas to get you going on creating your own adventures:
Adventure Idea 1: Hiking on Different Terrains
1. Plan several day hikes for your Patrol, with each planned for a different terrain. How does hiking on a variety of terrains influence your planning? For example, what challenges can you expect when hiking on steep, rocky slopes? What equipment will you need for this hike?
2. Hike through the forest, off of a marked trail. How can you travel in the forest off of a trail and not get lost?
3. Hike a trail at a wetland. Consider how the trail has been engineered for the terrain.
4. Plan an urban hike. Consider how people have changed the landscape, and how these changes influence your experience.
5. Create a photo journal of your hikes to share with your family and/or Patrol.
Adventure Idea 2: Tent Peg Challenge
1. Visit your local Scout Shop or another camping store to find out about different kinds of tent peg.
2. Plan a camping trip with your Patrol. Bring along a variety of pegs for your tent. Try them out and find out which works best for different kinds of terrain.
3. Experiment with ways to Leave No Trace when setting up camp. Do some pegs have less impact than others?
4. Having done the research, invent your own tent peg, then try it out on various terrains.
5. Share what you’ve learned with your Troop when it is time to plan your next camp.
Other Ideas! Start with these and develop the five parts to your adventure.
- Take on the Scoutree challenge. Lead your Scout Troop in taking on this annual activity. Find out more about Scoutrees: when it started and what its purpose is. What do you need to do in order to spread the word about Scoutrees? Think about a planting day and come up with a plan to make it a special day for your Group.
- Learn from someone knowledgeable how to feed yourself with edible plants in your area and create a cooking challenge using these plants. Be aware of dangerous plants.
- Discover what natural disasters related to the theme of this badge (like landslides and earthquakes) might happen in your area. Present your Patrol with a disaster scenario to hone its response skills.
- Sod huts kept people on the prairies warm and dry through the cold winters. Learn about building sod huts and create a small version.
- Live off the land! Plant crops of your own choosing and work on your garden from planting through to harvest. Then create a meal for your family or your Patrol with the produce from your garden. What did you need to do to be a successful gardener?
- Near a beach? Set up a sandcastle building challenge. What will be the rules? What equipment can each group use? How much time will they have to build their castle? Who will be the judges? What will be the categories for judging? Will you have prizes?
- In Scouting, we use compasses to help find our bearings or sense of direction. Compasses work because of the composition of our planet. Explore how compasses work, and attempt to produce your own compass using metal.
Day 8
Helium Stick - As a Family, form two equal lines and stand facing one another. Point your index fingers at the person standing opposite you and hold them up at chest height—everyone in the row should have their fingers held at the same level. Your facilitator will rest a pole on your fingers (a tent pole works well). Your challenge is to bring the pole down to the ground as a group. Sounds easy, right? Here’s the catch—everyone needs to keep both of their index fingers in contact with the pole while you bring it down to the ground. You’ll find this task isn’t nearly as easy as you expect!
Plan:
• What materials do you need for this activity? • Who will facilitate the activity? Who will lead? What’s the difference? • What strategy might be helpful for this challenge? Who in your group has done this activity before? |
Do:
• Lower your “helium pole” to the ground. Don’t let it float away! |
Scout Sundial - For centuries, humans have relied on the sun to keep track of the passage of time. Even after the invention of the modern clock, sundials were used to reset these clocks and keep them accurate. As a Family, build your own sundial to tell time and explore how the sun moves through the sky over the course of a day. How does this change at different times of the year?
Plan:
• Where will you build your sundial? How will it be positioned? • What kind of sundial will you build? • What tools and materials will you need to build your sundial? • What’s a gnomon and at what angle should your gnomon be, relative to the base, to give correct time? • Where will you make the hour marks relative to the centre line? • How will you determine where the markers must be to keep correct time? |
Do:
• Gather your tools and materials. • Build your sundial, and calibrate it to keep correct time. Safety Tip:
• It’s not safe to look directly at the Sun. Wear sunglasses at all times when working or playing outside to protect your eyes. What else do you need to stay safe in the sun? • Make sure you know how to use all of your tools safely. • Wear safety gloves and glasses when handling tools and cutting wood or metal. |
Day 9
Spaghetti Bridge - Use pasta to build a bridge strong enough to cross a chasm! Experiment with structural design and engineering to build a bridge strong enough to support a jar of marbles.
Plan:
• How will Family create a 30-cm-wide valley for your bridges? • Do you want to do this adventure inside or outside? • What type of glue will you use to build your bridge? Hot glue will dry more quickly, but may cook the pasta and reduce structural integrity. White glue will take longer to dry and be more flexible. • Do you want to use any other types of pasta? How much will each group need? Safety Tip:
Be cautious when using hot glue and craft knives. Have a first aid kit handy. |
Do:
• As a Family, draft the design of your bridge. • The bridge must span a gap of 30 cm. The bridge should be as wide as the lasagne noodles. • The load (jar of marbles) will be applied at the centre of your bridge. • How many marbles does it take to break each bridge? Materials:
• Spaghetti (454 grams for each bridge) • Lasagna noodles (three sheets for each bridge) • Other types of pasta • Glue • Rulers • Utility/craft knives • Graphing paper and pencils • Marbles or other small weights • Jar or container |
Day 10
Camping Out Training - Get used to spending a night in a tent by setting up your tent indoors or out in your backyard. Have a sleepover with your whole family, but use camping gear to imagine a real Adventure. You wont be camping to far in your backyard or in your basement, there will not be to many bugs to worry about, and it will not matter if it rains, your family can just come back inside. Remember to see what the weather is going to be and camp inside if needed, safety is always the number one priority.
Plan:
• When and where will you share your indoor or backyard camping Adventure? • What should you pack? • What will you eat? • What games will you play? • Will you spend any time outside? • How might you help your indoor space have an outdoor look? |
Do: • Have a great indoor camping Adventure!
Safety note: Will your whole Adventure be indoors, or will you play outside before coming in to sleep? Be sure to pack everything you need for time outdoors on your Adventure. You may need a bug spray, a raincoat and a flashlight. What else should you pack? Remember to camp as a family! DO NOT PUT ANY HEAT SOURCE INTO INDOOR or OUTDOOR TENT!
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Campfire Host/Stories - Scroll back up to Day 5 and build or reuse the campfire you created and continue to create new stories, songs, ceremonies and traditions. At the end of each week we will be adding on to your camping adventure!
Week 3
Day 11
Bow Drill - Learn to make a bow drill and use it to light a fire. This is an ancient technique for fire-lighting, and it’s a valuable survival skill. Once you’ve begun to feel confident in your technique, put it to use in a competition. Members of the Company can race against one another to light a fire with a bow drill. Those who are most successful can offer some tips to members of the Company who aren’t having as much success with this truly difficult skill.
Plan:
• Does anyone in your Family know how to light a fire with a bow drill? If not, where can you learn about this skill? • What equipment will you need? Most elements for the bow drill kit will be best sourced in nature, to simulate a survival situation and minimize expense. • Set a location and itinerary for the activity. This may be done at a camp or alone at home. Be prepared to spend significantly more time on this activity than some television or online videos would suggest. This activity is more likely to take a few hours than a few minutes—but the latter is possible! |
Do:
• Craft your bow drill set • Practise lighting a fire • Compete against the other members of your family to ignite a tinder bundle Safety note:
• Use a sharp knife to craft your bow drill set. A sharp knife is less likely to slip and cause injury. • What preparations will you make to thoroughly extinguish the campfires? • If you do not have your Knife Certificate and proper training, you may need assistant from an adult. |
Day 12
Scout Water - Personal Achievement Badges
Objective: I will explore environment, nature, research and/or leisure pursuits as they relate to water.
When planning your adventure, consider including:
- an environmental aspect and/or a leisure pursuit
- an outdoor activity or research
Here are some ideas to get you going on creating your own adventures:Adventure Idea 1: Canoe or hike an historical water route
1. Pick an historical water route accessible to you. Find out about the route and plan a paddling or hiking trip for your Patrol. Share some of the history when you are on your outing.
2. Integrate a challenge that fits with the history of your route. For example, First Nations and early European explorers would prepare their meals over campfires – not on camp stoves. If you are on an overnight adventure, plan to cook your meals without the aid of stoves.
3. How is the water route a source of food as well as a means of travel? Identify and sample wild edible plants on your outing. Bring fishing gear and try to catch a fish. Be safe – eat only what you are sure is edible.
4. Find out what environmental stresses this waterway faces. Add to your plan a way that you can help the environment along the route, either by gathering litter, keeping to pathways, counting bird species, etc.
5. Create a log of your journey by taking photos, recording video, drawing pictures, taking notes or in some other way.
Adventure Idea 2: The Best Paddle of All
1. Why are canoe paddles the shape they are? Find out about some of the different shapes of paddles, then collect a few of them to try out. Which shape is your favourite?
2. What other paddles are used for other water activities? What are the differences between a kayak paddle, a canoe paddle and a row boat oar? Try these different kinds of paddles out, too. Is there a style of paddling or rowing that you enjoy most?
3. Try out paddles made out of different materials. Reflect on the pros and cons of each material.
4. Using what you’ve learned, create your own canoe paddle. You might start with a kit or start from scratch.
5. What can be done with old canoe paddles that are no longer water worthy? Find an old canoe paddle and reuse it to create a new item. Other Ideas! Start with these and develop the five parts to your adventure.
- Panning for gold has always intrigued people, and has made a few rich. Do any rivers or streams in your area have a history of producing gold? Learn about the techniques of panning for gold, and give your luck a try in an appropriate and safe location.
- Discover a local fish species improvement project. This might include restoring stream banks, planting stream cover, cleaning up river banks, or releasing fingerling fish in spring. Find out how you can be involved and lend a hand.
- Ever been fishing? Learn about fishing outfits and how the gear is used. Plan, prepare and go on a fishing outing. Learn how to clean and cook a fish. Do you need a fishing license? Is there a catch and release program in your area for certain species?
- Pick a nearby body of water. Observe plant and animal life in and around water. What human activities might have an effect? Keep a detailed log. If possible, take pictures and/ or videos.
- Learn to handle a fly fishing rig, and set up a safe and fun fly fishing adventure.
- Learn about natural disasters related to water that might occur in your area, such as flooding or tsunamis, including the likelihood of various disasters occurring in your area and in other parts of Canada. Create a plan for these emergencies.
- Set up a healthy fish and plant population in an aquarium.
- Learn about different technologies for personal floatation devices and life jackets. Design and build your own model PFD or life jacket, for demonstration purposes.
- Design and build a model water vehicle like a sailboat, canoe or kayak.
- Set up raft races. Decide upon the materials each team will use. Then build and race.
- Take a dip in as many different bodies of water as you can this summer, while keeping safe.
Day 13
Tin Can Stove - The Tin Can Cooker is a homemade outdoor stove that really works. Generations of Scouts have learned to make and use “Buddy Burners” for camping and emergencies. Instead of wood or liquid fuel, the Tin Can Cooker burns a small can of wax and cardboard. A larger can fits over it and holds your cooking pot. Each wax can should burn an hour or more. Make several so you always have one on hand.
Instructions:
1. Curl up strips of cardboard and fit them loosely inside each of your small cans. Leave enough space for wax. Or you can cut short strips and arrange them to form a star that divides the can into pie-shaped slices. The cardboard will act as a wick to get the wax burning across the top of the can. Set the prepared cans on a protected surface, such as a cookie sheet covered in newspaper or aluminum foil. Place it close to where you’ll be melting the wax. 2. Break up wax or candles to fit into the top pan of the double boiler. Fill the bottom pan about halfway with water. Fit the top pan into it so it sits above the water. If you don’t have a double boiler, set a medium-sized saucepan so it sits over a larger saucepan of boiling water. Turn the stove on medium to heat the water to a steady boil. Let the wax melt until it is completely liquid.
3. Carefully pour the melted wax into the prepared cans. Leave the top edge of the cardboard sticking up above the level of the wax. If your wax starts to harden as you’re pouring it, just reheat it to melt it again. Let cool until hardened.
4. Take the large can and remove the entire top with a can opener. 5. Hold the large can with the open end pointing away from you. Take the church key can opener and make 3 or 4 openings at the closed end, around one side, about 1″ apart. |
6. Turn the large can so the opening is toward you. You have two options for letting air in at the bottom to feed the flames: If you don’t have tin snips: Use the church key can opener to punch holes all around the open end of the can, about 3″ apart. Take a pair of pliers and fold up the sharp points of metal created by each hole and squeeze them flat. If you do have tin snips: Create a flap that acts like a fireplace damper to control the airflow. The more oxygen, the higher the flames. Put on heavy work gloves to protect your hands from sharp metal edges. Use the tin snips to cut 2 slits into the side, about 3″ inches long and 3″ apart. Then grab the edge of the can between the slits and bend it outward to make the flap. 7. To use your stove, place the wax can on a flat, nonflammable surface, like a stone paver. Light the cardboard strips, like lighting the wick of a candle. You want the flame to cover the entire top of the can. When the wax can is lit, adjust the flap on the large can and place it over the smaller can so the holes on the top are facing away from you. (This keeps smoke from blowing in your face.) Now you can cook on top! Safety Tips for Tin Can Cookery
Tin Can Cookers use an open flame. They can be dangerous, so be sure to follow these safety rules!
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Day 14
Going Batty - Bats can be great neighbours. They eat lots of insects (especially mosquitoes!) and can help to make evenings a little more pleasant. Better yet, reducing the mosquito population can reduce the spread of West Nile virus. You can form an Expedition Team to build bat houses and create much-needed habitat for these exciting creatures. Set up your bat boxes around your homes or at your Scout camp. Check in on your bat boxes later in the summer to see if any bats have moved in. You can watch the bats take off in the evening just after sunset.
Plan:
• When and where will you build bat houses? • What tools and materials do you need? • How will you pay for this project? • Where will you set up your bat boxes? • What do you need to learn? Where can you get help? |
Do:
• Build you bat houses and set them up where they will likely attract some bats. • Visit your bat houses after a couple of months to see if they’ve become home to any bats. Safety note:
What safety practices do you need to follow when using power tools? What safety equipment do you need for personal protection? |
Day 15
Campfire Handbook - As a Family, compose a handbook of your favourite campfire songs, skits, cheers, openings and closings. This is both a great opportunity to talk as a family about your campfire favourites, and to come up with some new classics that can be passed on and added too. Over time this handbook could even become apart of your new Family Traditions when camping.
Plan:
• What will your book include? How long do you want it to be? • Will the book include many different elements, or will it focus on one or two (like skits and songs, or openings and closings)? • Will your book be entirely original, or will you include things that others came up with? • How will you publish your book? Will you print the pages, or create a digital resource? |
Do:
• Create your campfire handbook. Include some great new or under-appreciated things that will be a pleasant surprise at future campfires. Safety Note:
Some classic campfire songs, skits and cheers are not as acceptable today as they once were. Do not include content that is likely to offend somebody, though you might take on the challenge of adapting the song, skit or cheer to something respectful, if possible. |
Week 4
Day 16
The Early Bird Gets The Worm - Keep a journal of bird observations over a number of outings. This is a great way to learn about birds (and the broader ecosystem) in your area. Backyard observations, make or set out bird feeds, research what kinds of birds eat what, and different species of birds during different Seasons of the year.
Plan:
• Is there a local birder or birding group who can share best birding practices, especially for journaling? • What gear will you need? How will you get to the location? • What kind of journal do you want to keep? Why not have your style of journal complement some of your other passions: photography, writing, sketching, painting, blogging, videography, etc. • When camping, why not take advantage of free time to get out your binoculars, and try to take notes while observing or at the end of each day? • Consider setting a goal, and work towards it. You may want to refine your journal into a product for others to enjoy: a presentation to the Company, a photo album, a series of poems, etc. |
Do:
• Get out and observe some birds. If possible, dedicate several outings with this as the focus. • Journal your bird sightings. |
Day 17
Scouts Community
Objective: I will explore what it means to be an active and contributing citizen of my community.
When planning your adventure, consider including:
- an aspect that helps you learn about and/or engage municipal, provincial and/or national levels of government
- community involvement or service
- the spirit of the Scout Law or Promise in your adventure
Here are some ideas to get you going on creating your own adventures:Adventure Idea 1: Become a tour guide!
1. Spend time getting to know about your community. Investigate places of historical interest, local amenities and facilities, recreation opportunities, emergency facilities and more.
2. Interview some people who have lived in your community for a long time. What are some memorable personal stories that you would like to share?
3. Develop a way of sharing a tour of your town. Perhaps it is a photo tour or slideshow tour. Or maybe you will develop a pamphlet with a “do-it-yourself” tour of points to visit and a bit of history or information about each of those points.
4. When your tour is ready, lead your Patrol or another Section on the tour.
5. Offer your tour to be used at a facility in town or the town welcome centre, as appropriate.
Adventure Idea 2: Join in a Festival!
1. What festivals or special activities are coming soon in your community? Pick one in which you’d like to participate. Connect with the organizers of this festival or activity and discover in what ways you might volunteer to help. Provide a day or two of service to the festival.
2. Share with your Patrol or Troop or family the highlights of your experience at the festival. If you were to become the organizer of the event, what might you do the same, and what would you do differently?
3. Write or email a thank-you to the organizers, sharing your experience and what you enjoyed about the event.
4. Select an element from the event that you would like to share with your Patrol. You might make a snack that was offered by a vendor at the festival; design T-shirts, buttons or posters similar to those that may have been sold at the festival; or plan to attend a performance similar to one that was part of the festival at which you volunteered.
5. Organize a formal campfire for your Group. Invite every Section to contribute a skit or a song. Work with the Patrols in your Troop to plan some crowd-pleasing entertainment for the rest of your Group. Other Ideas! Start with these and develop the five parts to your adventure.
- Create a treasure map for your town or a bicycle rally and invite your Patrol to try it out. On the way, make sure they will discover new things about your community.
- What does your community need? Create a vision for your community. Use models, pictures, slideshows and/or maps. Consider what you’d like to see added to or removed from your community.
- Create a geocaching spot in your community. Go on a geocaching adventure to find other nearby geocaches.
- Take a careful look at a nearby playground. What equipment do children enjoy playing with the most? What might need fixing or should be removed for safety reasons? Who would you alert about this? If you were designing the playground, what would you include. Create your design.
- What service groups are part of your community? (Lions Club International, Kinsmen & Kinettes, Rotary, Elks & Royal Purple, Rebekahs & Oddfellows, Masons & Eastern Star, etc.) What contributions have they made to your community? Contact one of these organizations and offer to come and speak about Scouting in your community (as a way to practise your public speaking skills). Be ready to answer some questions.
- Visit a part of your community to which you have never been. Look at a map of your community to identify a spot. With a buddy or an adult, explore this area (by bike, vehicle, on foot, etc.), after addressing any needed safety precautions.
- What is a social or environmental challenge in your community? How can you make a positive difference?
Need some more ideas?Look at the Trail Cards for 'Rideau Trail' [[Category:Rideau Trail]] (Citizenship), Red Coat Trail (Leadership) and West Coast Trail (Beliefs & Values) to inspire an adventure to try on your own.
Day 18
Taste Shifting - Your tongue classifies everything you eat as a combination of five flavours: sweet, salty, bitter, sour and savoury. Mixing different foods and flavours can impact the whole eating experience – too much salt can take your lunch from yum to yuck in an instant. What happens when you mix sweet honey with a sour lemon? Or add salt to a sweet cantaloupe? Explore your sense of taste by mixing different foods together and sampling the result.
PLAN:
• What do you know about how you taste food? • What words do you use to describe how something tastes? • What foods with very distinct flavours do you want to use in this experiment? • How can you change the way something tastes? What will you use to make changes to food in this experiment? • What foods will you sample from each taste category? • How will you pair these foods together to create different tastes? |
Do:
• Mix two foods from different taste categories together, and sample the result. • What happens when you add salt to your cantaloupe or cucumber? • Vinegar is very acidic, and baking soda has a salty/bitter taste. What happens when you mix the two together? SAFETY TIP:
• Do any members of your Family have allergies? Keep everyone safe by avoiding those foods. Do you know how to use an EpiPen? |
Day 19
Clay Pot Heater - During natural disasters or short term weather events, people can be without electricity and heat for days or weeks. For a short term solution you can make a clay pot heater to help during the next time you are stuck without heat. Keep in mind that this will NOT heat your whole home, not even close. However, you'd be surprised at how it will heat up a closed room and will keep you from getting hypothermia. Essentially it takes the heat from the candle that would normally go straight up and radiates it out once the terra cotta begins to retain the heat.
Materials:
- 3 different sized clay planting pots - 1 large bolt (approx. 5") - 6 washers - 1 flat bracket - 1 Candle in a jar (like a Yankee Candle) - 1 Alarmed looking black cat (optional) |
SAFETY TIP:
• Remember when working with fire; never leave the fire unattended, have a source to extinguish the flames, never fall asleep when using the Clay Pot Heater. Make sure you have a clay pot heater located in a safe place where its not around young children and other flammable materials. |
Day 20
Honouring Essential Workers - Tonight at 6:30 p.m. as a Family make your way out doors, it could be for front porch, balcony or even just in your driveway and for 10 minutes, make as much noisy as you can; start banged pots, pans, or even rubber bins. Ask your Friends and Neighbours to participate. Use the sounds you make, as a form of appreciation for all the essential workers that are helping out the community through the COVID-19 pandemic. As a Community, you may want to continue making noisy to show your appreciation daily or weekly at the same time.
Closing Campfire - Scroll back up to Day 5, Day 10 and Day 15 and build or reuse the campfire you created, pitch that tent or create an indoor tent fort, make some more delicious camp snacks and sing some songs and tell some stories. Take a look back at all the adventures you have done from your over that past few weeks, your "Scouting from Home" and continue that adventure in new ways with your Sections in the days and weeks to come. Thank you for participating in the Canadian Virtual Jamboree and we will continue to add new program from time to time so please keep checking back or join one of our Facebook Groups, may your Families stay healthy and safe during these times.
Closing Campfire - Scroll back up to Day 5, Day 10 and Day 15 and build or reuse the campfire you created, pitch that tent or create an indoor tent fort, make some more delicious camp snacks and sing some songs and tell some stories. Take a look back at all the adventures you have done from your over that past few weeks, your "Scouting from Home" and continue that adventure in new ways with your Sections in the days and weeks to come. Thank you for participating in the Canadian Virtual Jamboree and we will continue to add new program from time to time so please keep checking back or join one of our Facebook Groups, may your Families stay healthy and safe during these times.