I’m doing knots with the beavers on Thursday.   For added fucus it’ll be edible.  They will be tieing strawberry laces into figure of 8s.  Get that right they get a second lace to tie a reef knot.  That’s the plan anyway. 

I’ve also been asked to do knots with the cubs (and lashings…. those I’m still learning), and to do science with the beavers.    Now. … risk assessment for conc HNO3 and conc H2SO4 refluxing at 60C with glycerin…… maybe not, I might do elephant’s toothpaste though.

I am nearly done on a marathon badge sew.

*Cough* Copydex *cough*

and lashings…. those I’m still learning

Keep them tight all the way through. You can not add tension at the end. (Well, ok, you sorta can with a bit of frapping). Good luck with Cubs tho, I find most Scouts have trouble producing decent ones…

Lightweight pioneering is fun – bamboo canes and elastic bands. Build bridges, towers, catapults etc. Eggs the usual test material 😉

This is giving me flashbacks to having to do the whipping of rope ends for my advanced pioneer badge back in the 90s. I faintly remember one of them being incredibly hard to even understand, but it looked pretty when you got it right.

Copydex pah. I can do an activity badge on 10 mins now.  Larger badges like some of the rainbows ones take longer. 

When I helped with lashings last time the cubs may not have been great but they listened and tried.   Knots last year with the beavers still gives me panic attacks! 🤣

Is Copydex washable?

Yep. All my badges are on with Copydex, and I wash my shirt probably twice a term, and I was given the idea by a friend who at the time had two kids in cubs/scouts, so their shirts were probably washed every week.

I’ll find out more when I speak to our beavers colony leader Thursday night but I’ve a feeling the science session is for me to plan…. it’ll be a few different things in bases so I’ll want to come up with 2 or 3… one chemical – acids/bases stuff possibly,  one could be pressure and volume stuff with water and air,  one could be something on energy ….hmm lots of ideas but glad I’ve a couple of months to plan it!  Simple science ideas with minimal kit that make kids go ‘wow!’ Are very welcome please!

Mentos in a bottle of Coke is always a laugh, but do it outside! Water bottle rockets too.

Yeah I was thinking bottle rockets as I’ve done that with my own two,  launched a small coke bottle to the height of a 5G tower!  Outside in March may not work though. (Science week apparently )

A ha!  I’ve also done a rubber band car with my kids, that can be done inside and this looks like it could be made and raced in the time….

I’ve also done match stick aluminium foil rockets with my kids….  hmm I THINK I could do that safety…   think!

Rocket cars is a good one. Build a simple chassis and tape a balloon to it with a piece of penne pasta in it as an exhaust.

Instruction. These are from 10 years ago so you’ll need to use paper straws.

We got the kids to build them at home. Saved a lot of faffing and meant that we could concentrate on racing on the night. Fastest, furthest travelled, best looking etc.

Thanks Harry.

Yes time is short with beavers.  1 hour minus initial welcome stuff… 55 mins tops. If its 2 stations with 2 lodges each…. maybe 20 mins at each station, so 20 mins of car building at one station and 20 mins playing with vinegar/ lemon juice/ bicarb/ pH indicator stuff, followed by 15 minutes of racing the cars to finish.. .  Its possible to do but tight… I’ll have to plan it very carefully or get them to prep bits at home. 

Doing hot air balloons, stuff with static electricity or stuff with magnets are other ideas I’ve got…. hmm, making motors by winding wire around cotton reals is probably beyond beavers and a 20 minute session isn’t it!

Electromagnetic trains!  If we can afford some copper wire,  batteries and magnets. 

And there’s so much stuff to do with static….. my problem is I now want more than one session 🤣

Water bottle rockets too.

I’ve acquired 4 of the big water fountain bottles for rockets on camp!

my problem is I now want more than one session

science camp over a weekend. We did a JOTI/ science camp and used it to build a hovercraft, make plasma cannons and a prototype tennis ball mortar

Science camp! What a super idea!  Although I feel I may scare some beavers…… maybe I can work myself up to it over a few years…. and the current beavers….. by the time they are explorers we could really have some fun!

Wowzers! You’ll want a good track pump to get the air in to those bottles, or a compressor! They will be good to see go though. 

we did bottle rockets at camp last year with cubs
.they absolutely loved it
i did it with my kids at home too….

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsZnirfJdRj/?igsh=MWpla3pxeXVyajJycw==

would love to see how it works with water fountain bottles, may require hard hats tho!

Ah ha!  Another idea.  Making thixotropic liquids….. aka slime or silly putty.  Any one done it?  I imagine beavers could do it and would love going home with a jar full.   Mum’s and dad’s may not like it,  but hey ho.

I imagine beavers could do it and would love going home with a jar full. Mum’s and dad’s may not like it, but hey ho

Don’t forget to feed them sugar and chocolate just before the parents come to pick them up!

That’s the plan tomorrow with the strawberry laces knot practice.  😄

The beavers do seem to do food based stuff a lot… decorate a cake to look like a camp fire/ national flag/ the moon and many other flavours! My science week would be a calorie disappointment.

That worked much better! Strawberry laces, knots in a small group (lodges), they get to eat the lace once the whole lodge has tied the knot correctly.  I got one lodge to manage 3 knots!

Soooo glad that I’m in Scouts, not Beavers.

Anyway, Escape Ramsbottom is open for entries if you fancy a morning of SAS evasion training for 12 years olds. Brilliant fun that only costs a couple of quid.

Seems to be limited to Greater Manchester North, Bury and Ramsbottom, but I’m sure you can ask nicely.

https://escape.rammyexplorers.org.uk/

I’m definitely glad I’m not doing more than helping on a few activities with Beavers.  Although I’m quite excited by the thought of delivering some ‘Mad science’ and hopefully getting some ‘Wow! Moments’ .

So the cubs were doing knots last week and Arkela ‘roped me in’ 🤣  He also stole my strawberry laces idea!  Adapted it as a relay race,  cub runs up,  ties lace into a knot,  runs back to tag the next racer and enjoys the lace.   Worked well.

I was walking through crystal palace park a few weeks ago and there must have been some filming going on,  part of the car park was full with film trailers,  you know,  the canteen,  offices and personal trailers for the stars.   Walking past I saw 15 plus empty water fountain bottles…. hello I thought….. then the security guard appeared! 😒  next time!

I’m still thinking up science camp ideas too.   I’ve just been binge watching Emily’s science lab on Netflix, my 3yo loves her (good taste!), she had great ideas for outdoor science!  I now need to persuade  Hawkeye and Arkela to fund an industrial load of corn starch and two paddling pools for a cubs and beavers investigation of non-Newtonian fluids (aka thixatropic fluids) ….a dance contest on a pool of oobleck where the first one to tire out and slow down….sinks!

….. then the security guard appeared!

that’s when you should have played the “can I have some for my scout group please” card.

I managed to get a load of timber for 3 tomahawk stands from a house renovation. Asked the builders if I could pick some from the skip and they also gave me a load of  new timber as well!

You’re right. I should have just asked.

Exec/Board of Trustees meeting tonight. Our Squirrel leader has a new job and needs to move Squrrels to another night. The assistant leader can’t do the other night, but wants to train up to keep the current night going. Would help with the waiting list…

In 10 months we’ve gone from 0 Squirrels to 2 seperate Dreys. Wasn’t expecting that!

Just been “interviewing” new leaders as part of the district adult appointments committee, including three amazing ladies who are starting a Squirrel Drey in one of the more “demographically challenged” estates, who were just inspirational, and an experienced relocating Scout leader who is looking to work with one of our less experienced units.

One of those committee nights I never look forward to but always end up being blown away by the character of folks who want to make a difference to young peoples lives.

You are all amazing people 👏

Thinking about bottle rockets, I wonder which goes higher: water and a track pump, or vinegar and bicarb? One to test in the summer when we can head outdoors.

Well.  the cork will release at the same pressure,  if we assume same volume/mass of propellant the only difference is the vinegar and bicarbonate could still be reacting and keep the pressure slightly higher while the propellant is forced out….so it could go higher.   Whether its noticeable is different!

Just completed my scouter course, start with 43 ventures on Tuesday.

Strawberry laces you say…

Good stuff! It’s like being in some cult. Once you are in you can never leave.

I was monitoring our Explorers on their DoE Silver Expedition yesterday, Day 1. 19k from Heptonstall to somewhere near Bingley. Fantastic effort from the 9 kids and the three leaders who were covering them.

Does anyone have any high level ideas for cubs orienteering / map reading exercises?

There’s a decent, contained outdoor circuit / path in the Pentlands but I want to do something indoors or round the centre first for familiarisation. Easy enough with a simple map of the area, just thinking what format works when split into groups, and how to make it competitive.

For Cubs I blew up an OS of the area around our hut and printed off pictures of local landmarks. They had to stick them to the edge of the map and draw a line to the right place.

Bitd we would speed run co-ordindates to spell something.

Time off for correct naismiths rulings.

So a fast team ignoring how long might look like winning but be pipped by a team being correct and with how long it would take could be slower but win.

Did anyone else have a flurry of traffic on their Leader’s WhatsApp groups last night over the Great Orme tragedy?

Sounds like many of those involved cocked up massively. No NAN or RA to cover the change of activity. No first aider because one of the leaders didn’t attend and they lost control of the head count. There is also a charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice levelled at Gilwell.

Nope, but the group that went are in our district and, believe me, they are now VERY hot on RAs, NAN, and we have to inform them of any activity that’s not at the hut, even if it’s only at the local park.

We’re like that. Can’t leave the building without an RA.

It reads like their training had been allowed to slip too.

Question is, what happens if there is an accident and the paperwork and training is all in place? Full support from Gilwell, or chucked under a bus because a lawyer has found a method to distance them from you?

Ex BSL here.
Very sad case.
Potentially being put in a position such as the leaders on that trip (e.g. flaky key leaders crying off last minute, lack of redundancy in leadership, being between a rock and a hard place over what to do with the situation of holding the baby on a big trip where it could have been just as risky to cancel and be left with chaos, as to proceed and be left with chaos) was one of the reasons I left.
Plus unrealistic expectations of the group/scout association regarding RAs and leaders’ capacity to complete them along with all the other things.

This is not me downplaying the importance of RAs, more that i am pointing out the unrealistic demands overall.