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>>> Programme Ideas
>>> Activity Ideas >>> Air Activities >>> Art >>> Astronomy >>> Axemanship >>> Camping >>> Climbing >>> Codes >>> Community >>> Cooking >>> Crafts / Skills >>> Culture >>> Cycling >>> DIY >>> Duty to God >>> Electrics >>> Emergencies & Rescue >>> Engineering >>> Enterprise >>> Estimation >>> Fire lighting >>> First Aid >>> General proficiency >>> Hiking >>> History >>> Hygiene >>> International >>> Keep Fit >>> Map Reading >>> Nature >>> Observation >>> Orienteering >>> Patrol Activities >>> Pioneering >>> Ropework >>> Safety >>> Scoutcraft >>> Service >>> Signalling >>> Sport >>> Survival >>> Thinking >>> Tracking >>> Visits >>> Water Activities >>> Weatherlore >>> Wide Games

>>> Air Activities
Name the starting place of an aircraft and state the direction and speed of flight, and give the time spent in the air. So who is the first to plot the landing place on the map.

Make a kite

Make model planes - Airfix or balsa models

Visit a nearby airfield or harbour and work out the compass course of aircraft and shipping.

Obtain a book on making paper planes and get Patrols to make different designs. Have a landing contest, longest flight contest. Best flyer etc.

Make plastic parachutes and use them to experiment as to the best size to float different weights to the ground

Ask a pilot to visit the Troop and demonstrate how a plane is navigated from airport to airport

Borrow a computer and bring down to den. Arrange to have a flight simulator programme available for Patrols to try.

Visit an airport

Arrange an air symbol and aircraft shape quiz.

Learn about air traffic control signalling and radio procedure. Visit an air traffic control centre.

Have a Frisbee throwing competition.

Construct a model rocket and launch it in open ground after permissions have been obtained.

Give each Patrol a number of sheets of thick aeroboard and ask them to sculpt a piece of art.

Make boomerangs and learn how to throw them.

Make hovercrafts using aeroboard and card and an elastic band powered propeller. How an Inter - Patrol races once trails have been completed by Patrols.

Lay a model aircraft or small boat on a map. Each Scout in turn works out the compass bearing of the model from a given direction.

Darken the room. The light of a moving torch flashing on the ceiling represents an aircraft. Each Scout in turn calls out its compass direction.

Patrols are given the where with all to make a kite. First Patrol to make and fly their kite is the winner

>>> Art
Arrange the members of the Patrols so that by using a strong light a profile shadow can be cast onto a piece of paper placed on a wall. Create shadow profiles of each member of the Troop.

Get each Patrol to explore the art of batik - designs are created on cloth using wax, which are then dyed in coloured dyes. When ironed the wax is removed from the cloth.

Get the Patrol to explore tie-dyeing. Make a unique design for Patrol T-shirts etc.

Arrange an Inter-Patrol photography Competition with a ‘Patrol camera’ as a prize.

Borrow a number of video cameras and challenge Patrols to make a horror film.

Try blow painting with a straw and some paint.

Put on a Scouting display. Patrols are requested to build display stands and decorate them. Invite parents, teachers and young people to display

Prepare and perform a one act play

Give each Patrol 5 minutes to select a place not too far from your den that they know how to get to. The Patrol must then present a mime of their ‘mystery tour’. This might include getting on buses, crossing at traffic lights, cycling etc. Other patrols have to guess where they are going.

Provide Patrols with a number of dyes and allow Patrols to experiment with tie dying.

Each patrol are given photocopies of a number of magic tricks and are given a set time say 15 minutes to perfect the trick or tricks. Hold a magic contest later.

Provide each Patrol with a desk lamp, some large sheets of paper and a pencil or felt - tipped pen. Each Scout is shadowed on a sheet of paper and the outline of his head drawn out while he remains still. Cut out each outline and challenge the other Patrols to identify each other

Make a small screen printing press and have Patrols print their own neckerchiefs or T-shirts for camp.

Create a real mess! Patrols are given large pieces of paper and poster paints and invited to create finger paintings.

Create mobiles from driftwood or other items found while hiking or camping.

Invite a photographer to your meeting and learn how to take and develop your own photographs

Using an old toothbrush and some paint create splatter prints of leaves and other objects which can be used later for Kim’s Games

Patrols create a collage on a selected subject using pictures etc. from old magazines and newspapers.

Create a Patrol or Troop newsletter. Set it up using a desktop publishing package and print it on Unit duplicator or with assistance of local printer, who may also let up do the work under direction.

Make potato prints by carving a design on sliced potatoes. Use poster paints or fabric paints to print designs on paper or fabric.

Obtain samples of calligraphy writing and have Patrols create an opening page for their Patrol logs.

Using the technique of paper mashie create masks for the members of each Patrol. Paper strips are placed on mould and using Polybond layers are built up to create mask or other objects.

With the assistance of a drama teacher or mime artist Patrols should create a short mime act.

Patrols are given short plays and have 30 mins. to learn their lines and perform the play for the Troop.

Obtain a book about face painting and give each Patrol a small face painting kit. The Patrol must face paint each other. Perhaps as the animal the Patrol is named after. Good activity for Halloween Party.

Make a horror video. Patrols must create all effects and make the ‘monster’ as well as direct the filming. Video camera can be borrowed from parents.

Patrols make a number of puppets and put on a play for the rest of the Troop.

Using only your hands and body parts create shadowgraphs - shadow puppets and put on a short play for the Troop.

Using paper and charcoal sticks or crayons create a number of ‘brass rubbings ‘ in your local graveyard or old church. Or as an alternative you could ‘brassrub’ tree barks or manhole covers.

Create a number of pottery pieces using the coil or slab method and fire using a camp kiln or as potter to show you how to made pottery on a wheel.

Macnas, the Galway Art Group, create weird and wonderful costumes for their parades. Set the Patrols the task of creating costumes for a space age parade or other weird event.

Visit an art gallery. Create a wide game/treasure hunt relating to the detail in each of the paintings.

Make a viewfinder for use when drawing panoramas. Obtain a piece of strong card and make a viewing slot 200mm x 100mm. Divide this opening into a grid with thin string or wire. Look through the viewing slit when using it.

>>> Astronomy
Borrow a telescope, and try stargazing on a clear night. Carry out a night hike, finding the way by the stars.

Try making a star chart to hang up in the den. It could also show the various constellations, comets and moon phases.

Sky Gazing - all lie on your backs. How many different things can you see without moving your head (e.g. clouds, birds, planes, trees, etc.)

One of the most vivid memories you can create in the minds of Scouts is to spend a night out under the stars. A groundsheet on the ground and a warm sleeping bag, plus the talk of stars and planets not to mention spaceships and ET life on other planets. You will nearly always end up talking about the wonder of the Universe and the place of God in its creation

Make Star charts to enable your Scouts to quickly identify the constellations while out and about watching the skies.

Make a moon compass, which can be used to determine direction when travelling at night.

Visit an observatory or planetarium

Challenge your Patrols with the NASA exercise that requires the patrol to choose from twenty items, which are available on their crashed space ship. The items must be chosen and their choice must be justified.

There are many space-related video games available at the moment. Seek out the games that require thinking rather than shooting and blowing up and have a space game evening on computers

If there is a leisure complex near your area, bring your Patrol Leaders out for a treat on the virtual reality machines.

Make home made telescopes to aid in viewing the skies. If you feel really ambitious you could contact astronomers whom often build their own large telescopes and will be able to advise you on designs etc.

Create training aids by punching holes in the bottom of tin cans to represent the different constellations. These can be used by pointing the tin can at the light so that light shines through the holes.

Space - the final frontier. Explore the possibilities of space travel with your Scouts. You could devise a programme theme around this subject matter.

ET Phone Home - could your Scouts set up a mechanism that would allow them to contact home from space? Can your Scouts contact people on Earth -  by phone, E-mail, Fax, etc.

>>> Axemanship
Visit a sawmill or place where tree felling is taking place.

Cut fire wood for the aged and sick

Find a farmer or landowner that would allow the patrol to help him with logging up and sawing, or felling light timber and trimming hedges. (This is an ideal way of obtaining staves for pioneering).

Using only a hand-axe build a lean - to or natural shelter.

Make sheaths for axes

Try craving and whittling

Scouts should be able to repair a broken axe shaft. Put on a new shaft and fix the head using wedges.

Make a ’stone-age’ axe as used by primitive man

Rig up a chopping block, saw-bench and grindstone in the den, and practice chopping and sawing and sharpening axes and knifes

Hold a quiz on the safety first rules of axemanship
Using sharp penknives crave a decorative walking stick, woggle or trophy.

Make sure all of your Scouts know the rule of knife and axe and are able to handle a knife properly and sharpen it when required.

Strike the match - Place a match in a piece of board. One board for each Patrol and an axe. Patrols approach the boards in relay fashion and try to split the match using the axe.

>>> Camping
Divide the Patrol in half. See which half can pitch a tent in the shortest time.

Try tent pitching in the dark

Build a sleeping shelter in a tree

Make hike shelters from plastic slung from trees

Finish off a campfire or meeting by making popcorn.

Scouts should know how to make a bed with two blankets and some blanket pins.

Experiment with different kinds of beds, using leaves in bags, ferns and spruce tree branches

Make a camp loom

Devise a lighting system for your tents on camp. Practice wiring methods so that this system can be set up quickly on camp

Make sure everyone is informed on camp. Set up a camp notice board to act as a focal point for information.

Go on a night hike using only the stars to find direction

Waste disposal is a serious consideration on camp. Make sure your Scouts know the rules of hygiene and waste disposal and how to make above ground water waste filter and disposal units.

Who needs tents - camp out under the stars, make a bivvy using your bike as the shelter support, sleep in a barn.

Patrols are given the necessary materials so that they can create a number of prefabricated gadgets for use on camp. Ideas might include: - tabletops that can be rolled up, camp seats, wash up stands, patrol boxes.

Hike tent fun:
(1) Blind fold tent pitching. All the Patrol blindfolded except the patrol Leader who is chair-bound five metres away.
(2) Chain gang pitching. Tie the patrol together in a chain, left wrist of number one to right wrist of number two, and so on. Variation - try it again this time with their ankles tied.
(3) Island Tent pitching. Peg out the groundsheet. Place ‘aboard’ the Patrol, tent, poles and pegs. Patrols have to erect the tent without leaving the area of the groundsheet.

Patrols are challenged to construct camp deck chairs

Experiment with a hammock slung between two trees and covered with a shelter sheet.

Run a camp - gadget - making competition between members of the Patrols

Obtain permission when hiking to use a farmer’s barn instead of a tent. (Try and do him a Good Turn before leaving).

Try the following types of camp: boating, cycling, hiking and trekking.

Organise explorer camps. Make maps as you go and bring back full reports of the area explored

Make bivvy sheets and lightweight tents

On Camp Patrols should be encouraged to create weird and wonderful campsite gates.

Construct a Patrol trek cart, capable of going anywhere.

Make model Patrol and Troop camps for handicraft exhibitions

Overhaul camp gear.

Hold a camp with a Viking theme. Patrols dress up as Vikings, make Viking gates, jewellery and artefacts (visit museum for ideas) and hold a Viking feast.

Build a double-decker tent tower and sleep in the tents overnight.

>>> Climbing
Try climbing trees with commando ropes

Practice walking and climbing when roped together.

Practice the procedure for crossing rivers so that your Patrols are prepared for this occurrence should the need arise.

Exposure can be a real killer for those who venture into wild countryside. Make sure all your Patrol Leaders are aware of the symptoms and know what to do

Learn how to make a prussic knot and climb up a rope.

Patrols should know and practice the methods of belaying a climber for use while climbing or for rescue work

Under supervision of a trained and experienced climber abseil down a cliff or building.

Visit an indoor climbing wall and learn to climb

Practice climbing techniques by climbing at low level on large boulders, stone walls and small outcrops of rock.

Invite a mountaineer to your meeting to talk about climbing and mountaineering and show you some slides of his/her adventurers

Take part in a Regional or National Mountain Pursuit Challenge

Make a small climbing wall in your den

>>> Codes
Make a secret code ’gadget’. This could consist of two revolving discs pinned together at the centre. The ordinary alphabet is on one disc and the Morse and semaphore alphabets on the other. To use, read from one disc to the other, after setting it.

Patrols devise a simple code and encode a message that is passed to another Patrol to decipher. See which Patrol deciphers the message first.

Establish a secret code for use among your troop members, which can be used in wide games etc.

A well-corked bottle has been found washed up on the beach, and contains a map relating to hidden treasure, with directions in code. Leader pins map on bulletin board, for each team, on signal, to copy out, decode, follow instructions, and try to be first to locate hidden treasure

A week before the next Troop meeting each Scout receives - by mail to his home address - a message in the Troop code. The message when deciphered tells of a surprise activity on the coming Scout meeting night and gives instructions.

>>> Community
Organise special Good Turns for people in your community

Take your patrol Leaders to the local courthouse so that they can see how the court system works.

Organise some fictional court case and have your Patrols act for the defence and prosecution. Venture Scouts could be asked to role-play the various witnesses.

Give Patrols a map of a fictional area that consists of a river a main road, a bog, a pond and an historical site. Patrols are asked to design a town, which consists of housing of all types, schools, shopping centre, factories and leisure facilities.

Contact your local tidy towns committee. There is always something that Scouts can do to enhance their local area. Take on a project rather than ‘slave labour’ jobs such as picking up litter.

Make and erect a community notice board

If you live in an interesting area of the country or if there is potential to establish an historical trail in your town or area, set up your Patrols as tour guides during the summer months.

>>> Cooking
Each Patrol makes an altar fire and cooks something on it.

Make conservation stove and boil a billy of water on it.

Plank a fish. Build a reflector fire. Obtain a clean plank or flat face of a log and pin a gutted fish, flesh side facing out, to the plank using hardwood pegs or metal pins. Place plank near the fire, rub butter onto flesh of fish and cook fish by reflected heat.

Use tin foil to make a reflector oven. Cook scones or buns in it.

Make a Patrol cookery book.

Cook at Patrol meetings, if necessary on a stove. See also what can be done on a candle.

Entertain another Patrol to a patrol feast.

It is possible to make a simple oven using bamboo canes, a tin foil tray and a turkey oven bag. The bamboos are placed in the ground and the tinfoil tray is fixed to the bamboos so that it can contain charcoal. A further tray is placed above the charcoal tray. You should now have a small tower structure. The turkey bag is placed over the bamboos and you have your oven. As the turkey bag is clear you can see your food cooking. Have your Patrols experiment with this idea.

An oven can be created using two terracotta flowerpots. The pots are placed one on top of the other, opening to opening. When food is placed inside the pots are then sealed with mud and the pots are placed in the fire. Have your Patrols experiment with this idea by making some brown bread or scones.

Each Patrol is challenged to produce a meal for £2

Invite the cook from the local Chinese restaurant to your meeting to show you how to cook the Chinese way.

Every Patrol should be able to plan a detailed menu for a weekend camp, which obey the suggested food groupings and diet, list quantities required and cook all of the dishes.

Scouts should be able to prepare and cook all of their meals whether at home or on camp.

Patrols should experiment with cooking a meal on a stove with only one pot. Careful planning is required to have everything ready to eat at the same time.

It is a good idea to encourage Patrols to keep a record or cookery book with details of favourite recipes and meals.

Every Scout should know how to set a table properly.

When your Patrols and scouts are cooking always insist on the highest standards of food hygiene, particularly when cooking on camp.

Patrols make and experiment with conservation stoves make with 5 lt. Oil cans. These stoves are more proficient at burning fuel than conventional open fireplaces.

Patrols are asked to construct a sawdust cooker using a bean tin and some sawdust. Patrol test efficiency of stove by boiling a pint of water in a billy.

Make a camp oven using an oil drum covered in clay. The chimney can be constructed from tin cans. Use it to cook a chicken or bake bread on camp.

Ask a Scout parent renowned for his or her cooking to spend some time with the Scouts to teach them new techniques and recipes. The Scouts can then be challenged to produce a top - class three course meal for important guests, such as your Troop’s helpful parents or maybe for the youngest members of the Patrol.

Hold a pancake party - Patrols make batter and make pancakes on stoves. Novel items might include: - pancake tossing contest, making multi - coloured pancakes with food dyes, making the biggest pancake.

Make a solar cooker and cook a hot dog in it.

Hold an international cooking night. Give each Patrol a country from which they must produce a dish or tradition meal at the next meeting. When meal is cooked Patrols taste the food of other Patrols.

Experiment with hay box cookers made using cardboard boxes and insulation material - fibreglass or the more traditional - crumbled newspaper or straw.

Using self - raising flour and water make dough, which can be used to make twists by twisting the dough around green sticks and baked over a fire.

Ash breads - Sweep the coals and ash of your fire to one side, and cover the fire - bed with leaves. Lay several 25mm thick cakes of dough on the leaves cover them with more leaves and replace the hot coals on top. Test in 10 minutes by pushing a wooden splinter into the dough cake. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. If dough sticks, give it a bit longer.

>>> Crafts / Skills
Make plaited belts and sennits

Make woggles and Patrol flags

Make knife and whistle lanyards.

Each Patrol should learn how to plait a tradition leather woggle. Take a standard woggle and de-plait and ask Patrol to re-plait. Provide Patrols with instruction sheet to follow. Once plaiting is mastered Patrols could make their own woggles with coloured leather.

Leather craft - Provide Patrols with strips of leather some cutting tools and instructions for making axe cases, belt purses, woggles and moccasins

Make a campfire blanket

Hold a board game night - snakes and ladders, Ludo, Chess, Draughts, 4 in a row etc.

Learn how to make a Turks head woggle and then teach your Patrol Leaders who can teach their Scouts

Learn to darn and sew

Make a pair of Moccasins or sandals

Make a small pouch for you belt in which a survival kit can be placed.

Make a portable screen for Patrol corners.

Patrols are requested to bring the necessary materials down to the next meeting to make bows and arrows. When made have an archery contest

Provide Patrols with sisal and request them to produce a string bag which will hold 6 tennis balls.

Provide Patrols with sisal and rope and ask them to make a hammock capable of holding a person.

Make a totem pole

Ask all of your Scouts to bring a bar of soap down to the next meeting. Provide Patrols with sketches of objects they can carve and set them free to sculpt.

You have heard of ships in bottles - why not challenge your Patrols and Scouts to put a campsite inside a bottle.

Make a Patrol table, and candle sticks, log chairs etc.

Many Scouts have a wide variety of hobbies. Try and discover some of the more unusual ones in your troop and ask them to do a short presentation to the Troop.

Hobbies exhibition - Each Scout brings a number of objects connected to their hobby and puts them on display in their Patrol Corners.

Provide the Patrols with the material to make a pin hole camera - tin, tinfoil, photographic paper, chemicals for processing and an instruction sheet and send them out to get the best picture possible.

Making things - Go cart, Climbing net, Film, Hammock, Yacht, Raft, Furniture, Hot air balloons, Bike, Stilts, Candles, Fishpond, Pannier Bags, Toys, Model cars, Gliders, radio controlled models, Tree house, Float for parade, Axe masks, skateboards, surfboards, Magazine, Adventure trail

Learn new skills - Painting, bowling, poster making, trail biking, Scout show, plays, magic acts, fishing, roller skating, ice skating, water skiing, kite making, boomerang making, electronic experiments, woodwork, carving, copperwork, enamelling, sailing, pottery, snooker, swimming, first aid, photography.

Keep a Patrol logbook and songbook.

Make a Patrol box for storing gear. These can also be used as seats.

Explore photography with the help of a local photographer.

Try making a basket using raffia.

Using soft metal challenge Patrols to make toasting forks, branding irons, pot stands and fireplaces for camp.

Try burning mottoes and pictures in wood.

Run a weekend camp especially for cooking experiments, and the making and using of camp ovens, etc.

Make useful utensils out of old tin cans

Carve wooden spoons and cups

Crave the classic ball and chain from a piece of wood.

Create a camp band by making musical instruments from odds and ends such as ‘wavin’ pipe, tin cans, cardboard boxes etc.

Issue the Patrols with instruction for a number of rope tricks and request Patrols to perfect one of the tricks and display it to the troop later in the meeting.

Provide Patrols with a number of tins and a pair of tin snips and a rivet gun and ask Patrols to recycle the tins and create a useful item such as a stove or a cup.

Scouts are challenged to make a miniature campsite in a matchbox for judging at next weeks meeting

Make a pipe for blowing up a fire. Elder wood, with a pithy centre taken out is good for this.

To decorate the walls of the den, paint Native American Indian and Scout signs on bright colours on sheets of old tent fabric.

Practice feeling the way through bushes and trees, using a Scout stave or bamboo cane, blindfolded or in the dark.

Practice climbing and pole jumping with Scout staves

Try using Scout staves as fishing rods

Carve and decorate a Scout stave

Make friendship bracelets, using Patrol colours in the design.

Using leather design a book cover for the Patrol log.

Make tripod camp seat using leather for the seat and three poles arranged in a tripod for the support.

Lay a small object or ’treasure’ on the den floor. Try finding it blindfold, by feeling the way with Scout staves or bamboo canes.

If you can borrow the necessary bodyguards, try quarterstaff fighting with Scout staves.

>>> Culture
Encourage your Scouts to learn an Irish ballad or play a piece of Irish Music on a musical instrument.

How many of your scouts know how to do some Irish dancing - Riverdance style or the simpler Ceilí dances

Storytelling is a much-treasured skill. Have you a storyteller of note in your Troop? Hold a contest to discover the best storytellers in your Troop.

Use programme themes based on Irish legends and stories.

In olden times the Taintean Games took place each year at Tara. Devise a Taintean Games for your next camp.

Make whistles and learn to play an Irish gig on it.

Patrols are challenged to explore the old customs and old wives tales of their district. Try out some of the customs and remedies suggested

Make Bridget’s Crosses from rushes.

Discover and play old street games - parents can help

Visit the museum and run a treasure/scavenger hunt in the museum.

Visit an art galleries compare old art with modern art by visiting the National Art Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art. In particular explore the art of Irish artists

Discover old herbal remedies and make and try them out ( under supervision)

Invite a local poet to your Troop meeting to read some of their poems to the Troop. Create your own poems with the help of the poet.

Patrols are challenged to discover a traditional craft and make pieces for display for the next meeting

Patrols are asked to bring down to the next meeting old phonographs so that the Patrols can compile a mental picture of life in days past.

>>> Cycling
Scouts bring bicycles to next meeting and demonstrate care of bicycles and how to repair puncture.

Organise a quiz on the rules of the road.

Organise a cyclo - cross event - Cyclo - cross is a competitive cross-country race on bicycles, including some stretches where the riders need to dismount and carry their bikes over or through obstacles.

Patrol Leaders choose a topic from the following list for the Patrol to investigate during a cycle hike. Many areas of the country have special features peculiar to the locality and these may provide subjects for investigation. Bridges, country crafts, county industries, crops, gates, historical sites, place names, rocks, signposts, tombstones

Organise a bike rodeo - this is a suitable activity to run in a local park or supermarket car park or school playground when not in use.

Can drop - set up large empty tins in rows. Give each contestant a number of small stones, which must be dropped into each tin as the race around the course.

Spiral course race - draw a big spiral on the ground. Each contestant tries to wind around the spiral and reach the centre without touching the lines of the spiral at any time.

Obstacle course - set up a mini obstacle course, up planks, through barrels, over a bridge, over a see - saw, through a slalom course etc.

Slow and steady - The object of this race is to see who can ride the slowest over a given course.

Straight line riding - see how long Scouts can travel along a painted line without wobbling off; or paint a figure of eight for the same purpose.

>>> DIY
Invite a number of people to your meeting who can do unusual things - put cement on a brick, roll pastry, draw a cartoon face, shave cream of a balloon without it bursting, juggling. Patrols are given a short demonstration and then have to do their best attempt. Points awarded for best effort.

There are always odd jobs to be done around the Scout hall/den. Hold an odd jobs night, and award contracts to Patrols to complete the jobs. Patrols are paid with ‘Monopoly’ money, which can be redeemed, later for sweets, tea and bickies or bags of chips.

Arrange a practical session with a local mechanic. Patrols learn how to change a wheel, change spark plug, etc.

Get patrols to construct Patrol trek Carts that can be used on camp or for carrying equipment to local campsite. Take part in trek cart races and enter National Trek Cart Race.

Run a series of home maintenance bases. Patrols changing every 10-15 minutes. Bases might include: - Unblocking a drain, Fitting a tap washer, Replacing a broken window, hand a door, replace a lock, put up wall paper, painting a wall, laying a brick.

Bring along to the next meeting all the equipment required to allow each Scout to wire up a 13-amp plug. Screwdrivers, wire, plugs, pliers and instruction charts (available from ESB shops)

Patrols are assisted in the construction of Patrol Boxes - one for den use, the other for camp use.

Patrols should be encouraged to undertake a service project for old folk such as gardening and light repairs.

>>> Duty to God
Make Christmas cribs, crosses or Scout Law wall chart

Signal the number of one of the Scout Law. See who writes down the Law first. Act plays based on the Scout Law.

Have Patrols discuss the differences between the Ten Commandants and the Scout Law.

Visit other places of worship and study the differences in architecture, stained glass windows and other features.

Some of our best opportunities to talk about God come when we would appear to be least prepared. It is during the troop hike, sitting around the campfire or while bivouacking on top of a mountain.

Each member of the Troop or the Patrol is asked to design a Christmas Card or a number of Christmas Cards to send to their friends in Scouting.

Looking at the twelve items of the Scout Law, pick out five that are most needed to improve Patrol spirit in your Patrol and put them in order of importance. Patrols to share their answers with the Troop.

Each Patrol discovers the art of candle making and make a number of candles. These candles could be used as Advent candles or as an Easter candle with the symbols Alfa and Omega, a cross, and the year placed on the candle. The candle could then be lit during Easter time for the opening and closing of the meeting.

Pair off members of the Patrol. Each pair in turn acts out one of the Scout Laws without speaking. The rest have to say which Law was acted out.

>>> Electrics
Patrols make a nerve tester with wire, battery and buzzer and hold a ‘steady hand’ contest later

Know how to wire up a simple lighting circuit and use this knowledge to create a tent lighting system.

Make training aids by creating a true /false board - a buzzer is placed across two points and if answer is correct buzzer will sound.

Patrols make a generator. This can be used in conjunction with a small windmill to generate electricity.

On camp rig up an old bicycle dynamo to a windmill and generate electricity to power the lighting system in your tents.

Using basic electronic and electrical circuits to create a minefield for use on your next incident course or wide game.

Make an imitation campfire using a red light and fan for use at indoor campfires in the den.

Hold a price survey to discover the best deals on equipment items from camping and outdoor stores.

Test out the efficiency of different stoves to boil water and discover the differences of design.

Compile the perfect gear list, so that nothing is forgotten the next time you go on camp.

Have Patrols put together a rucksack for a lightweight camp, cutting weight to the bare minimum.

Equipment can be expensive to buy. Explore the possibilities of making your own.

Each Scout should be encouraged to make a personal bivvy sheet.

Every Scout should have their own personal survival kit and first aid kit contained in small tines or waterproof container.

Find out about the latest developments in equipment such as GPS compasses and pass on this knowledge to your Patrol Leaders.

Hold a 'sew-in' evening. Ask some parents with sewing machines to come down to the meeting and instruct your Scouts in their use. Make some simple items of equipment.

Check out the stores. Have Patrols take an inventory of equipment, checking the state of repair, and store away equipment carefully. A useful exercise after the camping season.

>>> Emergencies & Rescue
Visit a fire station or lifeboat station.

Make a lifeline about 20 meters in length. It should have a padded weight on one end and a loop on the other. The weight should be able to float.

Tackle one kind of emergency at a time and dramatise them; e.g. an injured person is found near a time bomb (alarm Clock). Render first aid before the ‘bomb’ explodes.

Patrols are given an ice accident to deal with. Plastic sheeting can be used to simulate ice.

Patrols deal with a person who is on fire.

Patrols are challenged to send SOS by a number of signalling methods

Patrols should know and be able to do land to aircraft signals.

The Patrol must rescue a person who is contact with a live ‘electric’ cable

Know what to do if:
A person falls through ice
A child is caught up a tree
A person is having a heart attack
A house is on fire
You come across or are involved in a car crash
A boat capsizes
You have to call of the emergency services
How to make a May Day call and use a radio
How to send an SOS message
If you have to use ground to air signals
You get lost
If you have an accident on the hills
If someone is trapped on a cliff
If someone is drowning
A person has to be carried to safety
A chip pan went on fire
You have to survive till help arrives
You have to administer first aid
If you have to throw a lifeline

>>> Engineering
Using one sheet of thin card, sticky tape and a 250 gram weight make a beam, with a span as wide as possible that will support the weight at its mid point.

Support a drinking glass on a bridge made from a €5 note (you require a crisp new €5 note)

Use one tabloid newspaper to build a bridge that will span one metre and hold the largest load possible. You have 25 minutes. Supply patrols with newspaper, paperclips, staples, glue, objects of varying weights.

In 20 minutes, build the highest possible tower using all the cards in a pack of playing cards.

Patrols are given the following equipment; 2 sheets of card, 100 paper clips, 10 drinking straws, 40 pins, one marble. Patrols have to construct a structure or mechanism that will carry a marble over the greatest horizontal distance before it comes to rest.

Build a free-standing structure that will support an OXO cube as far away from the edge of a table without touching the floor. Equipment 50 drinking straws, 40 pins and 1 OXO cube.

Build a device within an area 25cms X 25cms that will allow your entire team to stand 60cms off the ground at the same time. Equipment 6 spars and a rope.

Build a raft able to hold the largest mass without sinking. Patrols may use as many sheets of paper as you like, but may not cut them to make them smaller. After 10 minutes construction time, Patrols must put their rafts to the test by floating them. Patrols are not allowed to test their rafts before the final float test. Equipment available - a stack of A4 paper, pennies and marbles for testing.

In 20 minutes build a free-standing tower that will hold a four marbles one metre above the floor. Equipment - tape, drinking straws, elastic bands, paper clips and marbles.

Design and construct a vertical ‘Adventure playground for a marble. The aim of the exercise is to produce a system of interesting devices and events that will delay the marble’s descent from one metre without the application of external power (shoving the marble). The winning devise will be the one that delays the marbles descent for the longest time and includes the greatest number of devices. Equipment - various odds and ends and a marble.

Use a warming candle to provide the power source to a mechanical device that will move an object a distance of one metre.

Figure out how to drop a 10p coin and a slip of paper from the same height, at the same time, so that they reach the floor at the same time.

Make a paper helicopter that will take the longest time to fall to the ground from a height of 3 metres.

Put a piece of paper underwater without getting it wet.

Construct a devise that will propel itself along the floor. Power the devise with an elastic band.

With the fewest drinking straws possible, build a framework that will support a cup full of water at least 50 cms off the ground. You have 25 minutes to complete your task. You may test your frame as you build but only with half a cup of water. Equipment; drinking straws, pins, elastic bands, tape, paper clips, plastic cup with drinking straw through the top (just below the rim, punch a hole on opposite sides of the cup and slip in a drinking straw.

Each Patrol has to design a vehicle made from a milk carton that will transport an egg from a free fall position 10 metres above the ground to safety (the egg intact after impact of vehicle). Equipment for each Patrol should include:- Elastic bands, cling film, newspaper, tape, pipe cleaners, milk carton which is the vehicle, paperclips and odds and ends. It is a good idea to cover the floor of the den with plastic sheeting. Each patrol is responsible for clearing up the mess they create.

>>> Estimation
Work out the food menus for hikes and camps. Estimate weights and quantities. Also work out menus which are easy and quick to cook, and methods of cooking without utensils.

Patrols are divided into pairs and sent out to estimate the dimensions of suitable objects around the den or in a nearby park.

Blindfold each Scout in turn and ask them to walk a given distance, or tell him to walk for a certain length of time.

Combine nature study with estimation. Choose a well-wooded place where there are several kinds of trees. The Scouts are told to estimate for example the height of the beech which stands thirty meters due North of an elm tree, or width of a pool forty meters South - east of a twenty meter fir tree.

Make a Scout stave and mark on it centimetres and meters

Collect a number of objects of different but known weights for training purposes.

Each Scout should make a note of his/her personal measurements.

Guess the dimensions and weights of small objects blindfolded.

Estimate the weight of articles carried on a hike, and the weight of a packed rucksack.

Estimate distances on map and check results.

Estimate the number of words on a page and pages in a book.

Scouts should be able to create maps by using field notes made on hikes

Scouts should be able to make a map of a campsite using the plane table method

>>> Enterprise
Set up a small company project in your Troop so that your Patrols can explore the world of business

Run the ‘World Trading game ‘ with your Troop so they can understand the complexities of world trade and how it effects those countries that are poor.

Have Patrols explore the world of stocks and shares and arrange a visit to the stock market. A wide game could be devised on the subject.

During Bob-a - Job week set up each of your Patrols as a working unit that will work like a small service business for the week. Car washing, bag packing, gardening company etc.

Play the ‘Paper Bag game’ with your Patrols so that they can understand the difficulties of working in a third world country.

Encourage you Patrols through games and challenges to invent something that can be used to create a new enterprise.

>>> Fire lighting
See which Patrol can lay and light the most fires in a given time. The fires must be kept going. See also who leaves the tidiest patch of ground after clearing up.

Practice starting fires with as many different substances as possible i.e. birch bark, orange peel, hemp and so on.

Make clothes drying fire and frame. Use it for drying something.

Light fires in the rain, or wet the ground and wood.

Practice lighting fires in windy weather or snow.

Hold a water boiling race

Build a campfire and have a singsong. If possible invite another patrol.

Lay and light a fire on a raft, floating on water

Try making fires without matches (i.e. flint, friction, glass)

Light fires and cook in the dark

Scouts should know how to cut a sod, light a fire, replace the sod and leave the area without a trace.

When using a fire scouts should be encouraged to make pothooks and holders to enable the safe use of the fire as a cooking place.

Find and log for future reference the fuel value of different kinds of wood.

The next time you are organising a campfire why not start the fire by the use of a blazing arrow. The arrow is directed towards the fire by way of a wire that is stretched from the top of a tree to the base of your campfire.

Place a number of bamboo poles in the ground and stretch a piece of sisal about 60 cms above the ground. Patrols are invited to light fires and burn through the sisal as quickly as possible.

>>> First Aid
Make a box for first aid gear. Paste instructions inside the lid.

Make up a small first aid kit for use on hikes.

Hide an ‘injured’ Scout. Signal his whereabouts, or give a map reference, and what is the matter with him. When found render First Aid and bring to safety.

Make a Red Cross flag for use in camp

Try putting on bandages blindfold.

Most injuries on activities involve simple cuts and scratches, which unless treated properly can lead to infection. Ensure all Scouts know the importance of treating these simple injures immediately.

Dirt and grit in the eye is another common occurrence, yet without proper treatment can cause serious damage to your eye. Ensure your Scouts know how to treat it.

Set up a number of first aid incidents and run them as bases, Patrols changing every 10-15 minutes. Incidents might include:- Road accident, Fall from a truck, Accident to a mechanic, burns of various kinds, axe injuries, boy caught up a tree, child who has fallen from a tree and is caught in branches

Practice making stretchers with coats and poles or scout staves

If it is not possible to get your hands on an artificial dummy to practice artificial respiration on then try constructing your own using wash bottle, tubing and plastic bag weighted with a heavy book.

Scouts should be aware of the many uses for the triangular badge, perhaps the most versatile of all the bandages.

Patrols should be able to demonstrate and use the various methods of lifting a casualty to safety.

Using wound replicas (such as grease paint, flesh coloured modelling clay etc.) make up a member of each Patrol so that they can be treated for cuts, burns etc.

Patrols improvise a number of different stretchers - rope, spar, ladder, base board etc. when stretchers are made hold an inter - Patrol stretcher race.

What would you do! This exercise was discovered in a St. John’s ambulance magazine reporting on a competition that was held. This is the instructions the teams where given. How would your Patrols handle this situation?
Time: allowed 6 minutes. Place: a typical semi - detached three-bedroom house.
Situation: you are returning home from duty in uniform and a neighbour calls you over to help as she has heard noises coming from the house.
Living room: A middle aged man has been painting a picture of the beach at St. Tropez on the ceiling, when a lion, which has escaped from a nearby circus rushes into the room, knocking over the step ladder the man was using. The man is lying on the floor, with a 2 Lt tin of flesh coloured paint over his head. The 2-inch brush he was using cannot be found, and may have entered his lower back region. The lion, which has previously ravaged the greenhouse, has multiple lacerations and a Cactus in a 3-inch pot jammed fast in its left ear. It may recover consciousness at any time during the test.
Main bedroom: A middle aged woman is in bed, weak from a hunger fast in protest at the closing of the local bingo hall three weeks ago.
Middle bedroom: The daughter of the house is in bed in an advanced stage of labour. She is totally deaf. With her is her boyfriend who is a psychopath on weekend leave from a nearby hospital. He is not normally dangerous, but when excited can inflict grotesque injuries on uniformed persons. He is also foreign and speaks no English.
Small bedroom: The son of the house has been doing his chemistry homework, but has miss-read the instructions and produced dense clouds of highly toxic yellow gas. The window of the room is defective and cannot be opened.
General: The telephone has been disconnected and the local ambulance crew is on strike!
What would you do?

>>> Hiking
Plan hikes and treks on the map. Work out times and distance, gear to be taken, menus, etc. Check weights of various items

Explore the old Pilgrim ways. Combine a hike with a pilgrimage

Go on a hike and sketch interesting objects along the trail for inclusion in logbook or for exhibition in the den.

Try a bee line hike

Scout pace is a method of covering a long distance in a fast time without becoming over tired. You take 20 paces running they 20 paces walking. Have patrols practice this method of travel over a set distance.

In some countries the threat of an emergency such as floods or earthquakes gives the Scouts an opportunity to show they are prepared for anything. We many not have quite the same problems, but we do have emergencies of our own. Why not call an emergency and see how fast your Patrols can mobilise. Each patrol should work out the exact details for a range of possible situations; how each Scout would be contacted, what each would bring, where they would meet, and so on. Then they put the plan into action.

Have the Patrols dropped into an unfamiliar area (they could travel from home to drop zone blindfolded). On arrival supply Patrols with a map and compass and get them to find out their exact position on the map and the best route to take back to base (hiking back)

Patrols set off without map and compass but armed with a set of directions provided by the Leader. For example: ‘Follow the lane NE for 3 km. Turn NW along footpath by an old red barn. When the church spire is due west of you, head for the small clump of trees on the hill to the north…’ and so on.

Produce a set of photographs of interesting items on a hike route to be followed by the Patrols. The Patrols are given the route and have to identify what and were the items are.

Give each Patrol a properly equipped rucksack (containing emergency rations, survival bag and so on) and suggest that one member of the Patrol is suffering from hypothermia. Get the patrols to deal with the emergency, taking action as appropriate. This should ideally take place in the open.

>>> History
Visit the National Scout Museum.

Baden-Powell wrote many books about Scouting. Every Scout Leader should read one of the best ‘Aids to Scoutmastership’.

Hold a ‘Brownsea Island’ camp. Camp on an island and run a similar programme to that run on the Brownsea island camp in 1907.

Run some of your meetings on a ‘Time Machine’ theme and use the opportunity to revisit such events as the ‘First ever Patrol Meeting’, The first camp in Larch Hill in 1938, Travelling to camp by trek cart, Scout games from the early years, dressing up in old Scout uniforms.

Encourage your patrols to have a copy of ‘Scouting for Boys ‘ in their Patrol Library

Do you know the history of your own Troop? Patrols should be challenged to discover the stories of past times by visiting old Scouts and past members. Valuable information may be available from the National Scout Museum.

There are many possibilities for the development of programme themes from our history; themes based on the Fianna, 1798 rising, The Tain, The Vikings, The Celts etc.

Scouts are required to know how Scouting started and some of its history and milestones. Do some research so that this material is available to your Scouts? You could develop a Scout history board in your den with items from general Scouting history and your Unit history.

An interesting project for Patrols to undertake is to research and discover the local history of your area. A simple project could be to collect photographs from different time periods and compare how your area has changed over the years.

>>> Hygiene
On camp a wash handstand should be basic equipment on all Patrol sites. Patrols should practice making simple stands so that they can be easily reproduced under camp conditions.

On camp make a camp shower.

Patrols should be familiar with the need to store food properly on camp. Scouts should be told about the dangers of food contamination by flies and insects.

The greatest care needs to be taken in preparing food under camp conditions. Patrols need to be given opportunities to learn how best to prepare food in a hygienic way. Professional cooks and chefs and parents could be invited to do a demonstration or practical cooking night in the den.

If chemical toilets are being used on camp the duty Patrol with the assistance of a Scouter should be charged with the cleaning and maintenance of the toilets each day. A rota should be set up so that each Patrol has a turn and learns to understand the importance of clean and hygienic toilet facilities. On a campsite where toilets are available, the duty Patrol should again be responsible for the cleanliness of the toilets - washing them down, toilet rolls etc.

As part of your meeting there should be an inspection where personal cleanliness should be as important as whether the uniform is worn. On camp there should be a personal hygiene inspection each morning, ensuring that face and hand have been cleaned, clothes changed, teeth washed etc.

While hiking check to see that all Scouts have comfortable footwear and that no blisters and foot problems are developing. The placing of a rolled plastic bag between the boot and the sock (not covering the sock) will transfer friction within the boot to the plastic rather than the skin of the hiker and will help to prevent blisters.

>>> International
Set up a pen pal exchange linking your Troop with another in a different country

JOTA / JOTI takes place on the Internet as well as on radio; however, it is possible to communicate with Scouts worldwide using the Internet. Many associations, troops and individuals are contactable on the Internet.

Those members of your Troop who collect stamps might be encouraged to collect the wide array of Scout stamps that exist.

Hold an international cooking night. Each patrol chooses a country and has to produce a traditional meal of that country.

Bring your troop to an international camp or jamboree and experience international Scouting first hand.

All your Scouts should be able to say ‘Hello’ and ‘thanks’ in as many languages as possible.

Try using a large flag for a flagpole, and hoist flags up to it.

Collect duplicates of as many national flags as possible. Each patrol makes a flag pole and hoist up the national flag signalled as quickly as possible.

See who can recognise a given flag from the greatest distance.

Obtain a number of small cards, and paint, sketches, use stickers of different flags on each.

Give each Patrol a map of the world and a number of flag cards. The Patrol has to match flags to countries in a s quick a time as possible.

Discover and play the traditional games and sports of another country.

Devise an international wide game. Base the game on some exciting well - known international event in another Scouting country.

Encourage the members of your section to earn the merit badges with an international dimension.

Take part in JOTA (Jamboree on the air) this event usually takes place in the October. Originally this event took place on the airways using ham radios. Now, as well as the tradition ham radio method it is also possible to take part using the Internet.

Set up a notice board in your Scout hall/den and place items of international news on it. International Scouting News can be had through Scout magazines or from the International department in H.Q.

Collect badges and postcards from other countries. This could be done using a pen-pal method.

Stage an international campfire.

Organise an evening of international cuisine. Each Patrol should be given a country, which they must research and discover a meal that they can cook.

Have a rich world - poor world meal. Rich world meal might be a ‘Big Mac meal’; poor country meal might be a bowl of rice.

>>> Keep Fit
How fit are your Troop - ask a gym instructor to come along to the next meeting and put your Patrols through their paces.

How a mini - marathon with all the patrols taking part in a sixteen legged race (if you eight in a Patrol) around an agreed course.

Devise a keep fit programme for your troop with the help of a gym instructor

Invite patrols to make a gym for the troop using odds and ends - ropes, pulleys, logs and tin cans.

Organise a regular swimming session for the Troop to attend in the local swimming pool. 

>>> Map Reading