Beaver Scouts : Programme Ideas

Fitness
Fitness is everybody?s business, and that includes Beavers. After all, one way to love God and take care of the world is to take care of yourself and your body If you don?t keep your body healthy and strong, how will you be able to help someone else?

Remember that most Beavers are developing their gross motor skills; i.e. their large muscles and general reflexes. Because of this, fun exercises that ask them to make large movements and to balance their bodies are good activities for young people of Beaver age. Leave the high skill fine-tuned activities for Cubs and older children. Try these events on a regular meeting night or as part of an activity day or afternoon. You might use them in conjunction with a particular theme such as a Mini Olympics but, at any time, they are a fun way to let off steam, increase coordination, and give your Colony another outdoor programme.

Remember that the Beavers are not competing against each other. They are just trying to improve themselves (see if you can do it even better this time) and do their best (a Beaver works hard). You might even present each Beaver a participation badge, button or ribbon to take home as a souvenir.

Soft Ball Throw
Mark a line on the ground behind which the boys stand to make a throw. Give each Beaver several tries, perhaps throwing in different styles (underhand, overhand, two handed). Have a couple of leaders stand near the end of the throwing range so that they can show each boy where his ball landed and retrieve balls to send back to the throwing line.

Frisbee Throw
Show the Beavers how to throw the Frisbee in discus style (holding it by an edge parallel to the body). Give each Beaver two or three throws.

Long Jump
Mark a jumping line and, a short distance away, a target line. Tell the Beavers to try to see how far they can jump past the second line. If your day is being spent on a field marked out for track and field, use the sand pits. You?ll need a rake to smooth out the sand between jumps. Here?s another idea. Have each Beaver make five successive two-footed jumps then show him how far he traveled. You might even try it again, this time asking the Beavers to keep jumping until they don?t think they can jump another jump. Boy! Can they travel!...

High Jump
You?ll likely want a pit or mats for this one. Set a standard height for the beavers to try to jump. Keep it low enough so that all can succeed. A colony that used a porta-pit found the beavers had a ball jumping into the foam and weren?t at all concerned about how high they jumped.

Balance Board
Raise a plank a bit off the ground or use a school bench. Ask the Beavers to try to keep their balance as they walk across it.

Hurdles
For this sprint, set up a series of low, light hurdles for the Beavers to jump over as they run. It requires more coordination than a simple sprint. Encourage the Beavers to try their best and have fun. Tell them it doesn?t matter if they knock over a hurdle or find they can?t run very fast when they have to jump, too.

Sprints
Use your imagination and try all kinds of sprints; running, walking, forward, backward, sideways, in potato sacks, on one leg, and so on.

Bicycle Obstacle Sprint
Round up some bikes, set out a course, and let the Beavers have fun. See how far they can get in 30 seconds, a minute, etc.

Chanting Aerobics
Finally, teach the Beavers this little chant with the appropriate actions.
I can stand on one leg,
I can jump up high,
I can bend way over,
Or stretch up to the sky

Repeat several times, increasing the speed each time. Fitness is fun, and this is a good way to let your Beavers experience just how much fun it can be.

Compass pictures
These compass pictures are especially intended to help the youngest Beavers learn directions before they move on to actual compass use, but they also may help all Beavers reinforce their knowledge of compass directions. They make a nice quiet indoor activity for a bad weather night. Review compass directions briefly and give the Beavers graph paper. In the top comer, ask them to draw an eight point directional compass they can refer to. Use a leader with each Lodge to help and who calls out the directions and number of squares on the paper to move in order to complete the pictures in one continuous line.

Wolf Head
S8; SE3; E1; NE3; N8; SW2; W3; NW2

Evergreen Tree
SW2; E1; SW2; E1; SW2; E1; SW2; E4; S2; E2; N2; E4; NW2; E1; NW2; E1; NW2; E1; NW2

Envelope
N6; SW6; N6; E6; NW3; SW3; SE6; W6

Maple Leaf
N5; WI; SW1; W4; NE1; NW2; E2; NW2; N2;E2;SE1;E1;N1; SE1; E1; NW1; N5; SE1; NE2; SE2; NE1; S5; SWI; E1; NE1; S1; E1; NE1; E2; S2; SW2; E2; SW2; SE1; W4; NW1; W1; S5; W2

Beaver Scouts : Programme Ideas

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