Beaver Scouts : Programme Ideas

Make and Do activities

The Krypton Factor
Set your Beavers a series of small challenges to test their ability and find out what their 'Krypton Factor' rating is. The tests are not only physical challenges but involve the senses and using a bit of grey matter as well! Every Beaver needs to have a personal card on which he/she can keep a record of how well he/she does on each challenge. Here are some suggested challenges:

Spring Factor
Each Beaver, has three attempts to get as high as possible by doing a Sargent jump against the wall.

Taste Factor
Beavers are faced with plates of potato crisps. Each plate has different flavoured crisps. Mark for correct
identification of the tastes. Can also be done with wine gums or by using 'real food'.

Ear Factor
Leave a ticking alarm clock or egg timer in a quiet room. Beavers are blindfolded and are led into the room on
hands and knees. Mark on how quickly the Beavers find the clock or on who gets to the clock first.

Eye Factor
Prepare a series of cards with words on. Each card should have just one word, written in letters 25mm high. The Beaver under test stands at a given point while another Beaver holds one card up a long way away, Slowly the Beaver with the card walks closer. The Beaver under test can stop the card coming closer by raising his hand. Give a score according to the distance at which a Beaver can read the word.

Memory Factor
You need a pack of cards. The cards are placed randomly on a table facing downwards. Beavers take it
in turns to pick two cards with the aim of trying to find pairs. Everybody should see what the chosen cards are
each time. If a pair is chosen the Beaver keeps them but if they are not a pair he/she has to return them to the
table.

Nerve Factor
Beavers are provided with packs of paying cards. Who can build the biggest tower of cards in a set time? If a
tower collapses the Beavers can start building again. It?s the height of the tower after the time limit is passed
that counts.

Reactions Factor
The Beaver is armed with a roll of newspaper. Draw a circle on the floor with chalk. Another Beaver holds an
old sock, stuffed with paper, so that the toe is in the circle. The idea is that the Beaver with the sock has to
pull it out of the circle before it is squashed with the mallet. The Beaver with the newspaper, however, is not
allowed to move until the sock starts to move.

Finger Factor
Prepare a number of cloth bags with a variety of items in each one. Each bag should have exactly the same set
of items in. Give each Lodge a bag and tell them that they have to find things by feel and not by looking.
Announce one of the objects and the Lodge who holds it up first wins.

Sample Message make1
Indian Sign Language
The North American Indians used to communicate using symbols and sign language. Below are some of
the symbols used. Get you Lodges and Beavers to create and draw their own messages

Creeping tank
A favourite handicraft using cotton reels must be the cotton reel tank. You will need a cotton reel, a
matchstick, sticky tape, a rubber band (slightly longer than the cotton reel), a candle and a cocktail
stick. Pass the rubber band through the centre of the reel and pass half a matchstick through one end to stop it pulling through. Use a piece of sticky tape to keep the match in position. The next thing
needed is a washer, which you make from a candle. Carefully cut a section of the candle stem, about a centimetre thick,by cutting the wax down to the wick. Pull the wax off the wick to leave a small disc with a hole in the middle. Make the hole larger with a drill. You should smooth down both surfaces of the wax washer using sandpaper before passing the rubber band through it. Rubbing some wax from the candle onto the top of the cotton reel, under the washer, might help to make the tank run better.
Now pass a cocktail stick through the loose end of the rubber band and wind it up. Place the tank on a smooth surface and it will move across. The speed depends on how smooth the wax washer is - you can experiment and try to get it to move quickly. Small metal washers are even better if you can get some. If you have a Colony race with the tanks, beware!
They tend to prefer to go round in circles!

Cotton reel buzzer
Beavers love to make a noise and so here?s a simple two-minute method to make a machine which
can produce the most unusual sounds. The noise mine made reminded me of a ship?s foghorn. Simply take a cotton reel and a thick elastic band. Place the wide rubber band around the reel, twist it once, and then bring it back up again, Arrange the band so that the two widths are stretched alongside each other over the hole at one end. The hole at the other end should be uncovered. Now blow through the clear hole. Strange noises should then come from your machine!

Cotton reel helicopter pad
You begin to make the model by hammering a large nail half way into a large block of wood. Cut off the head of the nail using a metal hacksaw. Tap two panel pins into the top of a cotton reel, leaving them sticking up about half a centimetre. The helicopter is made from a propeller bought from a model shop. Drill two holes in the propeller so that it will fit loosely over the panel pins. Assemble the
helicopter as shown. To operate it, wind string around the reel and pull firmly until the string is all
unwound. The reel should spin and the propeller will take off into the sky. If it doesn?t work, try spinning the propeller in the opposite direction.

Beaver Scouts : Programme Ideas

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