Twister + Record Cards + Investiture = An Impossible To Title Blog Post

Tonight was a bit of a mash up for the scouts as the radio station we were planning to visit never got back in contact with us. M'eh, it happens... you plan things, you try to arrange them and for some reason the planets don't align and it doesn't go ahead.


This is why we have back up plans.


I will admit that it was Mim that came up with this particular back up plan. (Yeah, buying a house really takes up a lot of your time... they should come with a health warning or something)

Also... be careful of giants

After a quick game and introducing a newbie (a cub moving up- huzzah!) we got on with one of our activities for the night. OS Symbol Twister! We taped 16 OS symbols in a 4x4 grid on the floor, one grid for each patrol.... and then we randomly shouted out hand/foot and symbol combinations.

Sprogs should not be that flexible.

Both hilarious and disturbing at the same time, arms and legs all over the place.... one tiny little scout cowering completely underneath her PL. Slightly more disturbing when one of the sprogs asked "where's my left foot...?" *facepalm*

Once they had finally all fallen over Niall and Jason went on to do 4 and 6 figure grid references with them, while I pulled one of them aside and went through their Record Card, and it was a good thing that we went through it, as we had found that she had completed a couple of challenge badges.

The end of the night came along and I got to present a whole host of badges, most of them challenge badges.

And what's more I got to invest a PL.

Yes, I invest my PLs. It isn't normal practice, but I've found that it helps give them some confidence in taking on the role and it helps the others recognise the authority that they have. The investiture runs like any other investiture, but with a modified promise that I came up with.

Patrol Leaders Promise

On my honour I promise, 

That I shall lead my patrol to the best of my abilities,

And that I shall remain worthy of the position of Patrol Leader,

For the sake of my Patrol, my Troop and the Scout Movement.

It doesn't seam like much, but my scouts have taken it all to heart. You should have seen the beaming smile he had when I told him that I was going to invest him as a PL.

A camp with extras

There were several reason why we went camping with the scouts at Laughterton this weekend:

• We had been asked to do circus skills workshops for a cub camp.
• Saxilby scouts (from whom we are 'borrowing' a leader) were potentially needing more leaders to meet their sprog to adult ratios.
• We wanted to do a small weekend camp before we broke up for the summer.
• please note that the weather forecast was not one of the reasons- the past so many weekends have been glorious, and we had to pick the wet one!

And I would like to say straight away... before I forget... THANK YOU to Mim (my GSL) for organising it. I was far too busy running round like the proverbial decapitated poultry getting everything sorted out for Kandersteg.

We had a total of 8 sprogs attend the camp and our program for them was simple enough.

• Friday: pitch site, wide game, supper and bed
• Saturday: route cards and plan hike (while some of the leaders ran circus skills with the cubs from another group), the actual hike in the afternoon and a campfire that night
• Sunday: some pioneering and then strike camp

Apart from that it would be free time for the sproggage to play. Simple enough you would have thought?

Friday went pretty much to plan... apart from me only having 15minutes to actually pack my own kit! mind you, I didn't actually forget anything. We thoroughly annoyed the sprogs with the Train Game at supper, it's a puzzle game where they have to figure out the rule behind what you are doing... none of them got it so I suppose it will run over to the next camp.

Saturday, well... that is where our first little extra surprise came in. I hadn't long returned to the site, from collecting the circus gear (there wasn't enough room for it and the camping equipment) when the site warden walks up to us and tells us that we have to move! Apparently the plot we were on is actually owned by a group, and they were on their way to the site for the weekend.

*argh*

With all hands to the pumps, and a bit of help from the cub camp leaders thank you! we managed to move our entire site - mess tent, tables, stoves, tents and all in 20-30mins.

Our second little surprise came when we were driving out to the checkpoint to meet the sprogs on their hike. I had noticed that a sign saying ZHP Polish Scout Centre. Turns out that there is actually another campsite, just 2minutes further down the road, that is run by the Polish Scout Association... and no body even knew it was there!

We stopped in to check the place out and the facilities looked brilliant, I currently have plans for some things to do with that site buzzing round my head at the moment. But how could this little gem of a place not be known by anyone? Laughterton was mobbed with groups this weekend, and the Polish place was deserted (purely cause no one knew about it).

... it's a strange World I tell ya

... anyway, back to the camp.

I managed to get 2 of my new starts invested at the campfire infront of all the other scouts. One of the cub leaders and myself ran the campfire... and there was only two things that I thought we wrong with it. Firstly I wanted to keep going longer (but cubilly-winks need their sleep). And secondly, I was the one doing all the running for Cecile the Caterpillar.

running.... *shudder*

Unfortunately the pioneering on Sunday didn't really happen, mainly because the sprogettes didn't finish making breakfast til 11am. (and before you say anything about me being sexist and getting the girls to do the cooking, the boys had done it the day before...*so there*)

Some funny quotes from camp:

• when heading up to the campfire: "Are they going to dim the lights when you do the fire poi?"
• Leader: "Stop being things I can't call you"
• Sprog while walking out of toilet, added humour in the fact that a boy she really fancies was within earshot: "Going to the toilet is fun"

Camps little lessons:

• How to move a site- quickly
• pretending to flick someones blister is a bad idea... you might accidentally hit it Sorry!
• Sprogs can take forever to cook or wash up at times
• Cub leaders are usually packing sweets/cake
• Coca Cola burps can be the cause of hilarity for several reasons