Cranham Scout Group

Today was our last meeting before Christmas, so after discussing some groups of people who won’t be having a very good Christmas, the Cubs got down to some games for a lighthearted end to the year!

Gosh, with all the snow Cranham had, we had to cancel two meetings - and then there was half term. We’ll have to see if we can catch up on the programme…

Anyway, on the first meeting back after all that, we talked about the snow and the related issue of climate change, and started discussing ideas for our talent show, which we hope to have on the First of April (the last meeting of the term) if we can catch up in time!

Today’s theme with the Cubs was working as a team.

So we used the tried and tested technique of setting a challenge that a cub can’t do alone - that even two would struggle with. In teams of four, they would have to work together to get it done.

The challenge was simple: part of the hall was marked out and declared to be a river of shark-infested custard (with a shark fin added for effect). A few sheets of newspaper were arranged in a few spots to be slippery, muddy, islands. Each team of four was issued with two heavy aluminium planks, about five feet long (with the ends covered in carpet lest they scrape the floor), and a bottle containing twenty litres of water - which was actually medical supplies that had to be taken across the river along with the entire team. Needless to say, if anybody touched the custard, they’d be carried away by sharks; and even if the end of a plank dipped into it, the plank would be snatched away by the fast current.

So they had to cooperate as a team to extend an aluminium plank out to reach the nearest island, then manoeuvre themselves, the medical supplies, and the second plank around the small island to get the second plank reaching to the next island, then go back and retrieve the first plank so it can be used to get from the second island to the third - then repeat this process to get from the third island to the far shore.

The trick was to have two members of the tream crouching down and holding the plank, acting as a fulcrum, while the other two stand behind them and hold the rear of the plank to take the weight, then feed it forwards, holding it up until it reaches the next island or shore; but the important thing was that they’d manage to organise this between themselves. Of course, to begin with, we would have one person picking up the water, one person picking up a plank and trying to position it themselves, and the other two arguing about what should be done - but with a little hinting, they quickly cottoned on to the idea of discussing what to do as a group then deciding who would do what part of it. So each team started off slow, but after the first island or two, had worked out a process that they then followed to get the rest of the way efficiently. This made me very proud!

Today we looked into the Chinese new year with the cubs. Last year we talked about the traditions and legends behind it; this year, we continued the astronomy theme by discussing the nature of the lunisolar calendar, then proceeded to cook spring rolls.

We split the pack into three groups. Each group, with a Responsible Adult, then took turns to stir-fry pre-cut vegetables in a wok, then placed them onto a sheet of pastry and folded them into a spring roll, which they then took to another Responsible Adult who was manning the deep-fat fryer.

This was very popular with the Cubs, as they could eat the results!

All of this was only possible thanks to the hard work of Paul, who spent hours the night before preparing everything!

Well, the plan was to have a nice walk out onto the common to look at the clear skies and spot some constellations…

…but it was overcast. However, we were all ready to go out, so we went for a walk in the woods instead, and talked about astronomy in general. The lack of good sky took the thrill out of it, but we still got the job done.

Today we looked at Global Issues with the Cubs - and the issue we looked at was the ‘Credit Crunch’.

After a bit of discussion about what the crunch was (during which the Cubs rather surprised us with how well they understood things like fractional reserve banking), we played an economic simulation that illustrates the effect of a sudden loss of credit in a growing economy…

So many new Cubs have joined, and old ones moved on, since we last did Road Safety that it looked like time to have another go at it, as it’s an important topic.

This time, we had a lovely set of materials delivered to us free from the County Council road safety department, which made things a bit more interesting.

We can only cover half of it in one meeting, so we’ll finish it off again before the end of term, if we can - as we missed the original slot we had scheduled to do the first half of it in, due to a change of plans…

Today we looked at Fair Trade with the cubs. We had a game that modelled the trading activities of sugar cane farmers in poor countries, and sugar beet farmers in rich countries, and the sweet manufacturers who consume their produce.

Needless to say, the sugar cane farmers had a much worse lot in life; so the winners, of course, were the sweet manufacturers - and in the discussion afterwards we considered how the game wasn’t very fair, but that the real-world situation it was based on wasn’t fair either, and what we can do to try and make things fairer for the sugar cane farmers.

Then we had fairtrade chocolate to take home!

As part of the Home Help badge, the Cubs have to wash and iron a scarf, and sew a badge onto some cloth. Some have done this at home, but most have not, so today we showed them all how it’s done.

Which, surprisingly, they seemed to enjoy!

Today the Cubs had a bonfire at HQ. The leaders turned up an hour early to get the thing lit, which we only just managed by the time the Cubs arrived, since it was pretty damp…

But, luckily, we had a reasonable blaze going while we started off with some campfire songs, then when it had burned down a bit to produce some embers, out came the dough and sticks for the Cubs to bake bread twists over the fire, which were then filled with jam when they were done. And, of course, marshmallows for toasting!