Today, we were back at the Scout Hall
for a Sleepover. The theme was “Bridge the Winter Solstice”. The basic idea was
that the Cubs and Joeys in attendance at the Sleepover would build a bridge.
Scouting person was not sure how well the youth would do. For some, it was the
1st activity away from a regular meeting night and are still really
new to Scouting. So, while the ideal was to build a bridge, if the youth
members learnt how to do some knotting, and build something, then it would be a
bonus.
The afternoon started with the youth
arriving at 1:30pm, everyone went over what was happening.
It was time to do the first activity, which was
putting up a tent. Not all were keen to sleep in a tent, so there was only the
need to put up the one tent for the Cubs. Only 5 Cubs put up their hands to
sleep in the tent overnight.
Once the tents were up, and a snack
was had, it was time to do some pioneering work. The Cubs and Joeys built a
bridge themed structure, which allowed them to practice their knotting. It also
fit into the Winter Solstice Challenge, which was a challenge set by the South
Australian Branch Commissioner – Outdoor Area Skills.
From here, it was time to set up the
campfire, to demonstrate that they could collect wood, set the fire
appropriate, as well as being able to strike a match. The Cubs were also able
to demonstrate that they were able to help prepare food for cooking.
Once the food was cooked, and
everyone had eaten, and had washed their own dishes (we think for a few of the
youth members, it was the 1st time they had done dishes from start
to finish), we were able to put a movie on and relax for a while before gong to
bed. It really didn’t take the youth that long to fall asleep. The adult spent
some time chatting in the kitchen, before heading to bed themselves.
