Here
we are, an exciting new spring term. A
new year, a fresh start, a lively programme.
Problem is, outside it’s dark, it’s cold, and it could easily be raining
or snowing, so for the next few weeks at least, there’s a high risk of your
programme having to be mainly indoors.
And for an outdoor adventure-based organisation like ours, it’s hard to
keep up the enthusiasm and keep the programmes exciting in a dusty hall now the
Christmas decorations are down again.
Of
course, it does mean we can give a little time to checking up on the progress –
how are the girls doing with their Roundabouts/Adventure Badges/Challenge
Badges/Octants? Are there some areas
where they are a little behind, are there some clauses we need to make time in
the programme to cover, or to improve the balance in what we’re doing? This year, with the programme changes coming
up, we will want to ensure that all the girls get the chance to finish off the
awards they are working on in the current programme, so that we can manage the
transition to the new programme when the time comes, without anyone missing
out.
We can
also plan ahead – teach skills ready for the summer. Now’s the time to learn some new songs ready
for the campfire season. We can practice
skills ready for the sleepovers, holidays and camps in the summer – how to pack
the luggage, how to make the bed, how to wash the dishes, how to do simple
cooking – yes, now is the time to practice all of that so that when the summer
comes we aren’t stuck indoors learning the theory, we’re doing the practical.
It’s
also a good time to work on our good turn/be prepared skills – do the girls
know simple first aid, and what to do with minor accidents? Do they know how to throw a lifeline, and
other options for water rescue (especially, knowing to stay out of the water
when rescuing, no matter how many swimming medals they have, to ensure one
casualty doesn’t become two)? Do they
know about home safety, how to spot potential accidents and prevent them?
There
can also be scope for getting outdoors at this time of year. Have your girls tried looking into the night
sky to spot constellations, or visited an observatory, or been shown the night
sky by an astronomy enthusiast? Have
they ever looked at animal tracks in snow or mud, made plaster casts of them,
tried to identify them? Is there a
countryside ranger or nature club who would be willing to take your unit out to
see nocturnal animals? Have you done
torchlit trails using glow sticks, old CDs or tinfoil cake cases on strings? Have you done wide games in local streets,
using the codes on street lamps, or nearby lanes and alleys as a
playground? Have you tried lighting a
fire and cooking on it – if you have a car park or slabbed area outside your
hall then you can use a metal colander or a foil ‘disposable’ barbecue foil
tray on a couple of bricks, as a container to build your fire in.
Because
it’s a time of year when people are inclined to hibernate – try to build some
exercise and fitness into your programmes.
Outings could be to a swimming pool or skating rink. You could have a dance session, or a
gymnastics session. Why not recreate
some of the winter Olympics sports indoors – could you create a version of
skiing, skating, ice hockey, curling?
And of
course, there are lots of festivals during the spring which we can use to bring
colour and international interest to our programmes. So much so that the only one we should mark
every year is, of course, Thinking Day – as for the rest, why not try some
different ones this year, and give the ‘usual’ ones a rest for once – they’ll
be so much fresher if you leave them until next year!
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