Friday
The Beavers arrived on Friday and helped the leaders and helpers to pitch the patrol tents that they would be staying in .......
(well that was the theory) ... some took the opportunity to enjoy their freedom and see how much camp mud they could gather in the first hour.
We then settled down for a well earned picnic tea before starting on the first of our 4 planned activities. The Beavers would rotate around these activities during the 2 days completing them all by the end.
Activity 1 - Jet Packs
Using just tin foil, plastic bottles, string, sellotape and scissors they created their own jet packs. They used cellophane and orange paper to make the flames.
Activity 2 - Space
These activities included looking at Constellations, making a scale model of the Solar System out of Plasticine and looking at space missions.
Our fantastic parent helpers had brought along a great big telescope so we could look at the night sky but the weather had other ideas.
One Space Badge successfully completed by all.
Activity 3 - Experiments
Party popper rockets and Cartesian diver
The Beaver learnt how to make a rocket using a party popper and how by squeezing a bottle of water you could make a 'diver' (Plasticine and paperclip) sink to the bottom.
Activity 4 - Pioneering
The Beavers learnt how to lash sticks together to make a structure that would keep a 2L cola bottle upright. They then added Mento's to 1 bottle and Polo's to another to see which exploded best.
After a singsong and a story (with hot chocolate) it was time for the Beavers to retire to their tents for the night...... little where they to know they were about to learn a very important lesson about keeping their belongings inside the tent.
Saturday
No the belongings didn't get stolen ...... but some Beavers may have got very wet shoes as it rained ........ and rained ........ and rained!
Fortunately our top chef (we only take the best on camp) was on hand with cereal and bacon to fill every tummy.
After breakfast, and an impromptu fire drill thanks to the over sensitive smoke alarm....
..... it was time for some Dodgeball practise.
And a round of "Sun, Sun, Moon" (Duck, Duck, Goose)
Before hitting our first on-site activity.
One half to the Cube (a very dark indoor 3D maze)
and the other half to the climbing wall
After lunch we carried on with our group activities, deciding to go for a walk about 2pm to explore the camp site and follow the clues to find the Beaver posters.. To say we got a little damp would be an understatement as the Heavens opened on us. ........ and yes there was one Beaver who thought it a good idea not to take/ wear a coat.
Soggy and cold we arrived back at the hut, and whilst adults run around trying to find towels, camp blankets and dry clothes in the Beavers well packed **cough** and tidy **cough cough** tents I lead an action song session to take their minds off it - all together "if you're wet and you know you stamp your feet" .... they weren't amused! ............. and yes we had the token Beaver who didn't have a towel ....... yes it was on the kit list!
The rain was relentless, the outdoor plans for the afternoon (which included the climbing wall for the second group) were rained off. The scouts (who were enjoying county camp in a pitch round the corner )were busy ringing parents and sending children home after they developed a river through their sites.
Whilst chef served up chicken and noodles to warm everyone up the leaders had a pow wow over how to manage 24 Beavers in a very small space for the next 6 waking hours.
So how was it spent?
The men did a brilliant job of running from tent to hut gathering roll mats, sleeping bags, rucksacks, lone socks, pants, and cuddly toys and bringing them into the hut. As the Patrol Tents don't have fitted groundsheets sleeping in them tonight was cancelled, they were going to have to bed down in the hut.
I had brought my laptop and some emergency DVD's so the Beavers were transported back to the 80's with a few episodes of Button Moon.
After an hour they were getting restless, with energy levels returning I found a play list from my son's birthday party earlier in the year so we had a good hour of 'disco', not sure who had more fun the Beavers or me and the mum who relived our "Grease Lightning", "Timewarp" and "YMCA" days.
With the Beavers eyes glazing over and more and more sitting on the sidelines by the time "Chocolatte" came on it was time for something a bit less energetic..... camp songs.
I was very very pleased when our GSL arrived at 8 o'clock and took over the camp songs with some new ones, my voice wouldn't have held out much longer.
By 9pm the children and grown ups were exhausted, with Supper abandoned we bedded them down for the night. They fell asleep in double quick time.
............ and did not want to get up at 7am ...... so we gave them an extra half hour.
Sunday
And the sun came out!!!!!
We packed up, attempted to return lost property to it's owners (don't be silly of course it wasn't named).
It was far too much effort to get the tables set up for breakfast so we enjoyed a Bacon Sandwich picnic on the floor.
Before finishing our group activities. Hesley Wood also arranged for us to have a short session in the cube as we had missed the second activity yesterday.
By the time the parents arrived at 12.30 the Beavers were fed and watered, had been handed out all their badges and gifts, gathered most of their possessions and ready to tell them what they had been up to (or to go home to bed).
Clearing up done the leaders went to book November's nights away before rolling in their own front doors at about 4.30.
We packed up, attempted to return lost property to it's owners (don't be silly of course it wasn't named).
It was far too much effort to get the tables set up for breakfast so we enjoyed a Bacon Sandwich picnic on the floor.
Before finishing our group activities. Hesley Wood also arranged for us to have a short session in the cube as we had missed the second activity yesterday.
By the time the parents arrived at 12.30 the Beavers were fed and watered, had been handed out all their badges and gifts, gathered most of their possessions and ready to tell them what they had been up to (or to go home to bed).
Clearing up done the leaders went to book November's nights away before rolling in their own front doors at about 4.30.
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