Scout Meeting Schedule: Week 1 Theme: Pioneering A Date: Time Activity Program Details Leader Responsible 15 mins. Gathering Activity Bowling for Bottles 10 mins. Opening Ceremony Details can be found in the Scout Leader s Handbook 20 mins. Game Gladiator s Game 40 mins. Skills Teach Reef-Knot, Clove- Hitch, Round-Turn and 2- Half-Hitches, and Sheet -Bend Knots. 20 mins. Game/Challenge Rope Rescue game 20 mins. Patrol/Troop Meeting Pharaoh s Chariot Game. 10 mins. Closing See Scout Leader s Handbook 15 mins. Leader Discussion Time Review meeting and discuss next week s plans Badge Links: Meeting Notes: JUMPSTART: Scouts: Pioneering - Series A 1
Games Steal the Apple This game is fun and hones accuracy skills. You will need footballs and empty plastic bottles of various sizes. Draw lines across the hall 2.5 metres from each end to form patrol base areas. Just over 1 metre in front of each base line, draw another line and place five to eight bottles equally spread over the width of the hall. The base areas may be half a metre shorter if you lack space. A patrol enters each base area and is given about five footballs. The object of the game is to throw or bowl the balls to knock down the bottles of the opposing patrol. The first patrol to knock down all the bottles at the other end, wins. Self-knocked down bottles don t count. Accuracy of bowling is clearly a big factor in success, however, don t forget the defence aspect. This can be important, especially in the latter stages when a patrol has only one or two bottles left. No one may go over the base line, but if a ball is going to hit a bottle then it is entirely acceptable to throw a ball to hit the approaching ball. This will prevent the ball from knocking down the bottle. A well-organised defence like this can be quite effective; it may be necessary to arrange the simultaneous throwing of up to three balls against one bottle. Directing the patrol between attack and defence can call for a high level of leadership and is one of the most interesting and intriguing features of the game. Each patrol should have an umpire. Part of the umpire s job should entail passing to their patrol (as quickly as possible) any balls which come to rest outside the base line and in their half of the room. Gladiators This game will test the strength and agility of Scouts. You ll need a double blanket and 5 metres of very soft, thick, braided rope. Try to find a place to play this game with fairly soft ground. Set up boundaries. Form your Scouts into pairs. Give one player the blanket, the other gets the rope. On a signal, players try to immobilize each other so that the other player cannot wave an arm. Make sure that no-one covers the other s head. 2 JUMPSTART: Scouts: Pioneering - Series A
Knot Skill Session Distribute instructions for the Reef Knot, Round Turn and Two Half Hitches, Clove Hitch and Sheet Bend Knots. Provide enough soft, flexible rope (not polypropylene) to allow youth to practice their own knots. Fun With Knots, and the Fieldbook for Canadian Scouting are both useful resource books sold in Scout Shops. Before starting, review the terminology used when tying knots. A straight piece of rope does not have definite parts such as a head, body or tail. In order to understand and describe knot tying, think of the rope as having two ends and a middle (or standing part). Knots are made with a combination of three basic turns: bight, loop or overhand. Bight End Standing Part Overhand Loop Underhand Loop Overhand Knot Re e f Kn o t The Reef Knot is used in all first aid work, and for joining two pieces of string or cord of equal thickness. It is not recommended for joining rope. Begin with an over and under crossing, then bring the ends back above in a second similar crossing Figure B. The completed knot is snugged up by pulling on the ends. Note that it makes no difference whether the first crossing is tied left over right or right over left, as long as the second crossing corresponds to it correctly. You can loosen a Reef Knot easily by taking an end and a standing part of one rope in each hand and pushing the bights apart. Figure B JUMPSTART: Scouts: Pioneering - Series A 3
Sh e e t Be n d The Sheet Bend is the most important knot for joining two rope ends. It s especially useful when the ropes are of unequal size. A permanent loop can be substituted for the right hand portion of the knot. A bight is first formed with the thicker rope. The thinner rope is then threaded through this loop, passed right around the end and standing part of the thicker rope Figure B, tucked under itself, and tightened by pulling on the standing part of the thin rope Figure D. You can see how the thin rope jams against the loop of the thick rope to prevent it from slipping. Figure B Figure D Ro u n d Tu r n a n d Tw o Ha l f Hi t c h e s This knot is a simple method for fastening a rope to a spar, ring or another rope. It s particularly useful for towing purposes. Make two turns around the spar to create the round turn. You can see in Figure B that the second half, the two half hitches, is like making a clove hitch on the standing part of the rope with the free end. Pull tight at this stage and the knot will look something like Figures B and C. An important point to remember: The pull or tension on the rope in these hitches must be as shown in the sketch (i.e. at right angles to the spar). If you fail to do this, the rope may slip along the spar. Figure B Clove Hi t c h The Clove Hitch is a most useful knot and is the start and finish of some lashings. It s widely used in boat work, gadget making, rope ladders and pioneering. Passing around an object in one continuous direction, it puts almost no strain on the fibres. 4 JUMPSTART: Scouts: Pioneering - Series A
Clove Hi t c h No. 1 Make two similar loops side by side in the rope, Figures A and B, and slide them together. Slip over the end of the pole and pull tight Figure D. Figure B Figure D Clove Hi t c h No. 2 Use this method to form a Clove Hitch around a spar which is closed at both ends, or around a pole too high to toss over. Make a simple turn around the spar, across the rope and around the spar Figure B. Tuck it in. The completed knot is shown in Figure D. Games Rope Rescue Figure B Figure D This game makes knot tying fun. You ll need a series of short ropes and one large cardboard box per team. Teams go into relay formation at one end of the hall. One player from each team sits in a box a rope s length from the team. On a signal, players tie the short ropes together, using as many different knots as possible. The first player in each team coils the rope and throws it to the Scout in the box. All team members then pull the Scout to safety across the starting line. The player who threw the rope now takes the box back and sits in it while the Scout who was in the box joins the back of the line. Continue until all players are in their original position. The first team to do so and untie their ropes, wins. If you want to assign points, give one for each different correct knot used in joining the ropes. JUMPSTART: Scouts: Pioneering - Series A 5
Games Pharaoh s Chariot This game will reinforce the learning of knots. You ll need three Scout staves of equal length and three full length (at least 2.5 metres) lashing ropes per patrol. This is a simple task requiring only the ability to tie two knots the Round Turn and Two Half Hitches; and the Clove Hitch. Lie the three staves parallel on the floor about 1 metre apart. Tie a rope to the end of an outer stave with a Round Turn and Two Half Hitches, then to the end of the centre stave with a Clove Hitch. Finally, tie the rope to the end of the other outer stave with a Round Turn and Two Half Hitches. Attach another rope similarly to the other ends of the three staves, and the third rope in the same way across the centre of the staves. The chariot is then lifted by the two outer staves and the clove hitches adjusted as may be necessary to ensure that in each case the side ropes are of equal length. A Scout (as Pharaoh) stands on the centre stave. Four or more Scouts then lift an end of each of the outer staves onto their shoulders and proceed forward. The outer staves become side rails which the Pharaoh can grasp. Each Scout is to be carried to the far end of the hall and back with second carries of individuals, if necessary, to make up numbers. 6 JUMPSTART: Scouts: Pioneering - Series A