Imagineering

[Eamonn]

This is kinda of in answer to the post about holding the interest of Lads who have been in the program for a while.

I remember how excited my son was when the time came to cross over and join the Troop.

Everything was going to be new and the promise of new adventures lay ahead. Summer camp was a great adventure. Not just because of the program, but also because he got to be in charge of things that up until then Her Who Must Be Obeyed or myself took charge of. He had his own spending money which he could spent any which way he wanted without having to justify what he spent it on. He could or could not take a shower it was his choice.

Little things like lighting a fire, cooking, going out in the woods held his imagination. Heck he even liked wearing his Scout uniform!! (Now he take the shirt in the car and puts it on just before he needs to wear it.)

Of course in time many of the things that were so very exciting became old hat. Very much: Been there, done that and have the t-shirt.

Holding the interest of Lads who have been around for a while isn't always easy. In fact it can be a big challenge.

This is where Imagineering comes in to play.

At times it seems that we do the same old same old. In fact when I talk to older Scouts this is something that I hear a lot.

We need to look at what we are doing and find a way of making it a little different.

A little while back our District Activities Chair was looking for a way to spice up a District Camporee. He ended up planning and having all the activities done at night in the dark. He added secret passwords and codes. The Scouts really thought it was great and something different.

Adding a new slant or some spice to an activity is what Imagineering is all about.

Listening to what the Scouts want to do is vital. At times we have to alter their ideas and maybe meet them half way, but having them think that we are following what they want to do really adds a lot of interest.

At times we the adults need to try and see things through the eyes of the people we are serving. Even if it means them doing things that we might dislike. I hate bicycling, but we have some great bike trails, having them do the trail and meet me along the way for ice cream at a place where I can pull my car in. Lets them do something that they want to do and I don't have to ride a bike!!

Imagineering can be applied to almost every activity.

First Aid: Have the older scouts work on making realistic looking wounds, chicken bones and fake blood add a lot.

Cooking: There is no end to the Imagineering that can be added, cooking ethnic foods, having a real feast, having a knights of the Roundtable banquet, which is historically correct (There goes the potatoes and the tomatoes!!) Cooking suckling pigs, seafood, cooking with certain types of equipment or with no equipment.

OJ camped with a Troop from outside London the other year he got to sleep in a Bivy, he thought this was neat.

I agree with Kudu that we need to add a lot more activity to our weekly troop meetings, they need to be fun. We are only ever as good as our last meeting.

May you might want to add an idea of how we could spice things up or add a twist to the things that we do?

Eamonn.

[madkins007]

I like the idea of mixing things up as well, and this forum and the Web are a galaxy of resources!

 

Hobo camp- tarps, bedrolls, tin can cookery, hobo stoves... Variations include shipwreck camp (using random stuff 'found on the beach', placed by leaders who do not compare notes); shoebox camping- everything has to fit in a shoebox (except maybe a sleeping bag), etc.

 

Cooking Challenges- solar cooking, utensiless cooking, Iron Chef (bring out some stuff, then challenge all patrols to use a secret ingredient in most dishes served), 'no cooler' challenges, 'portable feast' (each patrol or group prepares part of a meal- appetizer, soup, etc., Eat as a big group, course by course.) Make cake and ice cream for a camping birthday or other event.

 

Make your own tents (search for 'pyramiddle' for an interesing option! Hammock camp (some units swear by this!) Sleep under the stars a night (we did this as a youth during a meteor shower- a wonderful memory to this day!)

 

Orienteering- hide the food for supper at the checkpoints- include a special treat at one.

 

Reintroduce old skills- tracking, trailing, stalking, signalling, marbles, boomerangs, yo-yos...

 

Create a troop 'jug band'. Bring supplies to make marshmellow shooters. Find a re-enacter or member of the Society for Creative Anachronism to visit your camp. Have the patrols each bring the camp ranger or manager (especially the live-in people) a food gift they made- maybe invite them to a campfire with songs and skits- new faces make a difference!

 

Find some long-term projects to work on at meetings or camp- tatting a hammock, making lanyards, leathercraft projects like belts or Handbook covers...

 

[Eamonn]

Great!!

Lets Keep'em coming.

Eamonn.

[jr56]

Fire starting competitions, no matches allowed.

Have an older scout hide in a defined area with his pockets full of treats. The other scouts try to find him. The one that does gets the treats.

[rpushies]

"This" - may be more dementia than Imagineering, but it has been fun for many a Scout! (and me) An explanation of "This" has never been attempted in writing before. So be patient.

I like to whittle, been doin it since I was a kid and have the scars to prove it. I'm not necessarily very good, I just like whittlin'. So, while attending a district camporee with my son's troop (I was a committee member and had no responsibilities for the weekend.) I sat in the shade whittlin'. Now don't get excited that I was doing anything grand, because I was just whittlin' a tongue depressor. That's right a tongue depressor. I was a drug rep at the time and had hundreds of them in my car trunk left over from a drug promotion. (They were cherry flavored too! Exciting!) As I sat there in my solitude letting my imagination run through the possibilities of what I could whittle out of that tongue depressor, along came Richie. Richie was a gregarious Scout that was always wanting to know, to talk, tell a joke, well just be engaged socially. I like Richie and he wanted to know what I was carving? Since I really had no idea of what I was whittlin', after repeated queries, I just told him I was whittlin' "This" (Whittlin is not carving, carving takes talent, whittlin' takes a sharp knife and time to whittle. Whittlin' can often lead to carving I'm told.) He responded, "What is that?" "No it is not that, it is "This", was my reply. So a perversion of the "Who is on first?" comedy routine of Abbot and Costello was off and running! Richie caught on the humor right away and we bantered back and forth for a while on"This". I finally offered Richie some "This" making material (a tongue depressor) and challenged him to make a better "This" than my "This." It sounds easy, but it is actually more difficult than most would expect. Soon virtually every boy in the troop was wanting some of my "This" making material. The afternoon turned into a spontaneous "This"-whittlin'-fest! (Only one band-aid used for the whole afternoon too!) All of a sudden there was a lot of interest in how to make a knife blade sharp! Scout's wanting to know how to sharpen their knife! Who would have thought a stupid tongue depressor would do that. The whole episode still cracks me up when I think about "This". I still hold the title of the world's greatest make of "This" !! Richie, well he is married now and off on his own. Last time we talked he brought up the topic of "This", interesting.

"This" was probably more serendipity than Imagineering, but it captured our Scout's imagination like "This" probably never has before. Through "This" I have gotten more Scouts (and a few adults) interested in and actually doing whittlin'/wood carving than I ever would have without "This". "This" making material is cheap (check your local craft store- you want tongue depressors, not popsicle sticks), your can fit a dozen easily into a pocket, two dimensions is easier to carve that three, and "This" is just down right fun! Go ahead, give "This"a try!

"This" is all I have to say about "This"!

Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies