Practical resources for Scout leaders, including badge guidance, activity ideas, teaching tips, safety advice and resources to help Scouts develop essential skills.
Activity Type: Fire Safety & Outdoor SkillsAge Range: Scouts and ExplorersDuration: 30 minutesLocation: Indoors or a suitable outdoor areaEquipment: Scenario cards, paper and pens Activity Overview This activity teaches young people to recognise when a fire is becoming unsafe and make sensible decisions before a situation becomes an emergency. Rather than lighting a fire, the…
Activity Type: Camping & CampcraftAge Range: Cubs, Scouts and ExplorersDuration: 30 minutesLocation: Indoors or outdoorsEquipment: A selection of camping equipment, or printed pictures/cards of equipment Activity Overview This activity challenges young people to decide what they actually need for a camping trip. The objective isn’t to see who can pack the most. It’s to teach…
Activity Type: Teamwork & Outdoor SkillsAge Range: Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and ExplorersDuration: 30 minutesLocation: Suitable outdoor areaEquipment: Rope, a few natural or safe everyday objects, paper and pencils Activity Overview This activity gives young people a series of short outdoor problems to solve as a team. The challenges are deliberately simple. The aim isn’t to…
Activity Type: NavigationAge Range: Scouts and ExplorersDuration: 30 minutesLocation: Suitable outdoor areaEquipment: Maps, compasses and pencils Activity Overview This activity gets young people thinking about navigation rather than simply following instructions. The challenge is to give them a destination and let them decide how they are going to get there. They’ll need to consider the…
Activity Type: Outdoor SkillsAge Range: Cubs, Scouts and ExplorersDuration: 30 minutesLocation: Suitable outdoor areaEquipment: Rope, tarpaulin or groundsheet, sticks or poles where appropriate Activity Overview This activity challenges young people to work together to create a simple emergency shelter. The emphasis isn’t on building the biggest or most impressive structure. It’s about planning, teamwork, using…
Activity Type: Outdoor SkillsAge Range: Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and ExplorersDuration: 30 minutesLocation: OutdoorsEquipment: None required, although paper and pencils can be useful Activity Overview How observant are your young people? This simple 30-minute activity encourages them to slow down and notice things they might normally walk straight past. The activity works well in a woodland,…
Activity Type: Outdoor SkillsAge Range: Beavers, Cubs, Scouts or ExplorersDuration: 30 minutesGroup Size: Small groups or PatrolsLocation: Outdoors or a suitable indoor spaceEquipment: Paper, pens and a selection of basic outdoor equipment appropriate to the group Activity Overview This quick activity gives young people the chance to practise several outdoor skills while working as a…
Outdoor cooking is one of those skills that becomes much more interesting when Explorers are given responsibility. Instead of simply following a recipe, they can plan a meal, choose ingredients, organise equipment and work out how to cook everything safely. Camping also introduces challenges that don’t normally exist in a kitchen. You might have limited…
Nature provides an endless supply of things for Explorers to discover. A woodland isn’t just somewhere to walk through. It’s a place to investigate wildlife, identify plants, understand habitats, observe changing seasons and learn how human activity affects the natural world. At Explorer level, nature activities can become more investigative. Instead of simply asking young…
Navigation is one of the most valuable outdoor skills an Explorer can develop. At Explorer level, navigation can move beyond simple map-reading exercises. Young people can start making their own route decisions, interpreting more complicated terrain, using different navigation methods and solving realistic problems. The aim isn’t simply to teach Explorers how to follow a…
