Knots and lashings to make Scarecrows
The 1st North Berwick Bear Cubs recently created some fantastic scarecrows!! They used their knotting skills to bind the wooden poles together, before choosing some uniquely quirky clothes to style their scarecrows. Once they were stuffed and had their hats and gloves put on, they were ready to take pride of place in a local farmer’s field. There have been lots of comments from passing car drivers who have loved seeing the scarecrows’ smiling faces!
Cub-built scarecrow
Knots, lashings and clothes
DIY Badge - Hungry Hippos
1st North Berwick Scouts enjoyed an evening of ‘Human Hungry Hippos’ recently. Scout Leader David Hay split the session in two with patrols initially working towards their DIY badge, using power tools and hand tools and following instructions to construct a small trolley.
Then came the fun: one ‘hippo’ from each patrol was launched into the middle of the hall on the trolley, with a washing-up bowl ready to scoop up as many balls as possible. The patrol then hauled the hippo back with a rope and emptied the balls from the bowl, ready to go again. The winner was intended to be the patrol with the most balls but in the end so much fun was had by all that the balls were left uncounted! The trolleys have now been kept so that the game can be enjoyed by the North Berwick Group as a whole.
DIY – preparing the board
Hungry Hippos game
Reeling in the hippo
Founder's Day
Every year in North Berwick, all our Scouts and Guides come together to celebrate our Founder’s Day in a service led by our Young People and supported by the Minister Rev. David of The Abbey Church.
This year the theme was our impact in the world on people and how important our Scouting and Guiding values are in responding to that. This was explored through the readings and prayers led by all sections in Scouts and Guides and summarised in a reflection led by the Minister.
Founder’s Day Service
Flags in church
The Promise
Photographer Badge with pinhole cameras
1st Longniddry Cubs decided to take a different approach to their Photographer Activity Badge. We built pinhole cameras, using old drink cans and photographic paper, inspired by the work of Bristol-based Justin Quinnell. The Cubs followed the instructions on his website, http://www.pinholephotography.org/Beer%20Can%20construction.htm to make their cameras and then took photographs around the hut before they developed them in our home-made darkroom. Some of the results were amazing.
After this, their cameras were reloaded with photographic paper and the pinholes covered. The Cubs took their cameras home this time to create a solargraph. This is when you secure the camera pointing towards the south, ideally pointing towards something of interest. You then remove the pinhole cover and leave it exposed for as long as you want. This exposure will in effect ‘burn’ the image of the sun’s arc across the sky for the hours, days or months. After that you remove the photographic paper and scan the negative that was produced, then invert the image to give your final result. Most of the Cubs had images that were up to three months old.
When we showed our local librarian the images she suggested that we create a display for Longniddry Library. Everyone’s images were on display for a month and it was very well received.
One of our Cubs took his camera away loaded with photographic paper and put it up in his garden to cover the 6 months between the Summer solstice and the Winter solstice. The image is amazing and shows how the sun tracks across the sky in in gradually lower arcs each day.
We posted some of our work on our Facebook and Twitter pages and were proud to receive a Tweet from Justin Quinnell saying ‘Longniddry Rules!’
