Beavers and Cubs take on King Arthur’s Challenge

This weekend twenty-one of our Beavers and Cubs spent a fantastic 25 hours learning #skillsforlife under the guise of King Arthur’s Challenge, all based in and around Caythorpe.

The weekend’s activities kicked off with learning all about King Arthur. Beavers and Cubs were briefed on how they would be facing lots of challenges over the weekend, attempting to earn their spurs and achieve the honour of a place at King Arthur’s Round Table.

The morning’s challenges cleverly linked the virtues of being a Knight (or Dame!) with the skills we learn in Scouting. The Beavers and Cubs spent time remembering their Scout Promise, lighting candles (then spending a minute in vigil looking at the flame), exploring the Church, talking about the Countryside Code and learning Emergency Aid skills. We’d like to thank our friends at St Vincent’s Church for letting us take over the church for a few hours and run our activities there; it was a perfect venue.

After lunch our Knights (and Dames)-in training headed to Caythorpe Park to let off a bit of steam and explore the power of flight with pop bottle rockets carefully set off by Tim (see video!). They then practiced the strength, agility and balance needed to be a knight on the playground. Just as the heavens opened they headed to the Village Hall, where Tic Tac had been busily preparing their evening meal of pork, jacket potatoes, vegetables and salad.

The evening’s activities included the final part of the Emergency Aid activity, which was learning about dialling 999 (because Knights need to help others) and learning from a real-life 999 call handler (Mysa, one of our volunteer leaders). Our Knights and Dames enjoyed their banquet and a Pokeman quiz (we can’t link that to the theme, sorry…), set up their own tents and beds in the main hall (Knights need to be prepared, and also need lots of good sleep) and watched The Sword in the Stone before settling for the night in our new blackout pop-up tents.

Sunday morning started with a hearty breakfast and striking camp before more badgework; exploring the world around us with experiments about vinegar, water density, air powered lego cars, as well as crafting including bead woggles, hama beads, lolly stick catapults and pumpkin man twizzlers. They could also play table tennis, and all wished one of our Beavers a very Happy Birthday.

The sleepover ended at midday with our newly-qualified Knights and Dames being awarded their Spurs (a certificate) and being promoted to a place at the Round Table under their chosen knightly name. They were then collected by parents, and undoubtedly collapsed in a tired heap on arrival at home.

Thanks as always to our wonderful team of volunteer leaders, with special credit to our Young Leaders who braved the elements and slept in tents outdoors (yes, that is ice on the top of the tent in the photo below) and to our Beavers and Cubs for their excellent listening skills and participation, really getting in the swing of our brilliant sleepover. Who knew that sleeping in tents in a village hall could be so much fun!?!

We currently have spaces for Beavers (age 6-8) and Cubs (age 8-10½) in our Group, and are always grateful to any adults who would like to volunteer their time to help us and make it all happen. Please get in touch (1stCaythorpe@granthamscouts.org.uk) if you’d like to find out more.