Ice!

Depending who you believe we *may* have more cold and snow toward the weekend although the last threat for here was something of a damp squid.

Something you may well find is iclicles as I did several days back where you have strips of often on structures such as roofs and windows and these beauties were found by a Vermont Girl Scout while on winter camp.

As ever, if you're going out in very cold temperature prepare and do wrap up well.

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The Shaping Us badge

Straight from the tree, this week we have news about a new Blanket Badge for Squirrels  recently launched by the Scout Association in conjunction with the Royal Foundation.

The badge can be given to anyone who engages with the Shaping Us Framework, initiated by our Joint President, HRH The Princess of Wales.

The framework describes, in a clear and accessible way, the social and emotional skills that young people need to thrive and forms a part of passing on opportunities to discuss and develop particular social and emotional skills.

This might in game form where learning to play a game helps develop communication skills such as listening, speaking, taking turns and things like understanding each others feelings though empathy so we're able to complete the task and work with each other effectively.

This is fun!

 

Canadian Cubs out in the winter enjoying themselves on an organized day out in the woods.

Wayfaring

 

Finding your way really is a thing that matters and here these Canadian Cubs are doing an exercise armed with just what you need - a map with distinctive local features  showing and a compass - as part of a course on survival skills.

The tendency for children to be taken to everywhere by car does lessen the skills may of us aquired doing things like walking to school, our friends houses and the shop where you make a mental note of what roads and paths to cross, things along the way that we need to pass or turn into and so on which form the backbone of getting about independently on foot.

The freeze

 

Pix credits: BBC

Recent weather here resulted in snow earlier in the week and even a partially frozen canal on Saturday as temperatures plummited which has made getting about a bit akward having had a few near misses with the ice. 

That's where being prepared to do a "good turn" can be really appreciated as some people do struggle with things like getting to the shops locally or feel more isolated as tehy cannot visit friends as easy as they notmally would.

Skiing in the snow

 

We were supposed to have had a a major deluge of snow here but you know what?

It only showed up for a few hours and melted completely away but Winter doesn't mean in Cubs you cannot take part in sports as there's winter sports such as skiing that nearby we do have a ski centre for and that is what these cubs from Lancashire are doing, clearly enjoying the experience.

How does it help?

Seeing it is New Year and I'm wrapped up by the gas fire we might look really what this thing really is about beyond it's history and founder.

That is a simple summary of what it can do not least for those in their teens who often are bewildered by a seemingly endless set of choices, potential distractions and where peer pressure can replace careful thought and reflection in these matters.

Any notion of children being "chattle" has long gone socially and legally so you cannot "make" any child take any path be it to follow a cause, get involved in a specific interest or just do whatever as a parent or aunt or uncle you did.

Providing an opportunity to explore options, come up with a workable plan with support while they learn to take more responsibility for directing their own progress working towards achievements, badges and above all the confidence to take on challenges is what in scouting we can offer.

It's certainly possible to progress to poistions of real leadership in scouts but so much of what you do does translate well into things like seeing a course of academic or vocational training through or showing the kind of interest that helps secure a job.

That's why Scouts matters.

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Memories

 

There may be different ways of entering the New Year but something very much in it's past, over one hundred and ten years old with that sepia, beloved at the time but today often in black and white greyscales.

Uniform reflected the Edwardian era of Scouting in its infancy and not how the neckerchief is fastened too.

Sending wishes, the old school way by Postcard, in Twenty Twenty Six and endangered species and yet the fact we can see it is something that with current trends in 2126 we may not as sd's cards fail and file formats drift.

We can read a lot too into how it is written by the handwriting.

There is something to be said for us sending a Postcard even if we post updates  from our tablets and smartphones while we are visiting places: A truely permanent memory.