LEADER IDEAS
Late in February I
stopped in my local Post Office. If your Cubs collect stamps, you
can order a catalog or get other information from the U.S. Post
Office. Call 1-800-STAMPS24 .
This idea has been in the Bugle before. I wanted to
feature it again. Although Scott Sinclair offers this as a program
idea for those long, cold winter evenings in Canada, this would work
for a summertime activity.
Try Having A Spud Theme
Night! Scott Sinclair, The Leader, December 1993
Potatoes
(spuds) offer amazing program possibilities. For those long, cold
winter evenings that beg excitement, why not try a spud theme
night?!
Decorate your meeting area with farm pictures; leaders
could dress in country clothes and work boots. Set the mood for your
Beavers, Cubs or Scouts by playing stompin' Tom Connors' song
"Bud The Spud" in the background. Ask every Beaver, Cub or
Scout to bring a 4 kilogram (kg) bag of potatoes. (Leaders should
have an additional 10 kg of potatoes available for those who forget
to bring their spuds.)
Adapt the theme to fit your own program
needs. Some groups may want to try the idea using different stations
with Scouts spending five to ten minutes at each event spud pyramid,
bowling, sack races. It's bound to be a hit!
Bowling for
spuds
Set up bowling pins, using colourful balloons taped to
paper cups. Mark off bowling lanes with tape or chalk, then use the
potatoes as bowling balls. Any "balls" rolling outside the
lane are disqualified.
Driving the spuds to market
Each
person must sweep five potatoes from one end of the room to the
other using only a household broom. Mark racing lanes on the floor
to make this more challenging
Potato wheel-barrow
race
Organize a wheel-barrow race with a team of two children
one on the floor walking on hands and the other holding up his/her
feet Put a potato on the back of each 'wheel barrow'. Listen to the
shrieks of glee! If the spud falls off, the team must return to the
starting line.
Spud of the Nile (potato pyramids)
Put a
large collection of potatoes on a table. Try to build the tallest
pyramid possible. (A great team event.)
Chip taste
test
Number five bowls of potato chips and record which
flavour is in each bowl. Keep this information secret. Tape the five
potato chip bags to the wall behind the table. The fun begins when
people start to match the taste with the bag. Yum!
Speed
spud
Set up a ramp to roll potatoes down. Use a long stacking
table with the legs of one end collapsed, or a household,
hollow-core door. Let everyone choose a potato. Set these up at the
start line at the top of the ramp. At a signal from the referee, the
racers let their spuds go. The first one over the finish line wins.
Improvise different rules: the straightest rolling spud wins; the
fastest wins; the one that rolls the farthest wins; the funniest
roll wins.
Potato stuffing
Weigh all group members. Let
them stuff as many potatoes as possible into their pockets and
clothing, then weigh everyone again fully stuffed. Record the
difference.
Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head
Collect a variety
of items to decorate the spuds. Include vegetables (broccoli,
cauliflower, radishes, carrots) and non-food items like construction
paper, beads, ribbon, string. Let the Cubs and Scouts use toothpicks
to stick things to the potatoes. Allow group members about 15
minutes to make their own personalized creation.
Marble
spud
All children love playing marbles. Why not try it with
potatoes?! Their irregular shape makes them roll an unpredictable,
outrageous path. With chalk, draw a circle on the floor. Players
have to roll their potato 'marble' into the circle and bump another
players marble to win it. Use your creativity to dream up other
games; the possibilities are endless.
Use the event to tell your
Scouts about the food value in potatoes. Did you know the lowly spud
holds almost all the minerals and vitamins a person needs to
survive, including vitamin A, B, C, and D?
Make a list of all
the ways we eat potatoes: baked, scalloped, mashed, fried, stuffed,
boiled, potato chips. Talk briefly about the need for good eating
habits and nutrition. When your night finishes, donate undamaged
potatoes to the local food bank, then start making plans for a gourd
night. What a great event for a winter camp, Cuboree, or just to
recharge your program during mid-winter blahs. Your kids will love
the unexpected, comical twist.
Scott Sinclair serves as manager:
programs and commuications at Crieff Hills Community, Puslinch, Ont.
Program Links Themes: Potatoes, Farming.
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