Scout and Guide badge programs

Exploring Beaver - anything to do with outdoor adventure and inquiry

• Nature hikes
• Basic compass use
• Build a watershed on the beach

Earth Beaver - anything related to environmental stewardship

• Water study
• Endangered species
• Tree planting
• Invasive species

Leader Beaver - organizing and taking part in team building skills

• Team building games

Olympic Beaver - having fun exploring healthy activity

• Snowshoe hikes
• Tracking hikes
• Nature games: camouflage, stalking skills,
• Compass and Mapping skills

Canada Beaver - discovering and exploring anything to do with our country and being a good citizen

• Species at Risk
• Map reading / map making skills

Scientific Beaver - learning and experimenting critically and empirically

• Teddy bear shelters

Creative Beaver - using the imagination to devise art, inventions and handicrafts

• Outdoor art - sculptures, tree spirits, scavenger hunts

 Earth -  connecting with our planet's soil and geology 

• Caving
• Rocks and Minerals
• Nature study - birds, bugs, water study

Air - connecting with the atmosphere 

• Birds - identification, feathers, flight, owl prowl
• Kites

Water - connecting with water 

• Water study
• Build a watershed on the beach
• Ice safety

Space - connecting with outer space

• Star gazing
• Night hike

Year Round Fitness - active and healthy fitness year round

• Nature hikes
• Nature games - predator prey, etc.
• GPS/Geocaching skills

Winter Fitness - active and healthy fitness in the winter season

• Snowshoeing
• Cross country skiing
• Winter survival skills
• Ice safety
• Geocaching/GPS
• Compass skills

Community - exploring what it means to be an active member of one's community

• Trail maintenance, litter pick up, pollinator garden maintenance
• Invasive species removal
• Mapping skills
• Compass skills
• GPS skills

Building - creating and constructing functional items in a hands on way

• Shelter building
• Making cordage

Science - learning and experimenting critically and empirically

• Water study
• Fire building 

Outdoor Adventure Skills

Winter Skills Competencies - during your winter program, your beavers, cubs and scouts can work towards building their winter skills competencies

1.1  I have built something out of snow.

1.4 I can keep my water bottle from freezing on a winter outing.

1.6 I know to stay dry or change to dry clothes when I am outside in winter.

1.8 I know about the buddy system and why it is used when participating in outdoor activities

1.10 I have hiked at least 1 km in winter.

2.1 I have gone sledding or tobogganing

2.10 I know to avoid ice or open water without an adult present. - Ice Safety program

3.1 I have participated in a winter sport (alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding, skating, hockey, tobogganing, sledding, curling).

3.2 I can light a small fire.

3.4 I have cooked a lunch over an open fire.

3.5 I understand the layering principle when dressing for winter activities and apply it to all activities.

3.6 With a small group, I have built an emergency shelter in winter.

3.7 I know how to find shelter from the wind on a cold day.

3.9 I know how to watch my fellow Scouts for signs of exposure to the cold.

3.11 I can identify the North Star and three other features in the winter night sky.

3.12 I have completed a winter hike of at least 3 km.

4.1 I have participated in a winter sport (different from the sport done in earlier stages).

4.4 I have attended a winter campfire.

4.10 I have traveled in snow using snowshoes or Nordic skis.

4.12 I know how to help someone who has fallen through the ice.

4.13 I know how to prevent and treat hypothermia and frostbite.

4.14 I know how to avoid and treat snow blindness

5.7 I can lay and light a fire in winter conditions for warmth and cooking.

Outdoor Adventure Skills

Trail Skills Competencies - during your program, your beavers, cubs and scouts can work towards building their trail skills competencies

1.2 I can dress myself for a day hike.

1.3 I can list what food to bring on a day hike.

1.4 I can follow directions on a day hike.

1.5 I can identify the main parts of a compass.

1.6 I can behave safely while hiking.

1.8 I can explain the buddy system.

1.9 I can recognize the main distress signals.

2.3 I can read a simple map.

2.4 I can use a compass to find basic directions.

I can follow a route on an orienteering map.

3.4 I can identify the features of a topographical map.

3.5 I can demonstrate the basic use of a GPS unit.

3.7 I can explain the effect of weather on hiking activities.

3.8 I can be responsible for myself and aware of my surroundings while hiking.

3.11 I know how to avoid becoming lost, and I know what to do if I get lost.

• Going Outside Keeper
• Being Healthy Keeper
• Exploring and Experimenting Keeper
• Going Camping Keeper

Seasonal Activities:

Any season:

• Learn more about animals through a hands-on visit with resident creature teachers
• Nature Scavenger Hunt
• Nature Games (Camouflage, Migration etc.)
• Mapping Activities
• Puppet shows
• Campfires

Winter:

• Snowshoeing

Spring/Summer/Fall:

• Look for creatures in the local stream or pond
• Look for bugs in the field, meadow or forest

• Key to Active Living: Winter is Great
• Key to STEM: Astronomy
• Key to the Living World: Bird Watcher; Saving Our Planets and Animals
• Design your own special interest badge: water conservation, pond/river study, nature hike/forest study or your own idea.
• Key to Camping: Which Way, Be Aware, Winter Outside, Campfire 
• Key to Girl Guides : Taking Part, Saving Water

Being Healthy

• Cross Country skiing at Laurel Creek or Shade's Mills
• Snowshoeing

Fun in the Outdoors

• Bird Watching
• Conservation
• Ecology
• Endangered Species
• Exploring
• Forestry
• Hiking
• Naturalist
• Outdoor Adventures
• Water
• Wildflower

Science and Technology

• Astronomy

Creating your future

We're a team!

• Icebreaker games
• Team-building games
• Litter clean-up (team service project)

 Let's Take it Outside

Outdoor Know-How

• Campfire cookout, campfire games, songs and stories
• Nature hike with discussion on proper gear, leave no trace and animal encounters

Knots, Knives and Outdoor Lore

• Fire-building Workshop
• Knot-Making Workshop
• Mini Raft-building session 

Finding Your Way:

• Map-reading skills and Mapping Course
• Compass skills and Compass Course
• Orienteering Course (Map and Compass Skills combined)
• GPS skills

Survivor Girl - Prepared for the Outdoors!

• Wilderness Survival Skills Workshop
• Fire-Building Workshop
• Fire by Friction techniques
• Shelter-Building Workshop

Winter Wonderland

• Snowshoeing
• Cross Country Skiing (LCNC, SMNC)
• Traditional Winter Games
• Winter Games

Up Close and Personal with Nature

• Rot and Roll Hike, looking under logs for salamanders and invertebrates
• Pond, stream or river study looking for creatures with dipnets and water trays.
• Plant identification walk looking for edible wild plants, hazard plants and discussion of plant uses.
• Tree Identification hike, activities and/or games about trees.
• Wildflower hike (spring, summer, fall).
• Owl Prowl
• Bird Watching Hike
• Nature hike looking for Introduced Species
• Endangered Species Game (Species at Risk game) and role-play
• Animal Tracking Hike and making plaster casts of animal tracks (demo outdoors and then use rubber molds so that the girls can take the casts home).
• Nature restoration, invasives species management

 Exploring a Theme

Galactic Adventures

• Star-gazing Program
• Night Hike

Everything comes from STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

• Fire-building Inquiry-based Workshop 

Our Environment

• Litter clean-up.  
• Nature Walk
• The Grand River Story