How can you help the planet while staying close to home?
Explore the underwater world online, then try some projects at home that can help keep waterways healthy (like planting a rain garden). Experiment with different ways of cleaning up oil spills through fun activities.
These are just a few of the ways you can help the planet from home—read on to discover more!
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Missed last week’s newsletter, or looking for more inspiring activities to try? Catch up on all Scouting at Home editions here!
Personal Achievement badges celebrate your own personal journey of learning, exploring and setting goals for new skills that interest you. They mark the milestones of your personal progression, and help to celebrate your achievements!
This week’s Personal Achievement badges are Water, Air and Exploration. Our planet is made up of many different elements. Challenge yourself to explore our natural world: both the air around us and the water below us.
Take a look at the full selection of Personal Achievement badges for activities your child can do alone or together as a family. What’s the difference between salt and fresh water, and what lives in each? What causes thunder and lightning, and how do you stay safe in storms?
We recognize that a change to online and at-home activities creates a vulnerability for some children especially those in difficult or at-risk living conditions. In line with our safety culture and values, Scouts Canada continues to prioritize safety and offers support by providing access to various experts and resources. We encourage kids to reach out to Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868) for 24/7 counselling. You can also visit Cybertip.ca for best practices on internet safety or review Scouts Canada’s Safety Tips on cyber safety and social media.
As always, be sure to keep the Two-Scouter Rule in mind, whether engaging in online conversations through email, virtual conversations with other Scouts or on social media, and by phone.
Tag @scoutscanada in your #ScoutsDoStuff pics—let Scouting youth across Canada and around the world know how they can continue Scouting at home!
392nd Muslim Scouts contributed to the #MGH1000masks challenge—people helping to sew 1,000 masks per week for their local hospital, using instructions provided by the hospital. We are completely blown away by this amazing 392nd Muslim Scouts initiative!
Looks like the #neckerflip challenge is catching on! Thanks Fraser Valley Rover Scout, Sam, for sharing this fun clip.
White Pine Council Cub Scouts learned first aid skills in a virtual course with MedVents.
Each week the 8th Ajax Scout Group challenges their youth with a new activity or challenge. This week’s was posting a ‘Thank You’ sign from their home windows to express gratitude to frontline workers.
The natural elements that make up our planet give us so much to explore! Use the Outdoor Adventure Skills competencies to find some activities that still allow you to explore aspects of the natural world from your homes and backyards, and prioritize our environment as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day.
Life Below WaterWhat does an oceanologist or oceanographer do? Explore these unique professions by finding out what life below water looks like from their points of view! Online, take a close look at the many different species that live under water. Can you name three different animals that live in the ocean?
Canoe at Home!Try testing your paddling skills from inside your home with your own box canoe! Practise your paddling strokes and how to properly hold your paddle from your box canoe and take your family members at home on a ride. Do you have your life jackets and PFDs to keep you safe? Pack everything you’d need for a day trip out in your canoe, so that you’re prepared for your next adventure on the water.
Emergency PreparednessThe atmosphere around us can bring on some extreme weather! Can you recreate these weather systems indoors? Try making tornadoes in pop bottles. What other weather can you safely recreate at home?
Discover the best places to go in the event of a lightning storm, rain, snow, cold, heat or severe wind, and share through your own brochure or video to promote weather safety for others.
Have you ever heard of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? The SDGs—sometimes called the Global Goals—are 17 targets from the United Nations that are designed to create a better world and a healthier planet. Get more involved with the Global Goals by trying out some of these environmentally themed Trail Cards.
Earth is a blue orb floating in outer space, made up of land and water, animals and plants. How can we protect our planet? What can we do to make our world a better place without leaving our homes? April 22, 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. No matter where you are, join others around the world in making an impact. Register for a digital Earth Day event, or share one that you are hosting, by using this Digital Earth Day Event map.
Did you know that 70% of Earth’s surface is water? Protecting our water and keeping it clean is crucial to protecting our planet. While you might not be able to organize a formal Shoreline Cleanup these days, you can still take on a project to help reduce the litter that winds up in our waterways. Make a Personalized Bag for Life out of an old shirt and help reduce the number of plastic bags going to landfills.
Get out and get digging! Build your own Rain Garden and help prevent rainwater erosion in your neighbourhood. You can also help pollinators in your local area by creating Seed Bombs out of native seeds and dropping them in nearby fields. These hints of beauty are sure to make people smile!
We use oil every day to heat our houses and power our cars. Sometimes, the oil gets spilled and is hard to clean up. Find out more about how oil spills get cleaned up and the devastating effect oil can have on our oceans and learn about how real oil spills are cleaned up with Oil Spill Experiment.
Stay Afloat: Try building your own boats out of natural materials or materials from around your house and test how well they float! How can you build a better boat? Try out different designs and see if you can find somewhere to safely race your creations. Which boat was the most successful? Why?
While we may not be able to return to school, work or the normal play we’re used to just yet, there’s always something to new to explore in Scouting. While at home, in your backyard or in your neighbourhood, there are many ways to help make a better, more sustainable world.
This past week my sister and I learned how to make our own sourdough bread with a side of homemade peach jam. Sustainability can be something as simple as learning how to make bread, because it means there is one less plastic-packaged item on your family’s grocery list.
Media inquiries, please contact Naina Trivedi: naina.trivedi@scouts.ca
Scouts Canada Charity Number: 107761694RR0028