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Scouting at Home

BUILD IT BETTER

Discover fun new building skills and projects you can try at home!

Build a scale model of a tower, a skyscraper or even a campsite! Plant a garden on a balcony or in your yard. Draw a plan for a grand creation you might build some day in the future. Create your very own Rube Goldberg Machine!

These are just some of the ways you can Build It Better at home—read on to discover more!

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Looking for more inspiring activities to try? Catch up on all Scouting at Home editions here!

Personal Achievement Badge of the Week

BUILDING

This week’s Personal Achievement badge is Building. What can you build better? Discover more about how tools work and what you can build for yourself or others. What’s the tallest tower you can build? What does an architect do?

Do This Badge!

  1. Find some tools you know, and some you’ve never seen before. What do they do? What do you use these for?
  2. What is it like to be a building engineer, an architect or a construction worker? Do you know any in your community?
  3. Builders often need drawings to plan out their creations before they start. If you could build anything, what would you build? What would it look like?
  4. Try building a scale model of your drawing. This means making a very small version – perhaps out of materials around your house, like toothpicks and straws.
  5. Create a time-lapse video of your building process to share with others. What worked well, and what was a challenge? See this stop motion video for a great example!

Use the Personal Achievement Badge Planning Template to get started on your adventure!   

We Recommend

There are lots of other great organizations creating resources for doing activities at home, so why not share them? Here are a few of our favourites!  

Crash Course – Build a City

How are cities built? How do we know where to put things when we build cities? Crash Course Kids teaches us how the engineering process is used to build cities and make sure that nothing gets forgotten! See if you can be inspired to build your own city!

BUILD YOUR CITY

CBC Kids – 5 Fun Facts About Skyscrapers

When you look at your town or city’s skyline, you might see tall buildings – way taller than your house! These tall buildings are called skyscrapers. Try building your own skyscraper out of newspaper and find out how hard it can be to keep a building standing! Discover more about how engineers and architects build tall buildings that stay standing!

BUILD YOUR SKYSCRAPER

#ScoutsDoStuff

Tag @scoutscanada in your #ScoutsDoStuff pics—let Scouting youth across Canada and around the world know how they can continue Scouting at home!

Scouts from 1st Crestview collected nearly 800 kg in food donations for a local food drive!

Battlefields Council Youth Commissioner Ethan Coudenys is connecting the Scouting community across Canada with Friday Night Live events on Instagram.

Scouts and Youth Spokesperson Ana-Alexandra is enjoying new camping adventures with her family!

Scouting youth in Newfoundland and Labrador Council are taking part in the #3bagchallenge.

A Backyard Scouting Challenge!

Build the Perfect Campsite

Master your Scoutcraft skills by building the perfect campsite scale model with everything you would need to have a great camping experience.

  • You’ll probably want to start with a drawing! What does your perfect campsite look like? What’s around you? What kinds of trees and animal tracks are around your campsite?
  • What materials will you need to make your perfect campsite? What items (like toothpicks, straw, fabric and markers) do you have around the house?
  • Take a look at the Scoutcraft Outdoor Adventures Skills and see what new skills you could try:
    • Practise lashing (using twine and small sticks or pencils).
    • Set up a clothes-drying line.
    • Make a tent or lean-to shelter.
    • Practise different knots for building better using any string around your house.
  • Post a picture on social media to show your creation and teach others all of the important parts of your campsite!

The Challenge – Can your campsite withstand the elements? Test it out with water (rain), wind (a fan) or even an earthquake (give it a shake!). Share your experiences with this Backyard Scouting Challenge!

Depending on the equipment and support you have, take it further by building pieces (or all!) of your campsite in your backyard! Take pictures of your masterpiece and all of the important parts.

Activities to Build It Better!

Five Things to Build for Your Backyard This Summer!

Bee Hotel

Bee Hotel — Build a hotel for our pollinator friends! This bee hotel is great for a backyard, patio or balcony!

Bat House

Bat House — Help keep flying mammals safe this summer! Build a bat box and secure it to a tree in your yard or neighbourhood (with permission).

Build a planter

Build a planter and fill it with local plants. A planter adds a great splash of colour and a bit of nature to your backyard or balcony!

Rain Garden

Rain Garden — If you’re looking for a bigger backyard project, look no further than a rain garden! A rain garden is a great way to protect the environment from harmful runoff, while adding some beauty to your yard.

Backyard Movie Theatre

Not every backyard build has to be something permanent. Transform your backyard into a movie theatre by stringing up a bedsheet and using a projector to watch your favourite movie. Don’t forget the popcorn!

Exploring STEM

Have you ever heard of Rube Goldberg Machine? The Scouts in BCY (British Columbia-Yukon) have! On May 2, Fraser Valley, Pacific Coast and Cascadia Councils held a joint Rube Goldberg competition, and challenged youth across their Councils to build the best machine possible!

A Rube Goldberg Machine uses many steps to solve a simple problem. Natalie and Hailey from 5th Juan de Fuca wowed everyone with their creative marshmallow-roasting machine. 

Ready to make your own Rube Goldberg Machine? Here are our top three tips to get you started!

  • Get inspired! Check out other Scouts’ ideas, or other ideas on the internet to kick-start your thinking.
  • Make a plan and gather your supplies! Plan out what you want to do and gather what you will need before you start building.
  • Work backwards! With Rube Goldberg Machines, it’s easiest to start with the task you want to achieve, then work backwards through the steps to the beginning.

Happy building!

Rube Goldberg Machines

Empowering Youth:

Alberta Scouter Creates 3D-Printed Wolf Heads

A Scouter with the 159th Silver Springs recently created 3D-printed wolf heads for his Cub Pack. The 3-D wolf heads are used by the Pack to present badges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

READ MORE

Woodworking Service Projects

The phrase “It starts with Scouts” suggests Scouts trying new things through adventurous projects. Woodworking helps to provide Scouts with skills that can be used for life. Why not take woodworking a step further and tie this hobby into community service projects?

READ MORE

Staying Safe

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. 

Virtual Scouting Tip

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Media inquiries, please contact Naina Trivedi: naina.trivedi@scouts.ca

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