Squirrels worked on their All About Adventure badge tonight by taking part in some bouldering wall activities with our Young Leaders. They also worked on their hand eye coordination by making beaded keyrings, and finished up with some delicious armpit fudge!
Squirrels worked on their Let’s Celebrate badge tonight by learning all about Diwali. We read a story together to learn about the meaning of Diwali, tested our dancing abilities by learning a Bollywood dance routine, made Diwali lanterns and chocolate sparklers and lit some real sparklers to finish up.
Squirrels had a mini soccer training session this evening led by Coach Lee from TW Sports. They had great fun playing sneak tag, Toy Story and Superhero themed games, before having a halftime snack and finishing up with Wacky Races. Thanks to Coach Lee and TW Sports for a brilliant night!
Squirrels enjoyed a Halloween party this evening, with face painting, smores, a game of Pass the Squirrel, and turning leaders (and themselves) into mummies!
Squirrels completed more work on their Go Wild badge by taking a trip to a local dairy farm. We got to see the milking machines in action, feed the calves, make our very own Scout scarecrow and finished the evening off with fresh hot chocolate and biscuits in the yard. Huge thanks to the farm for hosting us!
Squirrels have had a busy few weeks working on their initial badges, making sure our new Squirrels were ready for their investiture and making bird feeders to hang in their gardens. Parents were welcomed to our last session to see the investiture and hear about our planned farm visit next week.
We welcomed Squirrels back after the summer break and it was great to see so many returning faces, and plenty of new ones. We had a fun evening learning our Squirrel promise, learning about the badges we will be covering over the coming months, and decorating campfire biscuits.
Ballymoney Scout Group enjoyed an all section camp at the weekend. Smallest squirrels (4 year olds) to our tallest explorers (17 year olds) and leaders/network/executive helpers took part!
Friday – Cubs, Scouts and Explorers arrived on site and listened to camp rules. Scout sections worked on pioneering wash stands. Explorers discussed DofE for September, cooked and sampled different ration packs on a jet boil. Cubs enjoyed a movie in the Hen Hoose.
Saturday – relaxing morning, then Beavers and squirrels arrived just after lunch time. Phoenix Explorers and some scouts helped to set up camp for the wee ones. Busy day doing crafts, bouncy castle, face painting, laser tag and team games. BBQ for dinner then Squirrels enjoyed a mini campfire before heading home. Main campfire led by our fabulous explorers (renamed Phoenix entertainers by our Beavers) with campfire cones, songs, skits, dancing and singalong!
Sunday – Breakfast then pack up before wacky relay races 😂😂
Well done to all the young people, your behaviour on camp was exceptional!
A HUGE well done to our older sections for all their help and entertainment throughout the weekend. You guys are awesome 😎
Again, massive thanks to Lislagan Farm for allowing us to camp at their farm. Also to all the volunteer leaders and executive. Well done to our newest section leaders (squirrels) for getting stuck in 🌟
Also thanks to #limitless for running laser tag. Thanks to a friend of the group for a donation of £40 towards food.
Squirrels spent time in the hall this evening working on their All About Me and Feel Good badges. We built a den out of chairs, blankets and mats and sat inside to have a special snack pack, before learning how to roll our neckers properly. We then got to spend some time on the hall’s new bouldering wall, which proved a bit tricky but very popular!
Tonight, Squirrels headed to Riverside Park again to work on their Explore Outdoors badge. We played games and then split into teams to take on a treasure hunt where they worked together to find minibeasts hidden in the trees. We ended the evening with some time in the playpark as a reward for working so well together.
Squirrels spent the night at Riverside Park and Rodden Foot Wood to work on their Explore Outdoors and Feel Good badges. They learnt some compass skills and then spent time collecting materials to build a den for our Drey mascot.
Tonight Squirrels worked on their All About Me and Let It Grow badges, decorating flowerpots and then planting sunflower seeds to take home and look after. We will spend the next few weeks completing a plant diary, to track how tall our sunflowers grow. We also measured ourselves against a huge sunflower height chart and were given special giant sunflower seeds to plant at home. Squirrels have been challenged to grow a sunflower as big as the height chart!
Tonight, Squirrels worked on their All Together badge, learning about teamwork and communication. We tested our concentration skills while listening to a story, then paired up to try a blindfolded obstacle course, with Squirrels taking turns to guide each other around the course.
Squirrels spent this week making Wonder Y Sticks out of the materials they collected in Riverside Park last week. We used wool to create a net in the Y sticks, and then went outside to see what flowers and leaves we could pick and add to our sticks.
We also held the investiture ceremony for one of our Squirrels, with all the other children reciting their Squirrel promise along with the newly invested Squirrel.
In late March, Ballymoney Scout Group held the investiture ceremony for our youngest (and newest) section, Squirrels. All our Squirrels did a wonderful job of reciting their Squirrel promise, and received their neckers, woggles, and the badges which they have worked hard to complete since the Squirrel Drey started in February. Well done Squirrels, and welcome to the Scouting family!
