As the days grow shorter, it’s tempting to stay indoors, but just because the temperature’s dropping doesn’t mean the fun has to!
Colder weather is the perfect excuse to wrap up warm, head outside and try something new. From wintery adventures to active outdoor games, there’s so much more to do than just sip hot chocolate (though we won’t judge if that’s part of your plan too!). So grab your hat and gloves, get ready to embrace the cold and discover how much fun the frosty outdoors can really be!
Add some magic to the dark winter nights by experimenting with light painting.
Bundle up and enjoy an evening of stargazing. Use binoculars or a telescope to spot constellations and planets, or use some star spotting phone apps.
Head to a local ice rink and enjoy practising your balance. Discover our example risk assessment to get you started.
Create beautiful sun catchers by freezing leaves and nature items in shallow pans of water. Hang them from trees to catch the sunlight during the day.
Gather around a campfire to share spooky, funny or silly stories while enjoying tasty s’mores, then warm up your vocal with our campfire songs.
Make some bird feeders and spot which feathered friends visit throughout winter.
Give everyone an empty matchbox and see how many small items they can collect during your walk.
Make the most of rainy days by hosting a puddle jumping contest. See who can make the biggest splash or have the most creative jumping style!
Paint a picture with watercolours, then set it outside in the rain to see how the raindrops change it.
Use wax crayons and paper to create bark rubbings from tree trunks and explore textures in nature. Why not turn them into bark monsters?
Head out on a torch-lit walk to spot or hear nocturnal wildlife, and create nature bingo cards with winter elements, such as pine cones and animal tracks.
You could ask everyone to stay quiet for several minutes, taking note of everything that they hear, such as owls.
Why not make journey sticks on your journey too? Give everyone a stick and encourage them to collect items, such as fallen leaves, feathers or flowers during the walk. They can attach these to the stick using string or elastic bands to create a visual record of the walk.
Blow bubbles outside on a cold day and watch them freeze in mid-air for a magical experience.
One player is the ‘tourist’ who is viewing the amazing statue garden. They get a torch. All the other players must stay as still as a statue, but they are allowed to move when the light is off, but as soon as the tourist turns the torch on they must stay still. When the torch is on the statue, the tourist tries to make the statue laugh or move. If they do, the statue joins the tourist’s team and they go help the tourist on the next round.
Take a night-time walk to enjoy the holiday lights in your area. You could do it with a warm drink or even as part of a chippy hike.
Use the winter months to construct and hang a bat house, bird house or hedgehog house, and help practice your DIY skills.
Fill water bottles with coloured water and freeze them for bowling pins. Use a ball, such as a tennis ball, for a fun outdoor game!
Pack warm food for a winter walk, such as soup or hot chocolate, to keep everyone toasty.
Enjoy flying a kite in the winter winds, adding colour to the grey sky. You could even make your own kite.
Grab a frisbee and head out to the local disc golf course during the day to get moving.
Use our guide to morse code, then race to see who can decode a pre-created message first.
One player is ‘it’ and they have a torch. ‘It’ guards a flag and tries to stop the other players from capturing it.
‘It’ can move around as much as they like, but watch out – if the flag is left unattended for too long it might get captured.
The rest of the players spread out and have to creep towards the flag as silently and slowly as they can, using trees and bushes for cover.
‘It’ has to listen carefully and look for players among the shadows, then try to tag the players with the torch beam before they reach the flag.
The winner is the first person to capture the flag, or the last person to be tagged if no-one reaches the flag.
The winner also gets to be ‘it’ when the game starts again.
Staying safe
All activities in Scouts must be safely managed. It’s important to choose an appropriate, accessible outdoor area. You may need to think about avoiding steps, being close to public transport, or steep gradients or including frequent breaks. You must have permission to use the location.
You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. You should use our safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Check out our guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process. You may need some parents and carers to help.
Always check the weather forecast before running the activity.
You should inform parents and carers of any change in venue, days or times, and have a suitable drop-off/collection point. You could use our activity information forms, and always make sure everyone knows what people should bring and wear.
Before playing a wide game, there are some things you need to do to help keep everybody safe and make sure everyone can be included. Take a look at our advice on running active games safely and accessibly.
Nicola Hilliard, Creative Content Producer
No doubt we have around 80 exhausted people after returning from our annual family camp! With 24 families attending, it was sure to be a successful weekend and it didn’t disappoint. 
So you’ve signed your little Monkey up to join our Beaver Colony, they go every week and have lots of fun learning new skills and making new friends. 
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is something every young person should get involved in. In this article, Elysia Gorman, an active Regional Youth Ambassador for the Cardiff area gives us the background on the award and tips on how you can get started. Elysia is currently working on her Lowland Leaders Qualification and speaks with schools, participants and other leaders to provide feedback and improve DofE experiences.
fifth section for those going for Gold. These are volunteering, physical, skills, expedition and for Gold only, a residential trip. 
Camping season is coming! 
Just like rice bowls, pasta pots are super convenient too. Boil up plenty of wholewheat pasta in a saucepan, and add in your tomato sauce, basil and other ingredients for a hearty Italian camping feast. Let it cool and then simply spoon into individual pots.
chunky soups or a blitzed up version, this is great opportunity to pack your kids’ camping lunches with goodness. Use a base of tomato or flavoursome stock and you’ll be able to mask all manner of healthy ingredients within the soup. Spinach, broccoli, peppers… the choice is yours.
7.Eggs
According to the dictionary a jamboree is a party, celebration, or other gathering where there is a large number of people and a lot of excitement, fun, and enjoyment. And that is exactly what it is!
encompassing 8.8 square kilometers.. The largest section is 6.1 kilometers wide and 1.8 kilometers long. Stretching beside the West Coast near Byeonsanbando National Park, the huge Jamboree campground (35’42”N 126’35”E) is endowed with rich natural surroundings—one side of the venue adjoins the ocean.(35’42”N 126’35”E)
But it’s not just the eyes that itch: The nose twitches, the neck basically the whole. body can get itchy!
If this is you, here are some little tips to help you along through these tough months.
for hay fever.
Today the 8th of March 2023, we’re celebrating International Women’s Day. Celebrating women all around the world, and the magnificent things that they do.
set up Girl Guiding, as it’s known as today. Girls weren’t always allowed in Scouts. It was known as Boy Scouts. But over 40 years ago, girls were allowed. But officially girls in all sections started in 2007. 29% of girls make up the UK Scout youth membership, and 43% of the adult volunteers here in UK Scouts are female.
In 2014, we welcomed the first UK Youth Commissioner, Hannah Kentish. And in January 2020, she was awarded an MBE, British Empire Metal. Well done Hannah!. And in 2020, the Duchess of Cambridge, She doubled up with the Duke of Kent to become President of UK scouting.
Now this might surprise you. I kept this one for last. International women’s day, who do you think in the whole of the world is the most famous scout? Of course, Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s queen, she was a scout. She also went to Scouts with her sister, Princess Margaret, and they started back in 1937. Well, let’s not forget the Queen’s daughter Princess Anne. She also was a member of Girl Guides.
amazing Scouts and what they’ve done for themselves, and proving that Scouts can make you go to places even such as in space. You never know some of these Scouts that are in 3rd Brampton Scouts now could well be famous ladies in our near future! 
I know many of you mark Pancake Day and look forward to your pancakes. This year Pancake day (Shrove Tuesday) falls on Tuesday 21st February and Ash Wednesday the following day.
Lent lasts for 40 days (not counting Sundays – fasting is not required on these days) marked by repentance, fasting, reflection and ultimately celebration. The 40 day period represents Christ’s tome of temptation in the wilderness, where he fasted and Satan tempted him. Lent asks believers to set aside a time each year for similar fasting, marking an intentional season of focus for Christ’s life, ministry, sacrifice and resurrection.
In the UK, pancake races became an important part of Shrove Tuesday celebrations. As well as giving up “luxury” foods, the faithful were expected to forego fun pastimes such as dancing and playing games like football. Therefore Shrovetide (The four days preceding lent) was a time for merriment. A legacy of these festivities is the pancake race. Dating from around 1445, legend has it that local women heard about Shriving bell while making pancakes and ran to church in their aprons, still clutching her frying pan. This became the opportunity for large numbers of people, often in fancy dress, to race down the streets tossing pancakes. The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first, carrying a frying pan with a cooked pancake in it and flipping it as they run. Although like many traditions this has mostly died out, however tradition prevails as there is still a race every year in 
So on Pancake Day – Tuesday 21st February 2023 – enjoy your pancakes, whether you prefer them sweet or savoury, and reflect on the past… maybe think about reviving the Pancake Race in your community??