Badge work and Activities
At 12th Didcot Scouts, we try and give our Scouts a wide variety of activities for them to participate in. Although this includes activities which are not oriented towards badges (such as team games, challenges for the Patrols etc.), we try and focus on helping the Scouts complete the wide variety of badges that are on offer. This not only provides them with the skills that are relevant to the badge, but also that sense of pride of having achieved.
There are two different types of badges on offer:
- Challenge Badges - These tend to take a reasonably long amount of time, and require the Scouts to undertake a number of different activities. Although these can be done individually, they tend to be done by groups. Challenge Badges include The Outdoor Challenge, The Community Challenge, The Adventure Challenge and so on.
- Activity Badges - There are 70 of these in total, and cover an enormous range of activities and skills. Some of these (such as Hobbies, Writer, Martial Arts) are best to be done individually, and evidence of completing the requirements given to the leaders. Others (such as Mechanic and Camp Cook) are perhaps better done in a group, possibly with a little "homework" to complete it.
As a group, we try and offer a range of badges from both sections. If any Scout feels that they have completed or can complete one of the badges that we have not yet offered (Martial Arts, for example, can be easily achieved if a Scout is already regularly attending classes), then come and talk to the Leaders.
The most important part of the badge work is that the Scouts have fun doing it! Hopefully the next sections will show that they are both achieving and enjoying themselves.
