Newsletter - 2002 - August

InsaneScouter News

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What's New at InsaneScouter.com

I am proud to announce many of the new features and content now available at InsaneScouter. Below you will find a list of what these updates are and where to find them.

• New Junior Leader Training Section
• New Pioneering (knots and lashings) Section
• InsaneScouters CD Resource Library goes for sale
• InsaneScouters Order of the Arrow CD Library goes for sale

Fun Activities - Water Games

Water Limbo
Get a garden hose and turn it on full. Put your thumb over the left or right half of the opening to create one jet of water. Now you limbo under the water stream. Each time the group walks under the water you lower it. The losers are obvious because they get soaked.

Water Balloon Volleyball
Set up two teams with a sheet on either side of a net. While team members are holding on to the sides of the sheet, place 5 water balloons in the middle, have them toss the balloons to the other side. They must catch them with their sheet and toss them back over.

Ice Cube Game
Using a child's wading pool throw some large ice cubes in and have a relay with teams as to who can take the most ice cubes out using only their feet in a designated time period.

Fill a Cup Relay
You need a plastic cup & sponge for each team, and a bucket full of water. The second person in the line on the team places the empty cup on their head. The first person runs back and forth from the bucket to the cup, squeezing the water out of the sponge into the cup. When the cup is full the second person empties it onto the first persons head. Then repeats the process using the second & third people, until the whole line has done it. The first line who is finished wins.

Blind mans Bacon
2 Blindfolds
2 Water pistols
This is a variation of the Steal The Bacon game which plays best in a circle shape with each team forming half a circle. The two teams are of equal size so that there is a player on each team with the same number. When a number is called, the corresponding player for each team puts on a blindfold. After hearing the signal, the two blindfolded players move toward the center where a squirt gun is located. The object is to reach the squirt gun and squirt the other guy before he came to make it back behind the protection of his team. Teams are allowed to shout instructions to the blindfolded players.

Dampeners
Two wet sponges or rags
Two Cubs sit about 2 feet apart on chairs in the center of the den. They are blindfolded, face each other and each holds a wet sponge. The rest of the Pack must creep up, as directed by a Leader and pass between the seated Cubs. The seated Cubs can say freeze at any time (within reason) and dab down with the sponge between the chairs. If hit places are changed. This can also be played outdoors on a fine day, using larger quantities of water, or water pistols.

Water Balloon Catch
Balista or Catapult per team
Water balloons
Polythene Sheet per team
Using a large catapult three boys launch water balloons toward the objective. The objective is three boys holding a large polythene sheet or groundsheet, who will try and catch the water balloons. The team with the most catches wins.

Water Balloon Toss
An endless supply of balloons one-quarter filled with water.
Players form two lines facing each other about 2 meters apart. Players in line 1 each toss a water balloon to opposite players inline 2. Any players who have a balloon burst are out. After each balloon bursts, a new balloon is brought into play, both lines take one step backward and toss again. Repeat until only one pair of players remain. There are on the market very tiny balloons known as water bombs. If you are going to use vast quantities, then these may be more economical to buy than regular balloons.
Variation:
We do the same game at camp but use spare eggs.

Water Bomb Fight
An endless supply of paper squares to construct water bombs from
A bucket of water per patrol
Each patrol is given the same number of sheets of paper and a jug of water. On the word go, they have to fold the papers into water bombs. Fill them with water and splatter the other patrols. You will find the instructions for water bombs in any good origami book and also in many scouting books. This game is best played out of doors.

Yacht Race
Line your gang at one end of the swimming area, giving each racer a soda straw and a small sailboat made of a flat board, an upright stick, and paper sail. Make the sailboats as much alike as possible so that everyone has the same chance of winning. The Cub Scout regatta boats could also be used. On a signal, the swimmers must begin to blow their craft forward by puffing through their soda straws. The use of hands to put the boats back on course is forbidden. Whoever blows his boat across the finish line first is the winner.

Nuts and Bolts
A good way to get used to being underwater is to play this game. Toss a large bolt with a nut on it into waist-deep water. Bend down to find the bolt and unscrew the nut while you are under the water. If you cant finish the job, you must drop the bolt, come up for air and go down again until you have separated the two. When they are separated, straighten up to show them, throw them in again and go under to replace the nut on the bolt. This may be played individually or as a team relay game.

Note: Be careful of throwing these bolts into a plastic-lined swimming pool so you do not damage the liner. Be sure to remove all nuts and bolts after the game so they do not rust and stain the lining of the pool.

Find the Number
About 20 large, flat rocks are plainly marked on both sides with numbers ranging from one to five. These are thrown into water that may be from two to six feet deep, depending on the swimming ability of your group. On a signal, everybody dunks to try to bring back as many numbered rocks as possible to his station on shore. Only one rock may be carried at a time. The player who collects the highest total when the numbers on his rocks are added up is the winner. Any flat, non-floating objects may be used instead of rocks.

Swimming Safety

Parents need to act knowledgeably and responsibly with regard to child water safety.

Children can drown in buckets of water, toilets, bathtubs, natural bodies of water as well as pools. It doesn't take much water to be of danger to a young child.

In the case of older children, they count on you to arrange for their proper education in swimming and water safety behavior. All too soon they are out of your sight and direct control and behaving only as taught.

Numbers of drowning go down when parents and other adult caregivers are educated in water safety and when they are reminded that drowning and related injuries can occur.

Awareness of and attention to water safety makes a difference.

Rules for School-aged Water Safety

• Teach your child about water safety to avoid injury. And then supervise to make sure rules are obeyed:
• Never enter any body of water without adult supervision
• Never dive into water unless given the okay by an adult who knows the depth of the water. If you can see the bottom, don't dive or jump in - ease in feet first.
• At backyard pool parties: adult supervisors must first inform children of the water safety rules to prevent all too common injuries (e.g. tag is to be played while remaining IN the pool, no running on the pool deck, no pushing or pretending to push another child into the pool, no diving into the backyard pool, no jumping onto flotation devices (inflatable rafts, Intertubes, foam mats, etc. or onto people in the pool, no holding another person underwater, and we only call for help when it truly is an emergency). Issuing time out of the pool or banishment for a longer period are effective and necessary adult policing actions for improper safety behavior by school-aged children.
• Always use a life jacket when boating, water-skiing, jet-skiing, etc. on a natural body of water.
• Swim only in supervised recreational swimming areas away from boats and other aquatic craft.
• Never swim during approaching or overhead electrical storms.
• Floating toys and other recreational equipment should be used only under adult supervision, only in shallow water where the child can stand if a non-swimmer.

Supervision

• Don't let anyone enter the water alone.
• Don't assume your child or his or her friends can swim or will behave safely around water. Ask about the skills and education and proceed slowly and cautiously.
• If an adolescent cannot swim well (swim 5-minutes unaided), then he or she is at high risk of drowning or injury when around water, and it is your job to minimize or eliminate the risk.
• Don't let a non-swimming adolescent into water greater than waist deep or let him attempt to compensate by relying on a floatation device to explore or join others in deeper water. Danger, injury, and death can result.
• Supervising an adolescent backyard pool party is a thankless and worrisome task. It's not they don't so much know how to swim, it is that they are rambunctious and are too likely to go crashing into the deck, pool edge, the pool bottom and one another. Don't have the party at home.
  Adolescent swim parties are far safer and easier to schedule at a commercial lifeguarded pool and other water areas. The guards know the safety rules and routinely enforce them with adolescents day in and day out.
• No adolescent, school-aged child or adult should dive off the pool deck or off a board into a backyard pool - ever, for safety's sake.
  Screening for alcohol or drug use and steering clear of water if there is usage is a necessary adult policing behavior.

Education

• Adolescents should receive straight talk about water safety. Don't ever enter the water alone. "Don't ever enter the water with another adolescent without adult supervision. If you do and something happens, there will be no one to save you
• It is commonly held that children shouldn't have gotten to adolescent age without having learned to swim and handle themselves safely around water. Classes for this age group are difficult to find, so pursue private one-to-one instruction that is available at most all swim schools, park and recreation departments, etc. The adolescent will enjoy this format more and will learn more quickly. Swimming and diving skills along with water safety behaviors will be taught. They will thank you for arranging for them to learn.
• An adolescent can think he can swim better than he actually can, and not perceiving water depth or understanding the dangers of water currents or colder water temperatures.
• Encourage your teen to take swimming, diving, and water safety or rescue classes. This will give him or her

Memory Helper

S
Start with it. It stands for Supervision given by adult caregivers. Stay in Touch! - keep children within arms reach when water is nearby. In most drowning incidents involving young children, parents or other adult caregivers had seen the child less than 5 minutes prior – children can drown quickly. Give them your undivided attention!

A
Add it. It stands for Aquatic programs for young children. Aquatic programs are more than just swimming lessons. The best programs do three very important things for children and parents: develop a child's swimming skills, train children in safety behaviors, and educate parents on drowning prevention strategies.

F
Fences, particularly that fence side that separates the house (and young children) from the pool, add to the safety environment around home pools and spas. Fences, alarms and other barriers should be installed where young children are present. Used properly they can prevent a child from entering the pool without adult supervision.

E
Every adult caregiver (parents, grandparents, sitters, etc.) should be CPR certified and capable. This is becoming essential when other safety measures have failed to keep an unsupervised child from the water. It is the last defense against needless injury or drowning. Learning CPR is easy with the right teacher.

This material has been adapdted from http://www.nationalswimschools.com/

Pioneering (rope) Box

Why is it that we take great pride in the care, usage, and storage of our wood tools such as axes, but when it comes to our rope it just gets tossed around. Don't they both have importance to our survival in the wilderness? Admittedly - an ax can hurt or even kill us in many different ways, but couldn't a good rope save our life?

Humm - something to think about.

What I like to do is keep my rope, twine, and other pioneering (knots and lashing) materials in a trunk. I ensure that all my rope is kept clean, un-knotted and properly coiled. Every so often I even inspect the rope to ensure that it will be able to safely do whatever it is used for. These may seem like nit-picky things but think about it. What might happen if the rope breaks or won't stay tied because...

There is a lot of things that might be stored in a rope box, for example:

• Natural ropes (all sizes and lengths)
• Nylon ropes (all sizes and lengths)
• Twines (mostly used for rope care or rope making)
• Stakes for pioneering projects
• Good pair of gloves
• A sharp knife in case rope needs to be cut
• other various things like a pulley

Sometimes the best way to care for a rope is just by keeping it properly coiled, clean and dry. A rope box could be a big step toward this goal.

Scout Pioneering: Is It a Lost Art? - by Ian Mitchell

When was the last time your Scouts or Ventures made a bridge from wooden spars to span a stream at camp? Have your Scouts ever made a camp loom? What about a flag pole or lookout tower?

Catapults, climbing gyms, bridges, towers, shelters, gateways, woven lean-tos, fences, rafts: with a bit of ingenuity, Scouts or Ventures can build almost anything using only spars and rope. At the same time, they’ll learn important leadership, planning, and team-building skills. More basic projects like shoe racks and washbasin stands provide a great introduction to knots and pioneering for Cubs.

Since the days of B.-P., pioneering has formed an important part of Scouting, but in many groups, these have somehow fallen by the way. This traditional skill makes it easier to live comfortably in the wilds without high tech fold-away tables, chairs and plastic games. It also builds self-reliance and confidence.

Fun Cooking

Almost Smores - Lose the marshmallow

Break each cracker into four sections and spread frosting on two. Place the other two crackers on top to make sandwiches. Allow to soften overnight in an airtight container, if desired. Makes 2 Almost Smores.

Inside-Out Pizza

INGREDIENTS
Two 6 inch flour tortillas
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese
2 slices thinly sliced smoked turkey or ham
1 tbsp. pizza or spaghetti sauce
Sliced tomatoes, black olives, peppers (optional)

Part pizza, part quesadilla, this snack sandwiches cheese, sauce and toppings between two flour tortillas. Your kids can cut the finished pie into sliceslike a traditional pizzathat are just right for sharing.

Place one tortilla on a sheet of waxed paper and sprinkle with half of each cheese. Cover with turkey or ham, a tablespoon of sauce and optional toppings. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and cover with the other tortilla. Makes 1 or 2 servings.

Make Them Smooth - Drinks

The secret to incredibly creamy smoothies is frozen bananas. Buy them in bulk when theyre on sale, peel and cover individually in plastic wrap, and freeze for future use. (They keep up to three months in the freezer.)

CARMEN MIRANDA
Half the fun of making this concoction is deciding which fruits to drop in. Its also the perfect choice if you happen to have leftover fruit salad.

1 frozen banana
2 cups fresh fruit (such as grapes, strawberries, blueberries
raspberries, pear and apple slices, kiwi)
3/4 cup orange, pineapple or white grape juice

Combine the fruit and juice in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Serves 1.

BEE STING
If your kids like their lemonade pink, just add a few drops of red food coloring to this recipe.

1 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
1 quart water
Frozen lemon slices

Stir together the lemon juice, honey and water. Pour into tall, ice-filled glasses and garnish with frozen lemon slices. Serves 5.

BLUE LAGOON
With milk as a base, this berry blend is as much a meal as a beverage—just right for serving as a breakfast shake.

1 cup fresh blueberries
4 scoops vanilla frozen yogurt
1/2 to 1 cup milk

Combine the blueberries, frozen yogurt and milk in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, adding more milk if necessary.

Coffee can ice cream

Vanilla ice cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup light cream
1 beaten egg (or use equivalent reconstituted dried)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Chocolate Ice Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup light cream
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt

Coffee Ice cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup light cream
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt

For all varieties:
In 1 lb. coffee can mix all ingredients. Seal can lid well with duct tape. Put small, sealed can inside larger 3 lb. can. Pack ice and 1 cup salt around small can. Put lid on large can and duct tape closed. Roll back & forth on a large towel (optional) for 15 minutes. Open large can and dump ice and water. Wipe small can dry and open. Stir mix, scraping sides of can. Additional ingredients, eg. cookie crumbs, chopped nuts, can be added now. Reseal small can and place back in larger can. Repack with salt and ice. Continue rolling for 10 minutes more. Open large can and dump ice and water. Wipe small can dry and open. Enjoy!

InsaneScouter Monthly Tip

Look out for snakes, spiders and other critters. Watch where you are walking, be careful when picking up sticks or rocks and look around before taking a seat. Again, snakes are usually more afraid of us, but if they feel threatened or if you make sudden movements they may strike. Stay calm and slowly move away from them.

InsaneScouter Moment - The Eagle And The Wolf

There is a great battle that rages inside me.
One side is a soaring Eagle.
Everything the Eagle stands for is good and true and beautiful,
And it soars above the clouds.
Even though it dips down into the valleys,
It lays its eggs in the mountains.
The other side of me is the howling Wolf,
And that raging, howling wolf represents the worst that is in me.
He eats upon my downfalls and justifies himself by his presence in the pack.
Who wins this great Battle?
The one I feed.

You Scouts must make a choice of whether or not you wish to be an HONORABLE MAN. Which are you going to feed, the Eagle or the Wolf?

--END--

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