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Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

Discover what this means
Supported by Generation Green

Guided tours

Where do different plants and animals live? Lead a guided habitat tour and decide what you could do to help improve the area.
Plan a session with this activity

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You’ll need

  • Plant and animal ID cards (optional)
Activity Plan Guided Tours
PDF – 377.5KB
Download Activity Plan Guided Tours
Compassion

Take action to look after the natural world.

Discover the five pathways to nature connectedness >

Before you begin

  • Decide where you’d like to walk as a group. How about woodlands, urban paths, or wetlands?
  • Check the area that you’re going to visit is suitable for the activity. Is it accessible for everyone?
  • Make sure that everyone arrives wearing clothes that are suitable for the terrain and the weather. This includes shoes: walking boots, wellies, or sturdy trainers are best.
  • Decide whether you’ll use sheets to help you identify plants and animals. You could download sheets to help you identify trees (either the leaf ID, twig ID or autumn leaf ID activity sheet, depending on the season) as well as the flying insects and creepy crawly spotter sheets – or you could make your own. Make sure you print enough (one between two is ideal) and take plenty of pencils too.
  • Decide whether you’ll use an app like the Woodland Trust tree ID app.
  • Think about any other equipment you’ll need. For example, if you’re meeting in the evening, torches might be useful.

Take a tour

  1. Everyone should get into pairs or small groups. Each group should choose a small area of natural habitat to explore.
  1. The person leading the activity should make sure each group has access to any resources they’ll need to identify things (such as ID cards or apps).
  2. Everyone should find least three plants, three invertebrates, and three birds in their group’s area.
  3. When they spot a creature or plant, everyone should look for anything threatening their little patch of habitat. Could anything be done to improve it?
  4. Everyone should give the rest of their group a short, guided tour. They should show them what lives there, explain what’s threatening the plant or animal, and share some ideas of things that could be done to improve the habitat.

Reflection

What sorts of things pose the biggest threat to natural habitats? Why is it important that people share knowledge and understanding with others?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Visits away from your meeting place

Complete a thorough risk assessment and include hazards, such as roads, woodland, plants, animals, and bodies of water (for example, rivers, ponds, lakes, and seas). You’ll probably need more adult helpers than usual. Your risk assessment should include how many adults you need. The young people to adult ratios are a minimum requirement. When you do your risk assessment, you might decide that you need more adults than the ratio specifies. Think about extra equipment that you may need to take with you, such as high visibility clothing, a first aid kit, water, and waterproofs. Throughout the activity, watch out for changes in the weather and do regular headcounts. 

Animals and insects

Be aware of the risks before interacting with animals. Be aware of anyone with allergies, and make alternative arrangements for them.

Outdoor activities

You must have permission to use the location. Always check the weather forecast, and inform parents and carers of any change in venue.

Groups could focus on just plants, invertebrates or birds instead of all three to make things more simple.

When choosing a place to explore consider the terrain and environment – is it appropriate and accessible for everyone attending? If anyone’s likely to require one-to-one support or additional support, arrange for extra adults to attend.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Cubs Naturalist Activity Badge

Why not create a piece of artwork or presentation showing what you’ve found?

You could create a project that your group can work on over a few weeks to help improve the area or share your knowledge with others.

Young people should feel able to take the lead in this activity. Encourage them to plan the areas they’ll focus on and the project they’re going look at, set themselves challenges, and run activities with younger peers.