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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

Hobby showcase

Show off your and collection or wow your friends with your new hobby.
Plan a session with this activity

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You’ll need

  • Stopwatch or phone
  • Strawberry laces

Before you begin

  • Everyone completing their Hobbies Activity Badge should come prepared to show their hobby or collection. It’s up to them how they share it – it’ll probably depend on what it is.
  • Depending on how many people want to showcase their hobby, you could run the activity as one big group or in several smaller groups. We’ve included instructions for both options.
  • You may need to allow some time for people to set up their showcase. You could use games from the Recreation stations activity to keep everyone else engaged.
  • If you don’t want to use strawberry laces, find another timed challenge, for example, winding up a piece of string tied to a fork, moving chocolate between bowls using a straw, making a small pyramid from cards, or rolling a dice to get a certain number.

 Strawberry lace hobby race

  1. Everyone should split into groups of four or five people.
  2. Each group should stand in a circle. Everyone should think of a hobby or activity they enjoy.
  3. The person leading the activity should give everyone a strawberry lace.
  4. The person leading the activity should call ‘go’ and the first person should start talking about their hobby or activity.
  5. Meanwhile the person to their left should put one end of their strawberry lace in their mouth and eat the whole thing as fast as they can without using their hands.
  6. The first person should keep talking until the person to their left has finished their strawberry lace.
  7. Everyone should take it in turns until everyone who wants has had a chance to talk.

 Showcase your hobbies as one big group

  1. Everyone who wants to showcase their hobby should find a space to set up their showcase. They could show off a collection, create a gallery of photos, set up a video, or make some space for an interactive demo.

If the weather’s good, they could move outside too.

  1. Once everyone’s set up their space, the rest of the group should move around and visit as many showcases as possible. The person leading the activity should call out every few minutes to make sure everyone’s moving around the space.
  2. After everyone’s visited a few showcases, everyone should come back together to reflect.

Showcase your hobbies in smaller groups

  1. Everyone should split into smaller groups. Each smaller group should have the same number of people who are showcasing their hobby.
  2. One person in each group should spend a few minutes showing off their hobby. They should feel free to be as creative and interactive as possible.
  3. Once the person’s finished showcasing their hobby, the rest of the group should ask some questions to find out more about their hobby.
  4. The person leading the activity should let everyone know that it’s time for the next person to show their hobby. Everyone should continue until everyone who wanted to share their hobby has had a turn.

Reflection

This activity was all about communicating. Did people find it easier to talk about something they enjoy and know lots about? Did they find it difficult to showcase their hobby? Did anyone learn anything new about someone else’s hobby or collection? Did anyone hear about new hobbies they’d like to try? What made them seem interesting?

Hobbies are usually things people do for fun, but they can affect other areas of life too. Did people’s hobbies change anything in their life in the past four months? Perhaps the teamwork skills they learned in football were useful in the classroom, or patience from a hobby like craft was useful for getting along with siblings. Did their hobby help boost their wellbeing? Maybe people can think of a time it made them feel happy, or a time it felt worthwhile.

Just like hobbies, the things people learn at Scouts can be useful elsewhere too. Everyone should write a few things they’ve learned at Scouts this year on a piece of paper. On the other side, they should try to write any times they’ve used these skills outside of Scouts. Does anyone want to share their ideas? 

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.

Food

Remember to check for allergies, eating problems, fasting or dietary requirements and adjust the recipe as needed. Make sure you’ve suitable areas for storing and preparing food and avoid cross contamination of different foods. Take a look at our guidance on food safety and hygiene.

The hobby showcase is all about taking part in a hobby and trying your best – it doesn’t matter what skill level you are.

Why not invite parents and carers to join the showcase for a different audience?

Everyone can present in whatever way they feel comfortable with – they could chat to people, or present through photos or a display.

Strawberry laces are often gelatine-free, but make sure you check they’re suitable for everyone in your group, for example, people with allergies, who can’t eat wheat, or don’t eat beeswax.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Scouts Hobbies Activity Badge

You could share some of the hobbies and activities with a younger section. How may you need to adapt them for a younger audience?