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Make an edible World Membership badge

Make an edible World Membership badge and learn how to tie a classic reef knot with a tasty twist.
Plan a session with this activity

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You’ll need

  • Pens or pencils
  • Paper plates
  • Scissors
  • Access to water
  • Bowls
  • Spoons
  • Something to protect surfaces (for example, newspaper or tablecloths)
  • Strawberry laces
  • Liquorice laces
  • Biscuits
  • Writing icing
  • Icing sugar
  • Chocolate star shapes
The Scout emblem
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Download The Scout emblem

The story behind the Scout emblem

Visit our online exhibition to learn more about the Scout emblem.

Discover the story

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment.
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely. 
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.

Setting up this activity

  • Check for allergies, eating problems or dietary requirements and adjust the food items used as needed. This may include making sure there’s no cross-contamination during the storage, preparation, cooking and serving. If you’re unsure, check with the young person and their parents or carers. 
  • Be conscious about who may be fasting when running a food-related activity – you may want to plan it for when everyone can get involved. 
  • You may want to make the icing before this activity. 
  • You may want to have printed copies of 'The Scout emblem' sheet on the tables to help people.

Make a World Membership Badge

  1. Gather everyone together and ask if anyone knows what the World Membership Badge is. Ask if anyone can spot it in the space or on their Scouts uniform.
  2. Together, talk about what the different parts of the badge represent. You can use the attached 'The Scout emblem' sheet if needed.
  3. Ask everyone to wash their hands, then take a paper plate and sit or stand at a table. 
  4. Everyone should take a round biscuit and use a spoon to spread some icing onto it, then wait for it to start setting.
  5. While the icing sets, take a licorice lace and strawberry lace. Use the two laces to tie a reef knot and create the encircling ropes, then place this on the biscuit. We’ve added some tips on how to tie a reef knot on this page.
  6. Using a writing icing tube, they should try to draw the fleur-de-lis from the World Membership Badge in the middle of the biscuit. Remember, everyone should be drawing the traditional fleur-de-lis, not the UK Scout logo.
  7. Finally, either use the writing icing or use chocolate star shapes to add the two five-pointed stars. 
  8. Everyone should compare the World Membership Badges they made with the badges on people’s uniforms.
  9. When everyone’s finished, enjoy eating your biscuits!

How to tie a reef knot:

  1. Cross the liquorice lace behind the strawberry lace, then loop it over and under the strawberry lace, so the two are intertwined. 
  2. Take the ends that face upwards and pass the left (red) end over and through the black (right) end. 
  3. Hold all four ends and gently pull, then tighten the knot in place.

Alternatively:

  1. Pass the liquorice lace over the strawberry lace and tuck it under, as you say ‘left over right and under’.
  2. Pass the strawberry lace over the liquorice lace and tuck it under, as you say ‘right over left and under’.
  3. Pull the four ends showing the reef knot shape. 
A step by step illustration of how to tie a reef knot.

Reflection

This activity was all about the World Membership badge and reminded everyone that Scouts is worldwide. What can you remember about the badge? Can anyone remember what the different parts of the World Membership Badge mean? If people were going to design a badge for Scouts all over the world, what would it look like, and why?

In this activity, we also had to practice our knot tying and tie a reef knot. Can anyone remember some of the ways to use a reef knot?

Everyone should look around the room and see if they can spot some of the places a reef knot could be used. It could be used to tie back curtains, secure bags of equipment, tie up tents, tie together a bundle of wood, or tie a blindfold for a game.

Ask if anyone had tied a reef knot before. Was it easy or hard? If you haven’t done it before, how was it? If you struggled, what did you do to try again or find help? If you saw someone struggling, how did you help them?

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.

  • To make this activity easier, you could ask people to just add the icing to a biscuit and create the UK Scouts logo. They could make it out of writing icing or by placing chocolate/sweets into the shape.
  • Check for allergies, eating problems or dietary requirements and adjust the food items used as needed. This may include making sure there’s no cross-contamination during the storage, preparation, cooking and serving. If you’re unsure, check with the young person and their parents or carers. 
  • If someone needs different food items, such as gluten free biscuits, you may want to buy these for the whole group. 
  • If you can’t find the items for a certain dietary requirement or allergy, everyone could use string instead, then be given a suitable snack afterwards to say well done.
  • Some people may not like certain food textures or tastes and that’s OK. Try to find an alternative for them. No-one has to use all the ingredients or be made to try foods if they’re not happy, comfortable or don’t want to.  
  • If anyone needs help or struggles with fine motor skills, give them the opportunity to work in pairs or small groups. They could also work with a young leader or an adult volunteer. You could use larger ropes and poles, such as dowel and string, if working with miniature edible versions is fiddly for anyone.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Beavers Camp Craft Activity Badge
Beavers My Outdoors Challenge Award
Cubs International Activity Badge
Scouts International Activity Badge
Beavers Membership Award
Cubs Membership Award
Scouts Membership Award
Squirrels Membership Award
Squirrels All Around Us Challenge Award

If everyone masters the reef knot, you could try tying some more knots with strawberry laces.

Why not give everyone a second biscuit and let them design their own World Membership badge on it with the ingredients?