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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

Monumental masterpieces

Monuments, statues and plaques tell the history of an area. Go and discover some near you, then make a monumental masterpiece.
Plan a session with this activity

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You’ll need

  • Camera or phone
  • Clean items of recycling
  • PVA glue
  • Sticky tape
  • A4 paper
  • Pens or pencils
  • Something to protect surfaces (for example, newspaper or tablecloths)
  • Maps of your local area
  • Local history books or leaflets

Before you begin

  • Look up local monuments such as statues, plaques, and historical places.
  • Create a walking route that passes about four monuments. You could start from your usual meeting place or from a monument – and it’s up to you where you finish. You could check to see if a local museum or tourist centre already has a suggested route.
  • Prepare some information about each monument you’ll pass so the adults (or older young people) can explain a bit about each.
  • Make sure everyone knows they’ll be going on a walk. Get parental permission and give them a list of things to bring, including trainers or walking shoes, a water bottle, and clothes suitable for the weather.
  • Think about any other material you may want to use to make the monuments. For example, foil, wood, salt dough, clay, or natural materials collected on the walk.

Discover monuments

  1. Everyone should split into groups. The person leading the activity should give each group an adult (or more than one adult).
  1. Everyone should set off on their walk. They should follow the planed route and see if they can find any more monuments along the way.
  1. Whenever a group reaches a monument, they should see if there’s any information on or near it. If not, the adult should have some information to share. 
  2. Everyone should think about what the information says. Is the monument about a person or thing? How does it link to the local area? 
  3. Someone in each group should take pictures of the monument. 
  4. Everyone should keep going, pausing to repeat steps three to five at each monument, until they reach the end of the route.

Plan your masterpiece

  1. Everyone should lay out the pictures of the monuments and any information, books, or leaflets. The person leading the activity should give everyone a pencil and some paper.
  1. Everyone should imagine the monument they’d like to create. Is it a statue, a building, or something else? Does it look like any of the monuments they saw on their walk? 
  2. Everyone should think about the materials they’d like to use to make their monument. They should label their drawings to show what they’ll use for each bit, then write a list of things to gather.
  1. Everyone should go to the materials and take what they need. They should remember to think about others and leave enough for everyone to get a fair amount. If people can’t find exactly what they need, they should think on their feet and use something else instead. 
  2. Everyone should use the glue and sticky tape to put the materials together and create their monument. 
  3. Once everyone’s finished their monument, they should give it a name. They could also come up with a story about who built it and why it exists!
  4. Everyone should take it in turns to present their masterpieces to their friends

Reflection

This activity helped remind everyone that they’re a local citizen as they discovered a bit about the history of local monuments. People may have walked past these monuments before without really stopping to look – maybe some people even walk past them often. Why do you think people have monuments? People might think about remembering important events, commemorating brave or important people, or celebrating things. What did people learn about their local area from the monuments?

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.

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.

Online safety

Supervise young people when they’re online and give them advice about staying safe. Take a look at our online safety or bullying guidance. The NSPCC offers more advice and guidance, too. If you want to know more about specific social networks and games, Childnet has information and safety tips for apps. You can also report anything that’s worried you online to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command. As always, if you’ve got concerns about a young person’s welfare, including their online experiences, follow the Yellow Card to make a report.

Phones and cameras

Make sure parents and carers are aware and have given consent for photography.

Some people may need more or less support with navigation on the walk.

It’s up to everyone how much detail they go in to when they present. Challenge people to come up with more of a history or story about their creation.

People could work in teams if that works better for them.

Make sure the route is accessible for everyone.

If going for a walk isn’t possible, people could research and find images online or in books.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Cubs Thistle Award
Beavers My Skills Challenge Award

People could look up monuments and plan their own route – this could count towards the Explore Activity Badge, Local Knowledge Activity Badge, or Navigator Staged Activity Badge.

People could find out more about the topic of one of the monuments, and show their results as part of their Local Knowledge Activity Badge.

Young people should be free to create whatever kind of monument they like.