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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

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My adventure scrapbook

Create your own scrapbook to share your adventures with family and friends.

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You’ll need

  • Coloured pens or pencils
  • Pens or pencils
  • Stapler
  • A4 paper, enough for five pages per person
  • A4 coloured card, enough for one per person
  • Stickers (optional)

Before you begin

  • Bunch together five pieces of A4 paper and fold in half to make a book, but don’t staple them just yet. Make enough of these for one per person.
  • Spread the equipment out for everyone to use while decorating.
  • Write ‘My Adventure Scrapbook’ on pieces of paper for members of the group to copy if needed.

Story time

  1. Everyone should sit in a circle.
  2. Someone should read Quinn's Scrapbook for Adventures by Jess Connett. This poem is about making and enjoying safe campfires which everyone can have fun around.
  3. After reading the story, everyone should take some time to reflect on it as a group. We’ve included some questions to help you reflect in the pink box below.

Quinn’s days were always full of adventures. Walking to school in the rain was being the captain of a pirate ship in a stormy sea. The bushes in the park were full of lions and elephants that needed protecting from hunters. The swimming pool was secretly a portal to a new world.

But when Quinn got home, and her dad asked what she had done that day, she would always say the same thing: “Umm… I can’t remember.”

Whenever Jakob came round for tea, Quinn’s dad would ask him what he had done that day, and he would tell them lots of funny stories. Quinn told her dad she felt sad that she couldn’t remember adventures the way Jakob did.

One day when they were drawing costumes so they could be famous TV stars, Quinn’s dad gave her and Jakob a little book each.

“These are your adventure scrapbooks,” Dad explained. “You can draw pictures in them, or write things, or stick something in and it will remind you of all the adventures you’ve had together.”

“Let’s start our scrapbooks by sticking in our drawings!” Jakob said. Dad helped with the glue. Now the first page of the scrapbook helped Quinn remember that afternoon’s adventures, pretending to be on TV.

Over the summer, Quinn and Jakob’s scrapbooks became full and fat.

Between the pages were tickets from the museum, brass rubbings from a walk, pictures of birds, a leaf from the time they visited the jungle, a special sweet wrapper, and a photograph of them all that Quinn’s dad got printed out.

Soon, every single page was full up.

“Phew!” said Quinn. “We have so many adventures, it’s much easier to remember them all when you have a scrapbook.”

Quinn’s dad called her and Jakob into the kitchen to have tea.

“What have you been doing all summer?” he said. Quinn opened her scrapbook at the very first page and started to tell him all about it.


Scrapbook creation

  1. Explain to everybody that they will be creating a scrapbook to record their adventures.
  2. Have a chat with everyone about what a scrapbook is and the different ways to record a trip, including drawing pictures, taking photos, writing down memories, or sticking in mementoes like maps and tickets.
  3. Everyone should choose a piece of coloured card and finish making their scrapbook.
  1. Everyone should draw themselves in the square, write ‘My Adventure Scrapbook’ and their name on the cover, and do any further decorations that they like.
  2. After everyone has finished, the person leading the activity should explain that everyone can take their scrapbooks home and fill them with their adventures. When their books are full they can bring them back to show everybody what they have been up too.

Sharing our adventures

  1. When someone brings back a completed scrapbook, they can decide how they would like to share their adventures.
  1. Encourage them to show any pictures, drawings or mementoes, or read out what they have written.

Reflection

This activity encouraged everyone to develop skills and practice communication by being creating and sharing experiences. During the activity, everyone made some decisions for themselves, learned how to create a book full of memories, and built their confidence by sharing those memories with other people.

Story time

  • Can you remember any adventures you've had?
  • What would you like to put in a scrapbook to remember?

Scrapbook creation

  • What did you learn about scrapbooks? What did you enjoy about making them?
  • Did you help someone else with their scrapbook? How did that make you feel?

Sharing your adventures

  • How did it feel to share your adventures with other people?
  • What was your favourite adventure in your scrapbook? What other adventures would you like to go on?

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.

Sharp objects

Teach young people how to use sharp objects safely. Supervise them appropriately throughout. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

Instead of pre-folding the pages, give everyone the opportunity to fold their own pages for their scrapbook.

If someone is not confident in speaking about their adventures, give them the opportunity to sit with a leader and look through their scrapbook. Also consider letting them pair up with someone to help them share.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Scrapbooks aren’t just for adventures. Try creating a scrapbook at home on a different topic – you could create one for your family, pets, your favourite hobby, sports and more. Then bring it into a meeting to share with the rest of the group.

If someone is feeling very confident, let them help someone else. They could help them with their writing, drawing or sharing their adventures.