Places of power
You’ll need
- Crafting materials
- Paints
- Aprons
- Colouring pens and pencils
- Glue
- Scissors
- Paint brushes
- Paint palette
- Old magazine and card bord boxes.
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Take a look at our guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
- 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.
Planning and setting up this activity
- You can use the Democracy Challenge pdf to prepare for the session.
- This activity may need to be done in two sessions if you are planning to visit the building.
- If you decide to visit the local council building you will need to prearrange that. Ensure the appropriate risk assessments, permission is done prior.
Book tour of Senedd Youth Groups
Book tour of UK Parliament Schools and colleges - Parliament UK Education
Educational resources Senedd Education and Youth Engagement
Educational resources UK Parliament Welcome to your UK Parliament - Parliament UK Education
- If you deicide to take a virtual tour ensure you have laptop and internet connections.
- If you decide to look at photographs and maps, ensure you have these prior to the session.
- If you decide to invite a councillor or council staff member ensure you arrange that early so they are available to attend, have a back up replacement activity in case they cannot attend.
- Ensure to collect recycling materials and magazines etc for the collage and model making. Ask squirrels and leavers to collect and bring to session.
- Set up the craft materials on tables enough for everyone to share.
Running this activity
1. Prior to the session the leaders would have decided which one of the following they would do.
- Visit a local council building
- Take an online virtual tour
- Look at photographs and maps
- Invite a councillor or council staff member to talk to the Colony.
2. Gather everyone around and tell them that today as part of Democracy Challenge award they will be learning about important places in their area. These building are local council building or the Senedd, where important decisions about the community are made. Afterwards they will make a craft representation of the building. They could make, a drawing, a collage, a model using recycled materials, a computer drawing, or a photograph display.
3. Ask them some questions to get them thinking.
- Do you know what a council does?
- Have you ever seen a council building?
- Why do you think these buildings are important?
4. Encourage Beavers to think about:
- Where the building is located?
- What the building looks like?
- What materials it might be made from?
- What happens inside the building?
- Who works there?
5. Put all the beavers into groups and ask them to create a representation of the building. They could make, a drawing, a collage, a model using recycled materials, a computer drawing, or a photograph display.
6. Gather together and invite Beavers to show their work if they want to. Ask them to say something abut their art piece. Finished works can be displayed.
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.
You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
- Glue and solvents
Always supervise young people appropriately when they’re using glue and solvent products. Make sure there’s plenty of ventilation. Be aware of any medical conditions that could be affected by glue or solvent use and make adjustments as needed.
- Scissors
Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.
- 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.
- 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.
Make it accessible
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
The Beavers were curious and engaged when learning about how decisions are made in their community. They enjoyed exploring the different buildings and asking questions about what happens inside. Creating their own representations helped them think carefully about design, purpose, and location. The activity supported their understanding of community roles and encouraged confidence when sharing what they had learned.