Self-health challenge
You’ll need
- Pens or pencils
Pre-challenge checks
- The person leading the activity should make sure that there are enough copies of the ‘Health challenge planner.’ There should be one for each person in the group.
Challenge yourself
- The person leading the activity should give out the ‘Health challenge planner’ sheets and a pen or pencil to everyone in the group. Everyone should write their names on their sheet.
- Everyone should look at the ‘Health challenge planner’ and pick one ‘Challenge’ from each of the ‘Try something new,’ ‘Achieve the recommendations’ and ‘Excel beyond’ sections. They should tick the ‘Tick your challenges’ boxes next to the challenges that they’ve chosen.
- Everyone should then think of another healthy habit that they can try for each section. If they can, each person should think of something new (that they’ve never done before), something that’s recommended (for example, eating five fruit or vegetables every day) and something that goes the extra mile in the quest for health!
- The person leading the activity should make their way around the group as they are choosing their own healthy habits. Everyone should agree with the person leading the activity a set day or days on which they’ll complete this challenge during the week.
- Throughout the week, everyone should try to complete their challenges. If they complete their challenges for a day, they should put a tick in the box under that day on the ‘Self-health challenge planner’.
Reflection
The group have set themselves healthy challenges to complete in the coming week or weeks. What difference might it make to your lifestyle if you added one or two healthy habits to your daily routine? Why is it important to have balance in your lifestyle, including in what you eat, drink and do? Did using the planner make it easier to remember to do something healthy?
One section of the planner was for new challenges. Does anyone already do any of the things in the ‘Try something new’ section? Who picked something that they usually struggle to remember to do? Did using the planner make it easier to remember to do something new?
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.
- Active games
The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.
- 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.
Everyone can pick more or less challenges for more or less days, depending on how much they think they can do.
Make it accessible
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
Challenge groups who meet their targets to try new challenges or complete their original targets every week for a month. See if anyone’s challenges become habits.
Allow the group to choose their own challenges and how difficult they will be.