This week, Shackleton Explorer Scouts in Crawley had a fun-filled evening making and cooking pancakes. The Scouts learned valuable cooking skills, from mixing ingredients to perfecting their pancake flipping techniques. With plenty of creativity, they topped their pancakes with delicious sweet and savory fillings. It was a fantastic night of teamwork, learning, and, of course, tasty treats!
On Monday, Shackleton ESU had a communication challenge evening. In groups of 4, they had to build a puzzle in teams however there was a twist. One Explorer was blind folded, one had the instructions, one had the puzzle pieces and one had the job of running and communicating between them all! There are some photos of the evening below:
Last Monday evening, our Explorers got crafty with paracord bracelets, woggles, keyrings, and leather pyrography. Scouts learned essential knot-tying techniques while creating stylish paracord bracelets and personalised woggles. They also explored creativity and design by crafting unique keyrings that could be used or gifted. For those seeking a challenge, leather pyrography allowed them to burn intricate patterns into leather, honing precision and focus. These activities helped build problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and teamwork, all while fostering creativity. It was a fun, hands-on evening that showcased how practical skills and adventure go hand in hand!
On Monday, we held a unit version of Hunted. This year was the first year all teams were caught and the hunters were victorious! You will need to use guile and cunning to avoid the hunter force who roam Crawley searching for your teams. You will be considered captured if a hunter team is able to gain a clearly identifiable photograph of one of your team whilst you are on the run. You will not be notified if you have been ‘captured’ until you reach HQ. Therefore, keep moving and stay stealthy and don’t assume you’ve been captured even if you’re seen, you may …
On Monday, we had an evening of First Aid Training ahead of our upcoming expeditions and summer activities. We focused on: Everyone got fully involved and we hope you never have to use these skills in reality but they are a #skillforlife!
Over Easter Weekend, 13 Explorers and their leaders travelled to Cornel Scout Campsite in North Wales. Originally we planned to climb Snowdon on Saturday but snowy weather meant we had to do our contingency, lower level route heading over Foel Fras, Carnedd Gwenllian and Foel Grach. On Sunday, we headed out to Craig Caseg Ffraith for a day of climbing and abseiling led by Sean and Tim. Everyone got to attempt the 5 different climbs and abseil which was a first for many of natural rock! Before we departed on Monday, the groups headed out for a final low level …
On Monday the unit was split in 2. Half were air rifle shooting and the other half were doing crossbows. A few photos are below.
On Monday, the Explorers turned their hand to fire lighting and backwoods cooking. After what seemed like an eternity, most of the groups managed to light their fires (using the trusty fire lighter due to very wet wood!). The Explorers then cooked Pizza and Banoffee Pie (backwoods style!). Overall an enjoyable evening with the cooking giving mixed results!
This week at Explorers, everyone gave chocolate truffle making a go! The results were varied and much mess was made in the process of making them!
On Monday, we visited Hazelwick School to play a game of Basketball. We started by practising our different shots including layups and free throws. We then split into play some mini games before we had a knock out tournament between all 4 teams. We also welcomed 5 new members moving up from Scouts. A few photos are below.
This evening we met at Stanford Scout Campsite for our traditional Halloween wide games. We started the evening with a mummy making competition. This was quickly follow by capture the pumpkin, donuts from a string and finally apple bobbing. Well done to all the Explorers who dressed up – special shout out to Charlie for his flattering costume!!
Over the last 2 weeks, the unit has been split. Half visited NPAS in Redhill whilst the other half had a fencing lesson from Crawley Sword Club. A big thanks to NPAS and Crawley Sword Club for spending time to share their skills with our members. A few photos are below.