‘This wall was sooo dirty!’

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER !"#$

YOUR COMMUNITYGRAFFITI | UPCYCLE | EXPLORE

INSIDE THIS ISSUE…

Blipp here to see Scouts

create this cover with

just some elbow grease!

8 Your community Try any of our five fun activities, designed to help you learn more about your neighbourhood

Explore…

Learn…

G et Active! takes great pride in being able to offer you fun and practical ideas to help you bring Scouting at its finest to your

Group and this fun-size issue is no different. To tie in with Scouting magazine’s community

theme, we’re bringing you some great activity ideas we know you’ll be dying to try in your own neck of the woods. We show you how to make your mark with reverse graffiti – this eco activity adds a fantastic final flourish to any community clean-up project and will have your Scouts brandishing their cleaning kit with renewed enthusiasm.

On page 6 we introduce you to upcycling with Neil Wragg’s great canvas kit bags. Your Group will be amazed at the discarded items they can repurpose – bags really are just the beginning!

And lastly, we finish with five fun ways to explore your local area. Whether they’re enabling you to rediscover old haunts or taking you down undiscovered paths, these activities will help you get to know your neighbourhood in entirely new ways.

Welcome

The Scout Association GET ACTIVE! 3

4 Reverse gra!ti We show you how to get to grips with this easy-to-

achieve street-art style, which can act as the perfect sign-off to your community rejuvenation project

Create…

Alex Drew, Editorscouting.magazine@scouts.org.uk

Get Active! Editors Alex Drew, Lee Griffiths, Vicky Milnes and Kevin YeatesArt Editor James Daniel Content Advisers Laura Butler, Rachel Jones and Michael ReganWith thanks to... Ashley May, West Monkton Scouts, Neil WraggCover Brook McAllister/James DanielProject managers Duncan Reid, Celia BealeDirector of Immediate Media Branded Content Julie WilliamsGroup Publishing Director Alfie LewisISSN 0036 – 9489© 2014 The Scout AssociationRegistered Charity Numbers: 306101 (England and Wales) and SC038437 (Scotland)Get Active! is produced by Immediate Media Branded Content, 6th Floor, Tower House,

Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BNADVERTISINGSenior Sales Executive Nicola TattumEmail: nicola.tattum@immediate.co.uk Tel: 0117 314 7356

116,700 average circulation of Scouting (1 Jan–31 Dec 2013)

© Immediate Media Branded Content. Printed in the UK by William Gibbons. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without written permission. Every effort has been made to secure permission for copyright material. In the event of any material being used inadvertently, or where it proved impossible to trace the copyright owner, acknowledgement will be made in a future issue.

Contents

This magazine can be recycled, for use in newspapers and packaging. Please remove any gifts, samples or wrapping and dispose of it at your local collection point.

We are proud to say Get Active! is PEFC certified. For more information go to pefc.co.uk. Promoting sustainable forest management.

The national magazine of The Scout Association,Gilwell Park, Chingford, London E4 7QWTel: 0845 300 1818Get in touch at scouting.magazine@scouts.org.uk. Read Get Active!, Instant Scouting and Scouting online at scouts.org.uk/magazine

Please note that the views expressed by members and contributors in the magazine are not necessarily those of The Scout Association.

PEFC/16-33-795

6 To sew simple kit bags Upcycle unwanted canvas into handy bags with this

easy-to-follow how-to guide

INSTANT SCOUTING For the first time ever, we have incorporated Instant Scouting with Get Active!, so flip the issue over to see this issue’s amazing content from our partners.

Scouting’s fleur-de-lis gets a reverse gra!ti makeover

Point Blippar here to watch our wonderful windy-pop pie recipe come to life!

Create…

What can Scouts earn?Beavers can earn the Creative Activities Badge, while Cubs and Scouts can use it to earn their Artist Activity Badges. Additionally, Explorers can earn the Creative Arts Activity Badge and Network their DofE Skill badge.

Point Blippar here to see our reverse graffiti step-by-step!

Reverse gra!tiWhether part of a clean-up campaign or just a fun project, now Scouts can really leave their mark on their communitySuitable for Beavers+

Also known as green graffiti, clean advertising or grime writing, reverse graffiti is the method of removing dirt to leave a semi-permanent image behind. First discovered by Moose (English artist Paul Curtis) it has since been used by many street artists, including perhaps most famously Banksy and Alexandre Orion, the latter of whom was responsible for the first large-scale piece of reverse graffiti in 2006. He spent a full 13 nights creating 3,500 skulls in one of São Paolo’s grubbiest road tunnels.

Since then, reverse graffiti has been used in guerilla marketing campaigns everywhere. The practice itself highlights how grimy the world around us is and can be used by Scouts as part of a wider rejuvenation project. From a legal standpoint, reverse graffiti falls into something of a grey area, as cleaning public property doesn't break any laws (whereas applying paint etc does), but you should seek permission from the property owner/council before you embark on a reverse graffiti project.

4 GET ACTIVE! October/November 2014

Why not try?If you don̕ t have access to a pressure washer, you can try a more low-tech approach by instead using a toothbrush dipped into cleaning fluid to achieve much the same results. Just keep scrubbing away at the dirty surface until it comes up clean. You can also buy Grime Writer pens (pictured below) relatively cheaply online, which will work similarly.

You will need • Large sheets of paper• Adhesive stencil material eg lino,

thick wallpaper or foam sheets• Scissors or a Stanley knife (use

only with adult supervision)

• Electrical tape• Dirty exterior surface• Pressure washer and power

source • Water source (hose pipe)

What to do

1 Create a stencilAsk Scouts to sketch out their

image on paper, then cut it out and stick it to the stencil material eg lino. Carefully cut around the shape using scissors, or a Stanley knife for those tricky-to-reach parts.

3 Stick ’em up!Make sure their stencil is

securely held in place, either by electrical tape if it’s up on a wall, or by protected/waterproofed feet if it’s on the floor. This is also a good time for them to practise wielding the pressure washer – but not by pointing it at fellow Scouts!

2 Choose your locationLet your Group choose their

canvas, and remember the dirtier it is, the better! Make sure there is easy access to water and power – you may need to use extension cables and additional water hoses.

4 Hose ’em down!Get Scouts to point the

pressure washer directly at the exposed surface areas, avoiding any sudden up or downward motions that may displace the stencil. Once you’ve cleaned the necessary areas, peel off your stencil and marvel at your graffiti.

TRIED AND TESTED‘It looks cool! I’d like to use reverse gra!ti in my room. I’d do stencils of Stampylongnose and Iballisticsquid.’Daniel, 9, Cub

Chief Scout Bear Grylls is

immortalised in dirt!

The Scout Association GET ACTIVE! 5

…

1 Draw out the template for two bags. The rectangle on the left will use the tent seam

(at the bottom of the picture) as part of the top seam of the bag. The rectangle on the right will form a drawstring bag as it already has a number of eyelets that can be used to close the top of the bag.

2 Cut out a piece of canvas to 46cm x 100cm. To create a top edge to the bag where

you don’t have a ready-made seam, fold over a small hem then fold over a larger hem and, if you can, press with an iron to make it flat. Ask an adult to help you. With the right sides of the canvas together, sew down each side. Encourage your Scouts to try out a sewing machine – the stitching will take seconds! Otherwise a blanket stitch will keep them occupied for longer (if you’re unsure how to do a blanket stitch, take a look at the box above and to the right).

3 To keep the edges from fraying you can either use a zigzag stitch on the sewing

machine, cut the fabric with pinking shears or fold the seam allowance over to cover the raw edge and blanket stitch.

4 With the bag turned inside out, lay it as flat as possible with the side seams facing

upwards in the middle. A triangle will form at the bottom edge of the bag.

Neil Wragg, Scout leader at 3rd Marlow Bridge,

shows you how to create bags from old tents

6 GET ACTIVE! October/November 2014

5 Measure 5cm from the tip and draw a line at a 90° angle across the seam. Sew along this line and then cut off the excess. This

will create a square base, helping the bag to stand.

How to… blanket stitch1 Anchor your stitch by

pulling the needle through the fabric at the place you want to begin, then put the needle up at the very edge of the fabric and pull it through to the back until the thread is taut.

2 Pierce your needle through the fabric around

1cm along from your original entry point. Pull through.

3 Before the thread becomes taut, feed the

needle back through the loop of cotton. Pull tight and repeat.

8 Tadaa! Your bag is complete. Once your

Scouts have the sewing bug they will be able to whip up bags from almost anything. Check out morsbags.com to download a free pattern showing you how to make a reusable bag from an old sun lounger.

6 If your section of tent fabric includes the

original eyelets, you can thread through a length of old guy line to create a drawstring closure.

7 For bags without existing eyelets you can create

handles using an eyelet kit (one that you would use to mend tarps and shelters) and more unused guy line.

TRIED AND TESTED‘We had two old mess tents that were no longer waterproof with broken zips and torn windows, so instead of throwing them away we recycled them into bags for keeping kit dry or carrying muddy boots.’Neil Wragg, 3rd Marlow Bridge

What is upcycling?This is when you transform old stu! into something new. It saves money and prevents things going to landfill. If you’re new to upcycling, head to upcyclethat.com for ideas. Ask family and friends for unwanted clothes and furnishings. Local charity shops, jumble sales and car-boot sales can also be treasure troves. Some local councils run projects and workshops on upcycling, so contact them to find out more. The charity Traid specialises in upcycling clothing – find out more at traid.org.uk.

The Scout Association GET ACTIVE! 7

…

More infoCheck scouts.org.uk/a-z for activity guidance and make sure you have a risk assessment and an InTouch system in place. Visit scouts.org.uk/intouch for more info. If you get any snaps of your young people out and about, please send them through to activities@scouts.org.uk.

YOUR COMMUNITY

! VIRTUAL EXPLORATIONHere, Scouts use Google Earth or Google Street View to navigate through their neighbourhood. It’s also a great way to explore other communities, for instance why not encourage your Scouts to explore Japan to tie in with the forthcoming World Scout Jamboree? They can use Google Earth to wander the streets of Japan, fulfilling a set of tasks, eg ‘climb Mount Fuji’!

" THE CONFLUENCE PROJECTDid you know you’re never more than 49 miles away from a confluence line? This worldwide project aims to visit each of the latitude and longitude intersections in the world, and to take pictures at every one. The lines occur in the most unlikely of places and using your map-reading skills and/or digital apps you can locate the closest one to you and contribute to this amazing project. Find out more at confluence.org.

# THE COIN TOSSWhat’s the easiest way to explore your community? Simply flip a coin! Heads, you go right; tails, left. This fun trip adds an unexpected nature to your exploring and, with correct supervision, safety and provisions, can become a random but affordable way to explore parts of your community your Group has never before seen.

Think you know your neck of the woods? Try our five fun ways to discover even more about your local area

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8 GET ACTIVE! October/November 2014

! QR-CODE TREASURE HUNTSThe familiar fun of a treasure hunt gets a gadgety makeover in this fun activity. A great way to refamiliarise your Scouts with the local community, you simply need a phone or device with a QR code generator/reader. There are heaps of free apps available online.

Once you have this, you can turn your treasure hunt clues into QR codes, print them out and distribute them along your route. Your clues don’t need to be instruction-based – they can lead to websites or videos, contain mobile numbers or picture clues.

Then divide your Group into teams, making sure each team has a QR code reader and a map, and away you go! Scouts will love scanning the QR codes to access the clues concealed within and with a little creativity many badges can be completed along the way. Check out your options at members.scouts.org.uk/badges.

" GEOCACHINGWith over two million active geocaches worldwide, this is a great way to explore the world around you, both at home and away. The aim is to navigate your way to a series of geocaches (hidden containers) using GPS coordinates. Often these caches contain little treasures, to which you can help yourself, and a logbook. All you need is a GPS-enabled device or phone and a free membership to geocaching.com. Once you’re registered, you can search for nearby caches, enter the coordinates into your GPS device, and off you go.

There are a few rules: if you take something, you need to exchange it with an item of equal value, and note down your find in the logbook. Afterwards, you should then log your experience on geocaching.com. It’s that simple! Now you can plot your adventure and let your Scouts lead the way.

What Scouts can earnThese activities can cover a range of badge material including the Explorer Activity Badge (Beavers), Map Reader Activity Badge (Cubs) and the new Geocaching Activity Badge (Scouts). Explorers can also plan for their Community Activity Badge. For all badges go to members.scouts.org.uk/badges.

s The Scout Association GET ACTIVE! 9