Badges of the Month
Continuing our series of Special Interest Area activities, we have got a great selection of activity badge resources for you to use this month!
History and Heritage
This Badge can apply to lots of different Special Interest Areas depending on what you focus on.
Learning something new can be “Personal Growth”, but a History SIA on sporting teams could also be a “Sports & Recreation” SIA.
History can cover a lot of different topics, including local history, Scouting History and making “History Come Alive”.
The Heritage Team have produced a booklet of Scouting History SIA Project Ideas that covers all sections – see link.
There are also a few history activity badge ideas available from Scouts UK:
- Local Knowledge (Cub Scouts): https://www.scouts.org.uk/cubs/activity-badges/local-knowledge/
- Local Knowledge (Scouts): https://www.scouts.org.uk/scouts/activity-badges/local-knowledge/
- History Comes Alive (Scouts): https://www.scouts.org.uk/scouts/activity-badges/history-comes-alive-blanket-badge/
Photography
Who does not admire a great photo (just look at the ones in this newsletter!).
We are challenging you to improve your photography skills. You do not need a professional camera – it is all about the image and the story that it tells.
This challenge can run across all of the SIA’s depending on your focus. Improving skills is a “Growth and Development” SIA, while telling a story about your community could be a “Better World SIA”.
Want to know where to start? Check out these great resources
Venturer Scouts: https://www.scouts.org.uk/explorers/activity-badges/creative-arts/
Rover Scouts: Use the “Creative Arts” guides for Venturer Scouts (above), but complete the challenge twice, either two events in the same field (but different content) or two different creative arts.
Duke of Edinburgh Awards
Did you know that the Scouting Youth Program can be used towards other outdoor award programs?
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award operates at 4 different levels and is targeted at youth members 12-24 years old. The Duke’s Award requires youth to set challenges, learn new skills and complete service activities in your community.
The best part is that your Scouting activities can be used towards BOTH Scouting Awards and the Duke’s Award at the same time. For those at schools that run a Duke’s Award program, you can combine both your school and Scout efforts together!
Want to know more?
National Duke’s Award Website: https://dukeofed.com.au/
Queensland Website: The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award | Youth | Queensland Government
Interested? Questions?
Contact Branch Advisor Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards Jo Brzozowski at ba.doe@scoutsqld.com.au
Your feedback for the physical blanket / camp shirt badge
In 2024 you provided feedback on the Youth Program, and a key item we heard is that the “sense of achievement” in Scouting is very closely related to the earning and presenting of badges. As part of the 2025 Youth Program “Tweaks” we promised to provide an optional themed activity badge for camp blankets and camp shirts to complement the uniform SIA badge.
Our original plan to supply activity badges from another country has not eventuated, so will make our own activity badges. Before we start manufacturing, we’d like your feedback on what those badges should look like and which ones we should make.
Please complete this feedback form by Wednesday 2 July – we hope to make the final badges available early in Term three.