Joey Scout Program                          

Date: 3/5/12	Leader: Ilara
Theme: India

Time	Activity Description	Leader	Equipment Required:
5.45	Opening Ceremony	Ilara	Flag.
5.50	Game : Loose Caboose	Zaphod	Nil
6.00	Game: Carry the Water	Nushka	Containers and Bean bags or balls
6.10	Feeding the Blind Person	Ilara	Popcorn spoons plates and scarves
6.20	Craft: campfire badge design OR Make a snake	All	Sheets, crayons, pencils Paper plates
6.35	Story	Ilara	See below
6.45	Closing Ceremony	Ilara	Flag.

 

LOOSE CABOOSE

Arrived in India. Trains are a great way to get about in India.

Method: In pairs, the Joey Scout at the back holds the waist of the Joey Scout at the front - this is a

train. One loose person (the caboose) tries to attach to the back of a train. When successful, the

front Joey Scout is released to become the next caboose. More than one caboose may be introduced.

 

 

CARRY WATER

Equipment: Ice cream containers, beanbags.

In India, the only water for many villages is in a well. Every day people walk to the well to fill their

clay pots with the precious water. Pots are carried on the head.

Method: In small teams. First person walks to the well with an empty container on their head. At

the well a beanbag is placed in the container and then return to team. The beanbag is then taken

back to the well and the next Joey Scout walks to the well with an empty container.

 

FEEDING THE BLIND PERSON

Equipment: Mugs, spoons, popcorn, blindfolds.

Story: Mother Theresa was a famous nun who cared about the poor and disabled people in India.

Like her, nuns go into the streets and help wherever they can. There are more people who need their

help than there are nuns to go around; they have to teach people to help one another.

Method: In pairs sitting opposite one another, one is blindfolded. The blindfolded one holds the cup

of popcorn and has a spoon to feed the other one who has their arms behind their back. After a

while, with a new spoon and mug of popcorn, the roles are changed.

 

CRAFT

 

Design a badge for the group campfire OR make a snake from a paper plate to “charm”

 

RESOURCES - STORIES

SIX MEN AND AN ELEPHANT - A story from the Hindu religion of India.

(At the start of this story the Joey Scouts sit with their eyes closed. The leader holds up something

and asks what it is. The leader then waves the item around so that there is some sound and again

asks what it is. The leader may get up and walk to the door and ask what is going on - to focus on

what it is like to be blind.)

An elephant was walking up the main street. Six blind men could hear the noises of the crowd and

feel the crush of people running onto the street to see it. They wondered what it was as they had

never seen an elephant before.

Soon they heard the trampling of the feet and as the elephant stopped in front of them they decided

to find out what it was like (open eyes, show picture of elephant).

They all put out their hands to feel the elephant.

The first man could feel the trunk and said he now knew what the elephant was like - “it is like a

long thick tough rope that moves around, wrinkling as it curled up and down.”

The second man was touching the tusk and said that the first person was wrong as “it was hard,

smooth and always curved and not so thick”

The next person could feel a floppy ear and thought the first two were wrong as he could feel

something “big and soft, with hairs on one side that kept flapping”.

A fourth man had his ear against the tummy and said that when he pushed “the big tough, hairy skin

he could hear funny noises”.

When the fifth man felt down the hind leg to the foot, he shook his head as he was sure he was the

only one who really knew anything about an elephant. He could feel “a very thick post like a

creature covered in tough wrinkly skin with hairs and hard smooth shells around the base of the

post”.

Now the last person, holding the tail, wondered what was wrong with his friends for surely they

knew that an elephant was “a long skinny hard rope that moved about a bit”.

They began to argue and then along came a person who had eyesight and asked what the problem

was. They all explained what they thought an elephant was like. The person listened then said, “All

of you are right for the part you know about. However, you have to listen to the others to get the full

picture.”

This is how most people around the world are - they know about where they live, and who they are

and the people they live among. They need to listen to people to learn about other places and to get

the full picture. Even in our own homes, schools and communities, things would be more peaceful

if we listened to others to find out about their story.

 

EXTRA ACTIVITY

 

Musical statues “bollywood” style.