Toasting marshmallows
You’ll need
- Coloured pens or pencils
- Firewood
- Matches
- Tea lights
- Wooden skewers
- Marshmallows
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
- Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers
- Remember to check for allergies or dietary requirements and adjust the recipe as needed. Make sure you've checked everyone's dietary requirements and allergies then adapted the recipe as appropriate. You could decide what alternative food they could toast, such as chunks of fruit or sweets.
- Decide whether you’ll use tea lights or whether you’ll find a location where you can set up a campfire, and soak the wooden skewers in water.
- Print enough copies of the ‘Word fire’ sheet for one per person.
Word fire
- Sit in small groups on the floor.
- Each group should chat about what they think of when they hear the phrase ‘fire safety’.
- Using coloured pencils, colour in the flames on the ‘Word fire’ sheet.
- Gather everyone back together. If they want to, people can share their pictures with the whole group.
Hot mallows
- A responsible adult should set up some tea lights or create a campfire outside. If you’re using tea lights, place them on a ceramic plate or metal tray on the ground.
- Give everyone a wooden skewer that’s been soaked in water and a marshmallow.
- Everyone should carefully put their skewer through the middle of their marshmallow. Show everyone how to hold their marshmallows by the sides, so they don’t poke their fingers with the skewer.
- Everyone should hold the end of their stick so the marshmallow at the top is near the flame of the fire. They should wait for a few seconds and then take their marshmallow away from the fire.
- Once their marshmallow has cooled down, everyone should eat and enjoy their marshmallows.
- Remember that the marshmallow will be hot. Remind everyone to wait for a bit to let the marshmallow cool down before they eat it.
Reflection
This activity introduces everyone to staying safe around fire. The activities show people how they can use fire for certain activities while helping them understand what the risks are and what they need to do to stay safe.
You can chat about these optional reflection points throughout the session or at the end.
Word fire
- Has anyone ever been around fire before?
- How did everyone stay safe?
Hot mallows
- What did people notice when they heated their marshmallows?
- Why was it important to let the marshmallow cool before eating it?
- When everyone’s finished using fire, what should they do to stay safe?
- What sounds can people hear from the fire?
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.
- Fires and stoves
Make sure anyone using fires and stoves is doing so safely. Check that the equipment and area are suitable and have plenty of ventilation. Follow the gas safety guidance. Have a safe way to extinguish the fire in an emergency.
- 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.
- Flammable items
Always take care when using flammable items, especially if you’re near fire. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions and guidelines.
Everyone could write sentences, stick pictures on or draw pictures about how to be safe around fire. Alternatively, everyone could create a small role play in groups to show how to stay safe.
- Some people may need a little help to poke their skewer through their marshmallow. It’s up to you whether you help them at the time or give everyone a skewer with a marshmallow already on it.
- Remember to check for allergies or dietary requirements and adjust the recipe as needed. Make sure you've checked everyone's dietary requirements and allergies then adapted the recipe as appropriate. You could decide what alternative food they could toast, such as chunks of fruit or sweets.
- If anyone’s colour-blind, you may need to use different colours or different materials. You could also write the emotions in large letters (or draw clear pictures) to label each area.
- For anyone who may not be able to read the words on the paper clearly, consider making the words larger or using a different colour paper for printing on. You could also let them work closely with someone who can help them.
- People should share ideas on the paper in whatever way works for them, whether that’s writing, drawing, sticking pictures on, or something else. Remember, people should only present back to other groups if they're happy and comfortable to.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
Ask everyone the different ways to prevent fire. What would help if there were a fire at school or Scouts? What about if there were a fire at home or the shops?
Encourage everyone to help each other with their word fires. If they work together, can they figure it out with our asking an adult for help?
You could choose one person in each group to be a health and safety lead. It's their job to make sure everyone is using the equipment safely.