Extreme sleeps
You’ll need
- Scrap paper
- Pens or pencils
- OS or digital maps
- Computer and internet access, as needed
Before you begin
- This activity should help groups come up with a plan for their expedition or exploration, which should be based around finding somewhere unusual to sleep. Check out the information below on these two options and have the group choose which one to complete beforehand. Decide together where to visit and whether the experience will be indoors or outdoors.
- Prepare questions or challenges to set for the groups when they’re examining the location on the map. If the group is going to come up with these, they’ll need some time at the start to pool their ideas. We’ve provided some below to help.
- Remember, you’ll need a leader with the appropriate Nights Away permit for the camp you’re going to run. Make sure to follow all of the relevant guidance.
For the Scouts Expedition Challenge Award, Scouts can do an exploration (a purpose with a journey) travelling to an area to carry out an investigation, or an expedition (a journey with a purpose) completing a task or small project.
|
|
Exploration |
Expedition |
|
Group size |
4+ |
4+ |
|
Time |
2 days, 90+ minutes travel to destination, 5+ hours of investigation over 2 days (following previous research) |
2 days, 4+ hours travel per day |
|
Night away |
1 night away |
1 night away |
|
Accommodation |
Campsite, bunk house, hostel or similar |
Campsite, bunk house, hostel or similar |
|
Location |
Countryside, town or city area not well known to team |
Countryside or suburban area, ideally not well known to team |
|
Transport |
Foot, cycle, public transport, other |
Foot, cycle, canoe, horse, other |
|
Route planning |
Rest/meal stops and timings |
Rest/meal stops and timings |
|
Equipment |
Appropriate for terrain, mode of travel, and to deal with emergencies (NB: If camping, Scouts are not required to carry camping equipment) |
Appropriate for terrain, mode of travel, and to deal with emergencies (NB: If camping, Scouts are not required to carry camping equipment) |
|
Navigation |
Timetables, street map, A-Z, compass, GPS |
OS map, compass, GPS |
|
Emergencies |
Emergency plan |
Emergency plan |
|
Catering |
Cooking and eating 1+ hot meal themselves (for example, using a kitchen, lightweight stove, or campfire) |
Cooking and eating 1+ hot meal themselves (for example, using a kitchen, lightweight stove, or campfire) |
|
Purpose |
An investigation of an area |
Task or small project |
|
Permits needed |
Nights Away plus possibly Hillwalking or Canoeing |
Nights Away plus possibly Hillwalking, Cycling or Canoeing |
|
Event Passport |
May be issued to a Scout who will lead the rest of the team during Nights Away (Overnight venue should be aware and agree to this if the Scouts are to be unsupervised) |
May be issued to a Scout who will lead the rest of the team during Nights Away (Overnight venue should be aware and agree to this if the Scouts are to be unsupervised) |
|
Report back |
Report, performance, video, presentation, blog, website |
Report, performance, video, presentation, blog, website |
For either option, Scouts must have appropriate adult supervision bearing in mind their age, experience, the terrain and activity. As a minimum, such supervision should involve a visual check at the beginning and end of the day, and an adult being available in the local area. It would not usually be an appropriate challenge for the Scouts to be accompanied at all times by an adult. Rules and guidance on peer led activities can be found in POR.
You should ensure that you follow the rules and guidance for running Nights Away experiences, such as relevant activity permits and nights away permits, InTouch, parental permission and first aid arrangements.
Run the activity
- Explain that the group should find somewhere interesting for them to sleep for their upcoming expedition or exploration. Get into the groups they’ll be in for the trip. These should each have between four and seven people.
- Talk to everyone about the area itself, whether they’re staying indoors or camping, and what they’ll be doing on their expedition or exploration, if they don’t already know.
- Each group should open their map and display it in a way that everyone can see. They should examine the areas that they’ll be travelling through on the trip. Set each group the questions or challenges relating to the area that were prepared beforehand. Below are some examples you could use.
Your challenges and questions could task everyone with finding specific places on the map, particular symbols or fast routes. Each answer should ideally be something that can be expressed using a grid reference.
You could set challenges like:
- Find a place name that contains an animal
- Find a landmark or specific type of building
- Find a viewpoint
- Find the funniest place name
- Find a clearing in a wooded area
- Find the steepest slope using the contour lines
- Find out the distance between one town to another
- Groups should use their maps to complete these questions or challenges. They should work together and use everyone’s map-reading and navigation know-how, as well as attention to detail and problem-solving skills.
- Groups should write down each solution on some paper and give it in to the person leading the activity when they’re done.
- Now that everyone’s familiar with the area on the map and the map itself, everyone should start looking for locations to spend the night after or during their expedition or exploration.
- Once everyone’s settled on a spot to spend the night, each group should come up with a creative way to pitch the idea to the rest of the group. Make sure there’s enough time for everyone to present, agree upon a favourite idea and complete their expedition and exploration plan.
- Have groups present their ideas. After each performance, the audience should ask any questions or share any opinions they might have about the plan. Have a vote to decide the favourite extreme sleep option of the whole group.
- Use the relevant planner (‘expedition’ or ‘exploration’) to plan the rest of the journey, including the expedition or exploration aim.
Reflection
The expedition or exploration is a great chance to get active and spend time outside. For this night away, everyone will be staying somewhere new and interesting. They’ll be pushing themselves, moving out of their comfort zone and challenging themselves to be more independent.
Ask everyone how they’re feeling about staying somewhere new. Is anyone nervous or excited? What are they most looking forward to about their expedition or exploration? They could make some notes of things they’re looking forward to, and look back on them after the journey to see if it matched their expectations, or whether there were any surprises along the way.
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.
- Adventure
This activity has specific rules and systems to make sure it’s managed safely. Take a look at adventure activities for more guidance.
- There are lots of options to sleep indoors or outdoors, or camp in wild locations, so you can adapt this activity to suit the skills of the group. Remember, it’s not just the location that makes an extreme sleep. You could try sleeping in hammocks in your own shelters at a campsite you use regularly.
- If you’re completing the expedition or exploration abroad, refer to the guidance on the visits abroad page.
- Don’t forget that there are loads of travel options for groups, including walking, cycling, canoeing, horse-riding, public transport or other agreed means – make sure groups agree upon one that suits everyone’s skills and ability.
- Make sure everyone has everything they need to complete the tasks in this activity. For instance, computers may need to be set up differently for different individuals.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
If you were able to film your presentation, you could use it as part of your work towards the Scouts Photographer Activity Badge. If you’re based in Scotland, check out the Zodiac Award, or the Dragon Award in Wales, for some extreme sleeps ideas!
Where appropriate, young people may stay by themselves if the relevant Event Passport is issued to the whole group or a named individual. More information on this can be found in chapter nine of POR. A Nights Away permit holder must still provide support for the group, both during the preparation and throughout the event itself, and should be satisfied with the abilities of the young person chosen to lead the event.